December 17, 2024
Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (10-10-5) return to PPL Center for their final home games before the Holiday Break as they host the Providence Bruins and Toronto Marlies on Wednesday and Friday.
The Phantoms got back in the W column with an exciting overtime win at Cleveland on Saturday to split a two-game series against the first-place Monsters in the culmination of the team’s recent four-game road trip.
Wednesday night is Pregame Happy Hour with $2 Draft Beer Specials.
Friday night is our Holiday Extravaganza with lots of festive fun plus meLVin Youth Knit Winter Caps presented by Reilly Children’s Hospital.
LAST WEEK
December 10 – Phantoms 3 at Marlies 6
December 12 – Phantoms 2 at Monsters 3
December 14 – Phantoms 3 at Monsters 2 (OT)
THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, December 18 (7:05) – Providence Bruins at Phantoms
Friday, December 20 (7:05) – Toronto Marlies at Phantoms
Saturday, December 21 (6:05) Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
WEEKLY RECAP
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Toronto Marlies 6 – Phantoms 3
Jacob Gaucher scored a pair of goals in the first period but the Marlies responded with four rapid-fire goals in the first 11 minutes of the second period in rallying for a 6-3 win North of the Border on Tuesday night. J.R. Avon’s power-play goal late in the second got the Phantoms to within 4-3 but Toronto picked up two more in the third to secure the win.
Defenseman Mikko Kokkonen scored a pair of goals and Alex Steeves added his team-leading 12th of the season while Marlies’ captain Logan Shaw’s three-point effort with one goal and two assists led the offense.
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Cleveland Monsters 3 – Phantoms 2
The Phantoms had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on goals by Garrett Wilson (4th) and Zayde Wisdom (2nd) but the North Division-leading Cleveland Monsters turned the tables on the Phantoms with a pair of goals midway through the period to post a 3-2 victory in northeast Ohio. Wisdom had a goal and assist for his first multi-point game of the season. Wilson’s goal midway through the second period broke a scoreless tie. A 5-on-3 power play granted to Cleveland late in the second period helped the comeback with Trey Fix-Wolansky scoring early in the third. Stanislav Svozil (2nd) scored the winning goal with just 8:52 left. Phantoms goaltender Cal Petersen posted an outstanding 32-save effort in the loss.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Phantoms 3 – Cleveland Monsters 2 (OT)
Louie Belpedio blasted home the overtime winner on Saturday night as the Phantoms earned a split of their two-game series in Cleveland. Cal Petersen had just made a breakaway save on Trey Fix-Wolansky in the overtime and earned his second assist of the night on Belpedio’s fourth career overtime goal on a drive-and-drop by Alexis Gendron. Rodrigo Abols returned to the lineup after a five-game absence and scored the fastest goal of the season just 41 seconds into the game while Jacob Gaucher’s breakaway strike on a Cal Petersen stretch-pass in the second period was good for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
GAUCHER SIGNS NHL DEAL – The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward Jacob Gaucher to a two-year, entry-level contract. Gaucher, 23, had been on an AHL contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and is in his second season with the team and his third in pro hockey. The Longquiel, Quebec native leads the Phantoms with 11 goals and also has six assists for 17 points which is third on Lehigh Valley. Gaucher scored this season’s Teddy Bear Toss goal on December 7 against Hershey and recorded his first career hat trick on November 2 at Springfield. Last year, Gaucher came through with the playoff-series clinching goal in overtime to eliminate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on April 26, 2024.
OVERTIME IS LOUIE-TIME – Louie Belpedio has moved into second in Lehigh Valley history with four career overtime goals with the Phantoms. Only T.J. Brennan (5) has had more extra-time strikes than Belpedio. Three of his four overtime goals have been on the road including two winners at Cleveland as well as an OT goal at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in his very first game for the Phantoms on October 15, 2022. His lone PPL Center overtime strike was April 13, 2024 against Bridgeport.
Phantoms Franchise Record Book
Most Overtime Goals:
John Slaney – 6
T.J. Brennan – 5
Peter White – 5
LOUIE BELPEDIO – 4
Jason Akeson – 4
PHANTASTIC –
– Jacob Gaucher became the first Phantom to reach double digits in goals this season after scoring his 9th and 10th on Tuesday at Toronto. This season’s Teddy Bear Toss goal scorer now has five goals in the last seven games. Gaucher has already eclipsed his AHL rookie season total last year of eight goals.
