Phantoms Weekly – Phantoms Return to PPL Center This Saturday, Sunday

January 3, 2017

This Week

Friday, January 6 (7:15 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms @ Hartford Wolf Pack

Saturday, January 7 (7:05 p.m.) – Albany Devils @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(Girl Scout Night.)

Sunday, January 8 (5:05 p.m.) – Utica Comets @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(Star Wars Night.)

Upcoming

Winners of six of their last eight games, the red-hot Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-8-2, 44 pts., 2nd Atlantic Division) will open the calendar year of 2017 with three games this week, including a pair of showdowns this Saturday and Sunday at PPL Center. The Phantoms are currently tied with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the AHL lead with 21 total wins and boast the third-most standings points in the 30-team AHL (44).

Lehigh Valley returns to action this Friday, January 6 when it heads up to Hartford for a 7:15 p.m. clash with the Wolf Pack. Hartford (11-17-4, 26 pts., 7th Atlantic Division) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end last week as the Wolf Pack dropped three straight contests to close 2016. After a 5-2 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last Monday pushed Hartford’s winning streak to a season-high four games, the Wolf Pack quickly saw that streak snapped after a 3-2 loss at home on Tuesday to the Providence Bruins. From there, Hartford was handed a 3-2 defeat by the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday followed by a 3-1 loss at home to the Albany Devils on Sunday to close the busy four-game week.

Friday’s contest will mark the fifth of eight total meetings during the 2016-2017 regular season between the Phantoms and Wolf Pack with Lehigh Valley having posted a solid 2-1-1 mark through the first four meetings. The Phantoms have outscored the Wolf Pack 14-9 through the first four collisions.

The Phantoms then hit the ice at PPL Center for the first time in 2017 on Saturday, January 7 when they welcome the Albany Devils, AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, to downtown Allentown for the first and only time this season. Albany (19-13-1, 39 pts., 2nd North Division) won three of its four games last week and enters the week having claimed six of its last eight outings overall. After a 4-2 setback to the Providence Bruins last Monday, the Devils rattled off consecutive victories over the Toronto Marlies, Hartford and Bridgeport in the span of just three days.

Saturday’s game, which is Girl Scout Night at PPL Center, will mark the first of just two total meetings this season between Lehigh Valley and Albany with the Eastern Conference foes set to close their regular season series at Times Union Center in Albany on Friday, February 3.

A limited number of tickets remain for Saturday’s game and can be purchased online HERE.

The Phantoms then close this week’s action on Sunday, January 8 when they host the Utica Comets, AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, in a 5:05 p.m. showdown at PPL Center. Utica (10-15-6, 26 pts., 7th North Division) dropped all three of its games last week and enters the week in the midst of a nine-game winless skid having posted a 0-4-5 mark since December 9. The Comets have been outscored 33-19 over their last nine games and have been the victim of six one-goal setbacks during their recent slide.

Sunday’s game, which is Star Wars Night at PPL Center, will mark the second of four total meetings during the 2016-17 regular season between Lehigh Valley and Utica. The Phantoms claimed the only prior head-to-head contest in the season series with a 4-1 victory at Utica Memorial Auditorium back on November 11.

A limited number of tickets remain for Sunday’s game and can be purchased online HERE.

  • Phantoms By The Numbers
  • The Phantoms are currently the highest-scoring team in the American Hockey League averaging 3.71 goals per game.
  • No team in the AHL has more wins when scoring first this season (16) than Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms are an impressive 16-4 when netting the game’s first goal this year.
  • Forward Jordan Weal is currently first among Lehigh Valley skaters and tied for fifth among all AHLers in total scoring with 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) this season. Weal has tallied at least one point in 10 of his last 13 games overall and has produced an impressive 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists) during his recent surge.
  • Defenseman T.J. Brennan is second among all Phantoms and tied for second among all active AHL blueliners in scoring with 28 points. Brennan leads all AHL defenders with 10 total goals and is tied for the league lead with six power play markers.
  • Forward Greg Carey (right) enters the week leading all Lehigh Valley skaters and is third among all AHLers with 16 goals this season. Carey has found the back of the net in five of his last six games and the Phantoms are an impressive 11-1-1 when he scores this season.
  • Goaltender Alex Lyon is currently tied for the league lead among AHL netminders with 14 wins this season. Lehigh Valley’s starter in 19 of the team’s last 20 games overall, Lyon is third in the league in minutes played (1,323) and third in total saves (597).

