Lehigh Valley Phantoms (24-18-6) vs. W-B/Scranton Penguins (26-12-6)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Sunday, February 16, 2025 (3:05 p.m.) – Game #49
TODAY – It’s meLVin’s Birthday with all his mascot friends as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms wrap up the weekend with a Sunday afternoon rematch against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Lehigh Valley (24-18-6) is aiming for a perfect six-point weekend after winning two straight and also four of its last five including a Friday night shootout win at Wilkes. The Phantoms are above the playoff cut-line in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. There are 24 games remaining in the regular season.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (26-12-6) has dropped a pair of heartbreakers over this Valentine’s Weekend in which the Penguins blew third-period leads on Friday against the Phantoms and on Saturday in an overtime loss against Hershey.
This is Game 10 out of 12 in the season series. The Phantoms are 3-5-1 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season including 2-1-0 at PPL Center.
LAST TIME – Alexis Gendron (14th, 15th) was hot during a summertime theme at PPL Center. The 21-year-old rookie sizzled home a pair of goals to lead a 4-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch. Anthony Richard (9th) and Adam Ginning (2nd) with an empty-netter also found the back of thenet. Keith Petruzzelli (16/18) recorded his first win with the Phantoms since his recall from Reading and also his first in the AHL in 13 months since his last victory which was also at PPL Center with the Toronto Marlies against the Phantoms.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
TRANSACTIONS –
Feb 8 Anthony Richard – Add – Returned by PHI to Phantoms
Feb 9 Jacob Gaucher – Add – Returned by PHI to Phantoms
Feb 9 Emil Andrae – Add – Returned by PHI to Phantoms
Feb 9 Rodrigo Abols – Add – Returned by PHI to Phantoms
Feb 10 JoJo Cassaro – Del – Loaned to Reading
REINFORCEMENTS –
Defenseman Emil Andrae and forwards Rodrigo Ābols, Jacob Gaucher and Anthony Richard have all recently returned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms as the Philadelphia Flyers have gone on a two-week Four Nations Tournament break.
Andrae, 22, has played in 15 games with the Phantoms this season scoring 2-7-9 while also playing in 24 NHL games with Philadelphia scoring 1-5-6.
Ābols, 29, was recalled to Philadelphia on January 20 and played in nine games with the Flyers scoring his first career NHL goal on February 4 at Utah. The Lativa product as scored 9-11-20 with the Phantoms in 35 games.
Gaucher, 23, made his NHL debut with the Flyers at Colorado on Sunday, February 2 and played in four total games with Philadelphia. Gaucher’s busy week saw him play five games in seven days between the Flyers and Phantoms combined. He leads the Phantoms with 15 goals.
Richard, 28, has played in 15 games with the Flyers scoring 2-4-6 setting a new personal high for most NHL games in a single season eclipsing his previous mark of 13 games wth Montreal in 2022-23. With the Phantoms this season, he has scored 8-12-20 in 20 games played while also missing a month due to injury. Richard just played his 500th career AHL game last week with stints in Lehigh Valley, Providence, Laval, Syracuse, Chicago and Milwaukee scoring 152 career goals with 168 assists for 320 points. He has also played in 39 career NHL games scoring 6-8-14.
PHANTASTIC –
– Goaltender Parker Gahagen has a personal seven-game win streak since December 28 going an incredible 7-0-0, 1.38, .947 during that stretch. Gahagen’s microscopic 1.38 GAA is second in the AHL in that stretch for all goalies with two or more games played. The 31-year-old Army Captain improved to 3-0 in shootouts with victories on January 17 at Rochester, February 7 vs. Cleveland and February 14 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
– 21-year-old rookie winger Alexis Gendron had his second multi-goal game of the season and has caught up to Jacob Gaucher for the team lead in goals. Both Gendron and Gaucher have 15 goals apiece. Gendron has been heating up with four goals in the last six games.
– The Phantoms have won two straight and four of their last five. Lehigh Valley is six games over .500 for the first time this season.
– The Phantoms lead the AHL with 17 overtime games and are also tied for the tops with seven OT wins (along with Laval). Olle Lycksell leads the AHL with three overtime winners. Lehigh Valley is 7-5 in overtimes and 4-1 in shootouts.
