March Homestand
March 12, 2025
Allentown, PA – With just 14 games remaining, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms return to PPL Center for a five-game homestand, their longest of the season.
Lehigh Valley (29-22-7) has a Magic Number of 19 points in the team’s quest for a third consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The top six teams in the division qualify for the postseason. The Phantoms have shown steady improvement since January 1 with a record of 16-9-2 in 2025.
The Phantoms have played seven of the last nine on the road so it will be nice to return to the friendly confines at the corner of Seventh and Hamilton for a significant and critical stretch beginning with a pair of games this weekend against the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday and Sunday. The Baby Pens occupy second place in the division. Come celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Weekend with the Phantoms including Kids Takeover Day on Sunday at 3:05 p.m.
LAST WEEK
March 8 – Phantoms 1 – Charlotte Checkers 4
March 9 – Phantoms 3 – Charlotte Checkers 2
THE WEEK AHEAD
Friday, March 14 (7:05) – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms
Sunday, March 16 (3:05) – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms
WEEKLY RECAP
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Charlotte Checkers 4 – Phantoms 1
Zayde Wisdom (9th) broke through with nine minutes remaining and got the comeback going for Lehigh Valley but the Charlotte Checkers pushed through with a pair of late goals, including an empty-netter, to snag a 4-1 victory on Saturday evening at Bojangles’ Coliseum. New Jersey native John Leonard (24th, 25th) led the Checkers’ attack with goals in the first and second periods. Cal Petersen had a strong effort in keeping the Phantoms in the game but the team had trouble generating chances against Cooper Black in the Charlotte net.
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Phantoms 3 – Charlotte Checkers 2
Anthony Richard (15th) scored the winner on the power play with just 30.1 seconds left to break a late 2-2 tie as the Phantoms earned a split in the weekend series. Jacob Gaucher (20th) and Brendan Furry (9th) also scored goals while Aleksei Kolosov (21/23) enjoyed his return to the Phantoms with a solid win. Richard dropped the gloves with Marek Alscher just three minutes in to set an early tone while also earning a fairly decisive Richard win despite the height disadvantage. Sawyer Boulton had also dropped the gloves in one of the most impressive scraps of the year with several punches landing on Riley Bezeau in their massive tilt early in the second period.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
ROAD WARRIORS – The Phantoms are 10-5-1 on the road since January 1 after beginning the season with a far less stellar 4-8-3 mark in away games from October through December.
TRANSACTIONS –
Mar 6 Matt Miller – Add – Recalled from Reading
Mar 7 Keith Petruzzelli – Del – Loaned to Reading
Mar 7 Aleksei Kolosov – Add – Returned by PHI to Phantoms
Mar 7 Olle Lycksell – Del – Recalled to Flyers
Mar 7 Emil Andrae – Del – Recalled to Flyers
Mar 7 Rodrigo Abols – Del – Recalled to Flyers
Mar 7 Nikita Grebenkin – Add – Trade with Toronto, Loaned by PHI
Mar 7 Givani Smith – Add – Trade with Colorado, Loaned by PHI
Mar 8 Sam Sedley – Add – Recalled from Reading
Mar 8 Matt Brown – Add – Recalled from Reading
A RECORD FOR THE CAPTAIN – Lehigh Valley Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson is on the verge of a team record for most games played. Greg Carey played 277 games with Lehigh Valley from 2016-20. Wilson is at 276 games with Lehigh Valley since joining the team in 2021. The rugged 33-year-old winger has scored 56-69-122 in his five seasons with the Phantoms with 659 penalty minutes, also a Lehigh Valley record. In a pro career beginning in 2011 with the AHL San Antonio Rampage and ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones, Wilson has since played in 874 career professional games over 14 seasons and is on the verge of another milestone, his 400th career pro point, having scored 185-214-399 to date. Wilson’s 1255 career penalty minutes in the AHL makes him the active PIM leader and 82nd all-time in AHL history. In his 689 career AHL games with San Antonio, Portland, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Toronto he has scored 147-180-327. Wilson has also played in 84 career NHL games with Florida and Pittsburgh. Wilson will also move into seventh in Phantoms’ franchise history in games played. The franchise record is held by Peter White who played in 431 games with the Philadelphia Phantoms.
The Captain also has his 34th birthday coming up on Sunday which is scheduled to coincide with his Lehigh Valley record.