Last Week

Monday, December 26: Hershey Bears 5 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2

Colin McDonald (13th) and Andy Miele (3rd) both scored for Lehigh Valley Monday evening but the Hershey Bears were able to mount a second period comeback en route to a 5-2 win in front of 8,800 fans inside PPL Center. Christian Thomas (goal, assist), Zach Sill (goal, assist) and Chandler Stephenson (2 assists) paced the offensive effort for visiting Hershey as the Pennsylvania rivals have now split their first six meetings of the 2016-17 season.

Monday’s standing room-only sellout marked the 50th regular season Phantoms sellout since PPL Center opened its doors in the Fall of 2014.

Wednesday, December 28: Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4 – Rochester Americans 2

Rochester native Mark Zengerle (7th, 8th) scored twice and T.J. Brennan added a pair of assists as the Phantoms earned their third straight victory over the Rochester Americans with a 4-2 win inside Blue Cross Arena. Robert Hagg (2nd) and Greg Carey (16th) also converted for Lehigh Valley while goaltender Alex Lyon earned the victory between the pipes with 14 saves on 16 Rochester shots.

The 16 shots against marked the fewest shots allowed in a single game by the Phantoms this season.

Friday, December 30: Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3 – Rochester Americans 4 (OT)

Greg Carey notched his team-leading 16th goal of the season and Danick Martel (8th) and Chris Conner (8th) both converted on the power play as the Phantoms closed the calendar year of 2016 by earning a critical standings point in a 4-3 overtime decision to the Rochester Americans. T.J. Brennan added a pair of assists for his seventh multi-point game of the season while Alex Lyon turned in a strong performance between the pipes with a 36-save outing.

Friday’s contest capped the season series between Lehigh Valley and Rochester with the Phantoms finishing the 2016-17 regular season with an impressive 3-0-1 mark against the Americans.

Broadcast Coverage

Service Electric’s TV2 Sports will be broadcasting live all of the Phantoms’ 23 remaining regular season home games. If you can’t make it out to the rink, be sure to catch all the exciting action live in HD quality with Steve Degler, Todd Fedoruk, Doug Heater and Kristi Fulkerson! Pre-game coverage begins with “Phantoms Front and Center” 30 minutes before puck drop. And don’t miss “Phantoms – Breaking the Ice” every Monday from 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. throughout the season live at Chickie’s & Pete’s at PPL Center!

Be sure to also catch each and every Phantoms game this season live on 1470-AM WSAN, 790-AM WAEB 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. “Countdown to Faceoff” begins 45 minutes prior to puck drop.

Ticket Information

Tickets for each of the Phantoms’ 23 remaining regular season home games are available now online at pplcenter.com, by calling 610-347-TIXX [8499] or in-person at the PPL Center Box Office [7th & Hamilton].

RISE UP! Another thrilling season of Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey at PPL Center is underway! Reserve your season tickets and group outings for the 2016-2017 season of Phantoms hockey today. For more information on how to reserve your seat at PPL Center to the hottest ticket in town, call the Phantoms front office today at 610-224-GOAL [4625].

And for the latest Phantoms news, visit www.phantomshockey.com or follow the team on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lehighvalleyphantoms), Twitter (@lvphantoms), Instagram (@lehighvalleyphantoms) and Snapchat (lvphantoms).

The Phantoms are thrilled to host the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross at PPL Center January 28-30. The AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross includes a Phan Fest during the day on Saturday, January 28 and a Tailgate Party that evening, followed by the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday, January 29 and the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday, January 30. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime event. Packages starting at just $67 for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic weekend are on sale now and include admission to Saturday’s Phan Fest & Tailgate Party, Sunday’s AHL All-Star Skills Competition and Monday’s All-Star Game. To purchase tickets, please visit www.phantomshockey.com or www.pplcenter.com .

The Phantoms are coming off their 20th Anniversary Season and are currently in their third campaign in the Lehigh Valley playing at the state-of-the-art 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 20 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).