Lehigh Valley is also second in one-goal games with 29 (Hershey has 31) and boasts a record of 17-6-6 in the squeakers including 10-1-3 at home.
IMPENDING MILESTONES
– Garrett Wilson, 398 pro points
– Garrett Wilson, 265 games with Lehigh Valley (Record: Greg Carey, 277 games)
YOU AGAIN? – The Phantoms take on the rival Penguins for the second time this weekend and the 10th time this season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (26-11-6) has now gone winless in three straiht including a heartbreaking overtime loss against Hershey on Saturday. Chase Priskie tied the game for the Bears with jsut 13 seconds left before Henrix Lapierre’s overtime winner. The Phantoms topped the Penguins on Friday via Rodrigo Abols’ shootout winner in the third round after Jacob Gaucher had tied the game on the power play with 12:54 to go in the third period. Ville Koivunen (15-24-39) is tops in the AHL among rookie scorers. Reinforcements for the Baby Pens have arrived while veteran goaltender Tristan Jarry has been recalled to Pittsburgh. Joel Blomqvist is back as are Ponomorev and Emil Bemstrom (20-24-44) who is second in the AHL in scoring. Boris Katchouk has scored 6-5-11 in the season series. He’s a former NHL’er of 176 career games with Chicago, Ottawa and Tampa Bay. Corey Andonovski has been traded to St. Louis in return for Mathias Laferrière from Springfield.
Lehigh Valley is 3-5-1 against the Penguins overall this year. This is Game 10 out of 12 in the season series. The Phantoms are 2-1-0 against the Penguins at PPL Center including a November 13 overtime win on Olle Lycksell’s strike in the Pens’ most recent Allentown visitation. Alexis Gendron had two goals in that game and has scored four of his 15 goals this season against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Samu Tuomaala has recorded five assists against the Penguins while Oscar Eklind has scored three of his five goals this season against Wilkes
Scoring Leaders
Phantoms
Samu Tuomaala 11-20-31
Olle Lycksell 13-17-30
Jacob Gaucher 15-14-29
Alexis Gendron 15-7-22
Rodrigo Abols 9-12-21
Anthony Richard 9-12-21
W-B/Scranton
Emil Bemstrom 20-24-44
Ville Koivunen 15-24-39
Boris Katchouk 15-21-36
Vasily Ponomarev 11-18-29
Mac Hollowell 1-25-26
Avery Hayes 13-13-26
Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 18.2%, 16th / PK 80.4%, 22rd / PP vs. WBS, 7-29, 24.1%
W-B/Scranton – PP 24.0%, 1st / PK 83.6%, 10th / PP vs. LV, 10-38, 26.3%
SEASON SERIES
10/18/24 Away L 3-4
10/19/24 Home L 0-3
11/6/24 Away OTL 1-2 (OT)
11/8/24 Home W 5-3
11/13/24 Home W 4-3 (OT)
12/21/24 Away L 2-7
12/27/24 Away L 2-3
1/26/25 Away L 1-5
2/14/25 Away W 3-2 (SO)
2/16/25 Home
3/14/25 Home
3/16/25 Home
SERIES LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
Samu Tuomaala 1-5-6
Alexis Gendron 4-0-4
Oscar Eklind 3-1-4
Ethan Samson 2-2-4
Olle Lycksell 1-3-4
W-B/Scranton
Emil Bemstrom 6-5-11
Boris Katchouk 5-4-9
Ville Koivunen 2-5-7
Tristan Broz 6-0-6
Mac Hollowell 0-6-6
Joel Blomqvist 1-0-1, 1.93, .931
COMING UP – The Phantoms embark on a four-game road trip to Grand Rapids, Rockford and Milwaukee next week. The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1 for a two-game series against the Bridgeport Islanders featuring Hockey is For Everyone Night and a Mardi Gras Celebration!
UPCOMING
Sunday, February 16 (3:05) – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms – meLVin’s Birthday with his mascot friends!
Wednesday, February 19 (7:00) – Phantoms at Grand Rapids Griffins
Friday, February 21 (7:00) – Phantoms at Grand Rapids Griffins
Saturday, February 22 (8:00) – Phantoms at Rockford IceHogs
Tuesday, February 25 (8:00) – Phantoms at Milwaukee Admirals