WELCOME! – The Phantoms have received forwards Nikita Grebenkin and Givani Smith via trades on Friday by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Grebenkin, 21, arrives from the Toronto Marlies in the Scott Laughton trade. The 6-2 fifth-rounder in 2022 has played most of his season with the Toronto Marlies where he has scored 9-21-30 in 39 games while also seeing action in seven NHL games with the Maple Leafs.
Smith, 27, arrives from Colorado in the Erik Johnson trade and has seen limited action this season with seven NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche and six AHL games with the Colorado Eagles. He has played 168 NHL games in parts of six seasons with Detroit, Florida, San Jose, and Colorado scoring 9-13-22. Smith has played 157 career games in the AHL where he has registered 26-27-53 including stints with Grand Rapids, Charlotte and the Colorado Eagles.
BACK TO THE BIG SHOW – The Flyers recalled three deserving players from the Phantoms summoning defenseman Emil Andrae as well as forwards Rodrigo Abols and Olle Lycksell. Additionally, the Flyers have loaned goaltender Aleksei Kolosov to the Phantoms.
Andrae, 22, has played in 25 games with the Phantoms this season scoring 3-13-16. The second-year pro has also played in 26 games with the Flyers this season scoring 1-5-6. Ābols played has played in 12 games with the Flyers in a season that has included his NHL debut and first NHL goal at 29 years old. The Lativa product has scored 12-15-27 with the Phantoms in 44 games. Lycksell, 25, leads the Phantoms in scoring with 17-24-41 in just 40 games played. He also represented the Phantoms at the AHL All-Star Classic. The third-year pro has also played in nine games with Philadelphia.
PHANTASTIC – The Phantoms are 16-9-2 since January 1. Lehigh Valley is 17-1-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game. The Phantoms are 18-0-2 when holding their opponents to two goals or fewer.
– The Phantoms are 20-6-4 when scoring the first goal and are 15-3-1 when leading at the first intermission.
– The Phantoms have played 58 games which is tied for the most in the AHL. With just 14 games remaining in the season, Lehigh Valley enjoys a more spread out and gradual schedule of games the rest of the way.
IMPENDING MILESTONES
– Garrett Wilson, 399 pro points
– Garrett Wilson, 276 games with Lehigh Valley (Record: Greg Carey, 277 games)
UPCOMING
Friday, March 14, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)
and
Sunday, March 16, 2025 (3:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (31-16-8) arrives to PPL Center for two more rivalry games on Friday and Sunday to conclude the 12-game reason series. The Penguins have been somewhat bumpy and inconsistent lately as displayed by their Jeckell-and-Hyde results last weekend with an 8-3 trouncing of Belleville on Saturday followed immediately by a 5-1 loss to Syracuse the very next day. Filip Larsson (10-6-3, 2.44, .923) is the team’s #1 goaltender now but it’s the Penguins’ uptempo offense that has been especially strong at 3.5 goals per game to tie for best in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles and also a feature a power play converting at 22.5% for second in the AHL behind San Jose.
Ville Koivunen (19-33-52) is the top rookie scorer in the league and a leading candidate for the Red Garrett Memorial Award. Boris Katchouk (19-25-44) has 176 games of NHL experience with Tampa Bay, Chicago and Ottawa and has scored 5-4-9 against the Phantoms. Rookie Tristan Broz (16-11-27) has scored seven goals against Lehigh Valley including an overtime winner in November. The Phantoms are 3-6-1 against the Baby Pens while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton boasts a 6-1-2 mark against Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms most recently won a 4-3 shootout decision at WBS on Valentine’s Day when Jacob Gaucher tied it with 13 minutes left setting up Rodrigo Abols with the winner. But the Penguins avenged the decision two days later at PPL Center in a 4-3 final led by Joel Blomqvist’s 31 saves.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
x – Olle Lycksell 17-24-41
Jacob Gaucher 20-16-36
Samu Tuomaala 11-21-32
Anthony Richard 15-16-31
x – Rodrigo Abols 12-15-27
Zayde Wisdom 9-16-25
UPCOMING
Friday, March 14 (7:05) – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms – St. Patrick’s Day Fun
Sunday, March 16 (3:05) – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms – Kids Takeover!
Wednesday, March 19 (7:05) – Milwaukee Admirals at Phantoms – Pregame Happy Hour, $2 Draft Beers. Cal O’Reilly of the Milwaukee Admirals returns to PPL Center.
Friday, March 21 (7:05) – Syracuse Crunch at Phantoms
Saturday, March 22 (7:05) – Providence Bruins at Phantoms – First ever PHAN-CON! Costumed Characters. Fans can come dressed up as well. Photo Stations and lots of fun!