– Second-year pro J.R. Avon has gotten it going with goals in back-to-back games at the beginning of last week’se road trip with his first of the season on Sunday in Hershey crashing the net followed by a more picturesque goal blasting one top-shelf on the power play in his homecoming to Toronto.
– The Phantoms lead the AHL with 11 overtime games out of 25 games total and also are tied for the tops in overtime wins with five (along with Cleveland) The Phantoms are 5-4 in overtime decisions and are 1-1 in shootouts.
– Lehigh Valley has played in 17 one-goal decisions out of its first 23 games going 8-4-5 in the squeakers. That’s tied for the most one-goal games with Hershey (17). The Phantoms are 5-0-2 at home in one-goal games.
UPCOMING
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 (7:05)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Providence Bruins at Phantoms
Providence (14-10-2) has vaulted from seventh to second in the Atlantic on the strength of a six-game win streak. Following back-to-back losses against the last-place Utica Comets, the ruins have found their offense and have now racked up 25 goals in the last five games including a pair of goals in the win streak from defenseman Mason Millman who played parts of four seasons for the Phantoms. Providence Captain Patrick Brown (6-9-15) is a former Philadelphia Flyer of two seasons with 620 career pro games. Georgii Merkulov (6-17-23) is tied for sixth in the league in assists and had an overtime goal against the Phantoms on November 23 in Rhode Island. Brandon Bussi (5-6-2, 3.05, .889) posted a 30-save shutout against the Phantoms in the first meeting on November 22. After a horrible start, Bussi’s shutout against the Phantoms started the former AHL All-Star netminder back on the right track going 4-1-0, 1.81, .930 since November 22 after beginning the season 1-5-0, 4.11, .857.
Friday, December 20, 2024 (7:05)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Toronto Marlies at Phantoms
Toronto (13-4-5) comes to Allentown for a rematch of last Tuesday’s clash North of the Border. The Marlies’ .705 points percentage is tops in the North Division but due to games-in-hand for all other teams, the Marlies are fourth in points. Toronto’s four regulation losses are fewest in the AHL. Leading scorer Alex Steeves (14-8-22) recently had a six-game goal streak, tied for longest in the AHL. Toronto’s roster has been bolstered by the return of Alex Nylander (11-6-17) from the Maple Leafs. The former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of three seasons racked up a hat trick and overtime winner against Bakersfield on Saturday. Head coach John Gruden is the father of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Jonathan Gruden. The Marlies’ stingy defense is surrendering just 2.64 goals per game, fifth in the AHL and second to Syracuse in the conference.
Saturday, December 21 (6:05)
Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (14-7-1) is tied with Charlotte for second in the Atlantic by points percentage and third in points. First-year head coach Kirk MacDonald was previously head coach and assistant coach with the Reading Royals for eight years. Emil Bemstrom (9-13-22) had a hat trick last Saturday against Springfield in a 5-4 win while Boris Katchouk (11-5-16) racked up a four-goal game during a 6-4 victory last Wednesday against Charlotte. It’s actually three hat tricks in the last five games for the Penguins including the trifecta by Vasily Ponomorev (4-6-10) on December 7 against Hartford. The Phantoms are 2-2-1 against the Penguins this year while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has a 3-1-1 record against Lehigh Valley. Olle Lycksell struck for the overtime winner against the Penguins on November 13 at PPL Center in the most recent meeting after Alexis Gendron struck for a pair of goals including the game-tying strike with just 1:33 left in the third. Gendron has scored four of his six goals this season against the Penguins. This Game 6 out of 12 in the season series. The Phantoms and Penguins will go on Holiday Break after this one and then will rematch when they return from the break back in Wilkes-Barre on Friday, December 27.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Samu Tuomaala 8-12-20
Olle Lycksell 5-13-18
Jacob Gaucher 11-6-17
Anthony Richard 6-10-16
Oscar Eklind 4-8-12
Ethan Samson 5-5-10
UPCOMING
Wednesday, December 18 (7:05) – Providence Bruins at Phantoms – Pregame Happy Hour, $2 Draft Beers
Friday, December 20 (7:05) – Toronto Marlies at Phantoms – meLVin Youth Winter Knit Cap presented by Reilly Children’s Hospital
Saturday, December 21 (6:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
Friday, December 27 (7:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
Saturday, December 28 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms – Postgame Photographs with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance
Tuesday, December 31 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms – Light-up glow sticks from Penn Community Bank. World’s Largest Puck-Drop at Midnight!
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