Round 2 Coming Up!
April 28, 2025
Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are thriving and surviving as they have advanced to the Atlantic Division semifinals to take on the rival Hershey Bears in a Best of 5 series. The Phantoms in the Playoffs is presented by PenTeleData.
For a second consecutive season, the Phantoms swept the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the first round. And for a second consecutive season, the Phantoms will face the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears in the second round.
Games 1 and 2 are in Hershey this Wednesday and Friday.
Then the series comes to PPL Center for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday, May 4 at 5:05 p.m. and Friday, May 9 at 7:05 p.m.
If the series goes the distance then Game 5 would be on Sunday, May 11 at Hershey.
The Phantoms went 5-4-1 against Hershey this season. Lehigh Valley entered the Calder Cup Playoffs as the 5-seed while the Hershey Bears again won the Atlantic Division and have won the last two Calder Cup Championships. Hershey received a bye in the first round and has not played since April 19 when the Phantoms delivered a 4-3 win against the Chocolate and White at GIANT Center in the regular season finale.
The Phantoms are also red-hot with five consecutive wins in the regular season and postseason combined.
LAST WEEK
April 23 – Phantoms 5 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2
April 25 – Phantoms 3 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2
PLAYOFF SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1 – Wednesday, April 30 – Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Game 2 – Friday, May 2 – Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Game 3 – Sunday, May 4 (5:05) – Hershey Bears at Phantoms
* Game 4 – Friday, May 9 – Hershey Bears at Phantoms
* Game 5 – Sunday, May 11 – Phantoms at Hershey Bears
(* – if necessary)
TV COVERAGE – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Service Electric Network are excited to announce that all games of the upcoming series against Hershey, home and away, can be seen on Service Electric Network, the exclusive home of Phantoms hockey all season long.
Home games at PPL Center on Service Electric Network feature veteran announcer Steve Degler and Phantoms’ alum Steven Swavely on the call from the booth. Kristi Fulkerson reports from ice level and also from the Chickie’s and Pete’s studio with Dan Fremuth for pregame, intermission and postgame show analysis.
Away games for the series will be carried on Service Electric Network thanks to a cooperative agreement with the Hershey Bears and Fox-43 television in Harrisburg.
WEEKLY RECAP
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Phantoms 5 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
Alex Bump scored two goals to lead the way while Olle Lycksell had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win at Wilkes-Barre to take a 1-0 lead in the series.. The Phantoms never looked back in racking up a 5-0 lead in northeast Pennsylvania before the Baby Pens scored a pair of goals in “garbage time” in the last five minutes to break Parker Gahagen’s shutout bid. Jett Luchanko and Emil Andrae each recorded a pair of assists while Anthony Richard and Rodrigo Abols also scored goals.
Friday, April 25, 2025
Phantoms 3 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
A raucous and electric atmosphere at PPL Center lifted the Phantoms to a thrilling victory over the Penguins and a 2-0 sweep of the playoff series. Helge Grans scored an athletic winning goal with just 2:00 left by diving for a rebound barely within reach to knock an almost-blind backhander past Sergei Murashov. Parker Gahagen had 29 saves in a tremendous performance while Anthony Richard and Jacob Gaucher also scored goals. The Phantoms fell behind 2-1 early in the third period before Gaucher answered right back with the tying tally. Gaucher was the Playoff Star last year when his overtime goal in Game 2 eliminated the Penguins.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT – Alex Bump has immediately impressed since joining the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after winning an NCAA Championship with Western Michigan on April 12. The 21-year-old from Prior Lake, Minnesota, who was taken in the fifth-round of the 2022 NHL Draft, scored his first pro goal in the season finale at Hershey on April 19 and then scored twice in Lehigh Valley’s series-opening win at the Penguins. he confident, young winger has scored 3-2-5 in his four games since joining the Phantoms right before the final weekend of the regular season. Bump was a USA Today High School Hockey Player of the Year before leading Western Michigan to its first NCAA Championship eliminating the Denver and Boston University at the Frozen Four in St. Louis.
JETT SETTER – 18-year-old rookie defenseman Jett Luchanko is tied for the AHL lead in postseason scoring with four points, all of them on assists. What’s more, Luchanko’s helpers have largely come on some very pretty plays including a drive around the net at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to circle over to the left wing before whipping it right across to Anthony Richard in the right circle for a big one-timer. Luchanko again connected with Richard on Friday night but this time he was flying up the left wing while securing a lead pass from Garrett Wilson before swatting a perfect backhander to an onrushing Richard up the middle who buried his quick breakaway.
The #13 overall selection in the 2024 draft became the youngest player in Philadelphia Flyers history when he debuted on October 12 at 18 years and one month. After spending the remainder of the season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL, Luchanko joined the Phantoms on March 29 for his AHL debut where he became the second-youngest in Phantoms’ franchise history at 18 years and seven months. Only Zayde Wisdom suited up for the Phantoms at a younger age. Luchanko got into the last nine games of the regular season with Lehigh Valley notching three assists.
