Phantoms Weekly – Home Stand Continues with 3 Games at PPL Center

November 18, 2014

This Week
Wednesday, November 19 (7:05 PM) – Hershey Bears @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(The Phantoms Renew Their Heated Rivalry With The Bears!)

Friday, November 21 (7:05 PM) – Worcester Sharks @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(FREE Movember Shirts For All Fans In Attendance!)

Saturday, November 22 (7:05 PM) – St. John’s IceCaps @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(Movember Weekend Continues With Face Painting by Phantoms’ Wives & Girlfriends!)

Upcoming

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, proud AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, continue their five-game home stand with three tilts at PPL Center this week.

Phantoms_Movember_T-ShirtLehigh Valley (6-6-1, 13 pts.) returns to action tomorrow when the Phantoms renew their rivalry with the Hershey Bears in a 7:05 PM contest at PPL Center. Wednesday’s match-up marks the third of 12 total meetings during the 2014-2015 regular season between Lehigh Valley and Hershey. The Phantoms netted three goals in a span of less than two minutes with under six minutes left in regulation on October 24th in earning a come-from-behind 4-2 triumph over the Bears before Hershey returned the favor with a 3-0 win at Giant Center just 48 hours later.

Lehigh Valley’s busy week continues Friday when the Phantoms welcome the Worcester Sharks to town for the first time this season. Friday’s game is Free Shirt Friday at PPL Center as all fans in attendance will receive a FREE Movember-themed Phantoms shirt! The contest will be the second of four total meetings this season between Lehigh Valley and Worcester after the Sharks edged out a 4-3 win over the Phantoms at DCU Center on November 5th. Taylor Leier, Petr Straka and Brandon Alderson all scored for Lehigh Valley that evening while goaltender Anthony Stolarz chipped in 31 saves for the Phantoms.

Finally, the Phantoms conclude their three-game week with the fourth game of the team’s five-game home stand on Saturday when Lehigh Valley hosts the St. John’s IceCaps for the first time this season. Saturday’s outing will continue Lehigh Valley’s Movember weekend as wives and girlfriends of the Phantoms will be on hand to paint mustaches onto fans! Lehigh Valley and St. John’s have yet to square off this season with Saturday’s match-up serving as the first of four head-to-head showdowns between the Phantoms and IceCaps this season.

Tickets for all three games are available now at the Mealey’s Furniture Box Office at PPL Center (701 Hamilton), by calling 610-347-TIXX (8499) or online at pplcenter.com.

Offensive Leaders

JustSports PhotographyPhantoms forwards Nick Cousins and Scott Laughton enter the week tied for the team lead in scoring with 11 points each.

Cousins, a 21-year-old center from Belleville, Ontario, leads all Lehigh Valley skaters with seven assists and five multi-point games. A second-year forward, Cousins enters the week with Lehigh Valley’s best plus/minus rating (plus-four) and even though he’s currently ninth on the team in shots on goal (19 total shots), he presently owns the squad’s best active shooting percentage (21.1 percent).

Meanwhile, Laughton, a 20-year-old pivot from Oakville, Ontario, is currently pacing all Phantoms and is tied for second among all AHL rookies with six goals. A 6’1″, 190-pound forward, Laughton enters the week tied for fifth among all first-year AHLers in total scoring and has already amassed four multi-point outings this year.

JustSports PhotographyHighway “Rob”bery

Rob Zepp has fit in perfectly in his first season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

A 33-year-old netminder from Newmarket, Ontario, Zepp is back in the AHL after spending the last seven seasons with the Berlin Polar Bears of the Deutsche Liga (DEL) and he’s been an early season difference maker for the Phantoms.

Through the season’s opening six weeks, Zepp has compiled a 6-3-1 record overall to go along with a sparkling 2.56 goals-against average coupled with a stingy .920 save percentage. But his contributions go far beyond those surface statistics.

In just 10 appearances, Zepp has already produced six outings with 29 saves or more and recorded a season-high 42 denials as part of a 3-2 road win earlier this month at the Manchester Monarchs. What’s more, the 6’2″, 200-pound netminder has allowed just two goals against six times already this season and has yet to allow more than four goals against in a single game.

Last Week

Friday, November 14: Lehigh Valley Phantoms 1 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3

Photo courtesy JustSports Photography.
Brandong Manning scored for the Phantoms and goaltender Rob Zepp surrendered just two goals against for the fifth time this season as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins edged out a 3-1 victory over Lehigh Valley last Friday evening.

Scott Laughton and Andrew Gordon assisted on Manning’s man-advantage marker as Lehigh Valley connected on the power play on the road for the eighth time in eight road outings. As a result, the Phantoms enter the week boasting the AHL’s seventh-best road power play at 21.6 percent.

Saturday, November 15: Toronto Marlies 2 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3

Scott Laughton and Nick Cousins scored just 57 seconds apart in the first period and Brandon Manning pumped in the eventual game-winner with less than four minutes to play in regulation as the Phantoms improved to 4-1-1 in one-goal games thanks to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Marlies at PPL Center. Saturday’s contest featured the second standing room-only crowd in five regular season games in the Phantoms new home and was the third game to house more than 8,000 supporters.

Laughton recorded a goal and an assist for his fourth multi-point effort of the season while Rob Zepp turned in another marvelous performance with 28 saves on 30 Toronto shots as the 33-year-old netminder improved to 6-3-1 on the season.

Broadcast Coverage

Service Electric’s TV2 Sports will be broadcasting live all of the Phantoms’ 33 remaining regular season home games. If you can’t make it out to the rink, be sure to catch all the exciting action in high definition with Steve Degler and former Flyers and Phantoms goaltender Brian Boucher! And don’t miss “Phantoms – Breaking the Ice” every Monday from 7:00 – 8:00 PM throughout the season live at Chickie’s & Pete’s (701 Hamilton Street)!

Be sure to also catch each and every Phantoms game this season live on Fox Sports 1470 AM, online at Fox1470.com or via the iHeartRadio app! Join Voice of the Phantoms, Bob Rotruck, for all of the heart-pumping action of Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey whether the team is at home or on the road. Nazareth Pallett Countdown to Faceoff begins 45 minutes prior to puck drop.

Ticket Information

Tickets for all of the Phantoms’ 33 remaining regular season home games, including this Wednesday’s and this Saturday’s highly-anticipated showdowns, are on sale now at the Mealey’s Furniture Box Office at PPL Center (7th & Hamilton), by calling 610-347-TIXX (8499) or online at pplcenter.com.

Check it out! Don’t miss the action and fun of Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey at PPL Center in downtown Allentown! Contact the Phantoms Front Office for information on season tickets and affordable partial-season plans by calling 610-224-GOAL (4625).

In their 19th season of operation, the Phantoms are currently in the midst of their Inaugural Season as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms playing at the brand-new PPL Center. Established in 1996, the Philadelphia Phantoms spent their first 13 seasons at the Spectrum before re-locating to Glens Falls, New York in 2009 where the team spent the next five seasons as the Adirondack Phantoms. A new era of Phantoms hockey began in the fall of 2014 when the Lehigh Valley Phantoms began play at the state-of-the-art PPL Center. Through 18 incredibly successful campaigns, the Phantoms have captured two Calder Cup Championships (1998, 2005), two Conference Championships (1998, 2005), two Regular Season Titles (1996-97, 1997-98) and four Division Championships (1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2003-04).