TEAM LEADERS
Goals: Alexis Gendron (20), Jacob Gaucher (20), Olle Lycksell (19)
Assists: Olle Lycksell (25), Louie Belpedio (23)
Points: Olle Lycksell (44), Jacob Gaucher (38), Anthony Richard (16)
Plus/Minus: Louie Belpedio (+15), Olle Lycksell (+12), Hunter McDonald (+12)
PIM: Garrett Wilson (134), Hunter McDonald (99)
PPG: Anthony Richard (6), Alexis Gendron (5)
SHG: Brendan Furry (5), Furry (2), Gaucher (2), Wilson (2), Wisdom (2)
Shots: Olle Lycksell (151), Ethan Samson (140)
PARK IT! – Stopping pucks has been a walk in the park for 31-year-old Army Captain Parker Gahagen. In his second season with the Phantoms, the almost-lifelong ECHL’er has more than found his stride at the AHL level and has become one of the best goaltenders in the league since the Holiday Break.
Since December 28, Gahagen has gone 2-0, 2.02, .932 in the playoffs 13-3-2, 1.93, .933 in the regular season and postseason combined. Overall this season, Gahagen was 12-4-3, 2.39, .916 on his way to winning the first annual Tony Voce Award, along with Olle Lycksell, as a co-MVP as voted on by the players.
PHANTOMS PLAYOFFS PHAST PHACTS – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs for a second consecutive season and also for a third time in the team’s history.
The deepest Lehigh Valley has made it was the team’s 2018 run to the Conference Finals which included a 3-1 series win over the Providence Bruins and then a 4-1 series win over the Charlotte Checkers before falling just short of a bid to make it to the Calder Cup Finals in falling to the Toronto Marlies.
This is the third time Lehigh Valley has faced Hershey in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Hershey eliminated the Phantoms 3 games to 2 in 2017 and the Bears got the better of the Phantoms last year as well 3 games to 1.
The Phantoms are in the Playoffs for the 15th time in franchise history and are also appearing for the fifth time since the team arrived in Allentown in 2014. The Philadelphia Phantoms have twice won the Calder Cup in 1998 and 2005.
THAT’S BEARY INTERESTING! – Hershey (44-20-8) wrapped up the Atlantic Division crown and is seeking to become just the second team ever to win three consecutive Calder Cups. The Phantoms have other ideas. Lehigh Valley won the last two meetings against Hershey including a 5-1 thrashing at PPL Center on April 12 with four defensemen scoring against Clay Stevenson and a 4-3 decision on April 19 at GIANT Center in the season finale.
Lehigh Valley is 5-4-1 against Hershey. Veteran dfefenseman Ethan Bear (10-36-46) led the team in scoring and has racked up 2-7-9 against the Phantoms but was recalled to the Washington Capitals for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Penn State product Alex Limoges (17-27-44) is having another strong season and is now their active leading scorer. First rounders Ivan Miroshnichenko (23-19-42) and Hendrix Lapierre (7-25-32) had stretches with Washington but have spent the second half of the campain working on their abilities in the AHL.
Last year’s Bastien Memorial Award winner as top goaltender in the league, Hunter Shepard (23-11-4, 2.80, .891), has been returned from the Caps but has certainly not found the same form that made him so successful a season ago when the University of Minnesota-Duluth product went 27-4-3, 1.76, .929. Elliot Desnoyers (1-5-6), Helge Grans (3-2-5), Olle Lycksell (2-3-5) and Jacob Gaucher (3-1-4) are among Lehigh Valley’s scoring leaders in the season series while Cal Petersen (4-3-1, 2.19, .918) has been especially strong against our I-78 rivals.
YOU AGAIN? – The Hershey Bears’ roster includes five former Phantoms players, the most of any AHL team.
32-year-old veteran Mike Vecchione is in his fourth season with the team. He began as a rookie with Lehigh Valley in 2017-18 where he played for two seasons. Matt Strome (9-13-22) set a career-high for goals in his third season with the Bears. Last year’s Calder Cup Championship hero with a Game 6 overtime winner had previously played parts of four seasons with Lehigh Valley. 31-year-old feisty agitator Brennan Saunier is in his first season with Hershey following two years with Belleville. He racked up 129 penalty minutes with Lehigh Valley in two seasons from 2020-21 through 2021-22. 32-year-old Dalton Smith just signed on for another season with Hershey. The son of Derrick Smith, who played six seasons for the Flyers, briefly appeared for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms nine years ago suiting up in 11 games. And 37-year-old Garrett Roe is in the twilight of his career in his second season with the Bears. Roe played for the former Adirondack Phantoms, before the team moved to Allentown, suiting up for the Orange and Black in 129 games from 2011-13.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Olle Lycksell 19-25-44
Jacob Gaucher 20-18-38
Anthony Richard 17-19-36
Rodrigo Abols 15-17-32
Zayde Wisdom 17-15-32
Samu Tuomaala 11-21-32
Alexis Gendron 20-8-28
Garrett Wilson 14-14-28
UPCOMING
Calder Cup Playoffs – Atlantic Division Semifinals
Best of 5 Series
Game 1 – Wednesday, April 30 – Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Game 2 – Friday, May 2 – Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Game 3 – Sunday, May 4 (5:05) – Hershey Bears at Phantoms
* Game 4 – Friday, May 9 – Hershey Bears at Phantoms
* Game 5 – Sunday, May 11 – Phantoms at Hershey Bears
