PREVIEW: Phantoms vs. Penguins, Game #28
Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-10-5) vs. W-B/Scranton Penguins (14-8-1)
Mohegan Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Saturday, December 21, 2024 (6:05 p.m.) – Game #28
TONIGHT – It’s the final game for the holiday break as the Phantoms trek to northeast Pennsylvania to tangle with the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for their sixth meeting this season.
Lehigh Valley (12-10-5) is rolling and on a three-game win streak after last night’s 7-2 blowout of the Toronto Marlies. The Phantoms moved into a tie for fourth with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (14-8-1) following last night’s result but the Penguins also have four games-in-hand.
After tonight’s game, Phantoms players have a break from practices and games with a few days to visit friends and family for the holidays before returning to Allentown for practice on the evening on Thursday, December 26.
LAST TIME – Olle Lycksell’s natural hat trick was his second hattie of his career and also the second hat trick of the season for Lehigh Valley as the Phantoms clobbered one of the top defenses in the AHL via a 7-2 rout of the Toronto Marlies at PPL Center. Lycksell brought the caps with his third consecutive goal i the opening minutes of the third period but he wasn’t the only Phantoms player with impressive numbers. Jacob Gaucher scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season and added three assists for a Phantoms’ season-high four point night. Alexis Gendron (7th) scored on the power play and added an assist. Zayde Wisdom (3rd) kept up his strong play with his third goal in the last six games while Rodrigo Abols (6th) scored for a second time in the last three games.
The Phantoms blew them away with a five-goal outburst in the second period, the most the Phantoms had scored in a period since April 26, 2021 at the Binghamton Devils. Lehigh Valley’s seven goals in a game was the most since November 18, 2023 in an 8-2 win at the Belleville Senators. And it was the most in a game at home since April 7, 2019 in a franchise record-setting 10-6 win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
HISTORIC – The Phantoms achieved several impressive marks in Friday’s 7-2 blowout win against Toronto.
The Phantoms scored five goals in a period for the 14th time in franchise history. It was the most the Phantoms had scored in a period since April 26, 2021 at the Binghamton Devils.
Lehigh Valley’s seven goals in a game represented the most since November 18, 2023 in an 8-2 win at the Belleville Senators.
And it was the most goals in a game at home since April 7, 2019 in a franchise record-setting 10-6 win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Olle Lycksell’s natural hat trick (all three goals scored consecutively with nobody else scoring in between) was the second in Lehigh Valley history along with Brennan Saulnier on May 9, 2021 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It was the eighth natural hat trick in Phantoms franchise history.
ANDRAE ARRIVES – The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned defenseman Emil Andrae to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Andrae, 22, has played in 20 games with the Flyers this season as well as four games with Philadelphia last year. The slick, puck-moving defenseman scored his first career NHL goal on November 25 against Vegas.
Andrae is in his second full professional season in North America after a solid rookie campaign with Lehigh Valley in which he produced 5-27-32 in 61 games played. He has played in one game with the Phantoms this season on October 25. He played in 10 games with the Phantoms at the end of the 2022-23 season scoring 2-4-6 and on his AHL career with Lehigh Valley has produced 7-32-39 in 72 games. The 5’9″ left-handed shooter from Vastervik, Sweden was a second-round selection (#54) of the Flyers in the 2020 NHL Draft.
TRANSACTIONS
Dec 20 – Emil Andrae – Add – Loaned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
Dec 19 – Sawyer Boulton – Del – Loaned to Reading-ECHL from Phantoms
Dec 19 – Sam Sedley – Del – Loaned to Reading-ECHL from Phantoms
OVERTIME MANIA – Lehigh Valley leads the league with 12 overtime games in just 27 total games played as well as six overtime wins. Lehigh Valley is 6-4 in overtimes and 1-1 in shootouts. Olle Lycksell has tied a franchise record with three overtime goals in a season and also tied a franchise record for fastest overtime goal with his Wednesday night snipe just 14 seconds into the extra period. All three of Lycksell’s overtime goals have come at PPL Center including November 13 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, November 30 against Hershey and December 18 against Providence.
On Saturday in Cleveland, Louie Belpedio became only the fifth player in Phantoms franchise history to record four career overtime goals.
The Phantoms have won consecutive overtime games on three occasions this season, something that had only been done twice in the first 10 years since the team’s arrival to the Lehigh Valley in 2014.
The Phantoms franchise record for overtime wins in a season is eight which has happened two previous times including last year.
PHANTOMS FRANCHISE RECORD BOOK
Overtime Goals in a Season
3 – Olle Lycksell (2024-25)
3 – John Slaney (2003-04)
Fastest Overtime Goal
14 secs – Olle Lycksell (12/18/2024 vs. Providence)
14 secs – Brandon Manning (10/28/2012 at Syracuse)
Overtime Goals in Career:
John Slaney – 6
T.J. Brennan – 5
Peter White – 5
LOUIE BELPEDIO – 4
Jason Akeson – 4
PHANTASTIC –
– The goals keep coming for Jacob Gaucher who now has five goals in the last five games beginning with a two-goal performance last Tuesday at Toronto. Gaucher also has seven goals in the last nine games. He was signed by the Flyers to a two-year NHL contract on December 12 after almost 2.5 seasons on an AHL deal. Gaucher is on a five-game point streak scoring 5-4-9 over the stretch including a career-best four-point performance on Friday against Toronto with one goal and three assists.
– Lehigh Valley is tied with Hershey for the most one-goal games in the AHL with 18 contests out of 27 total being decided by a single score. Lehigh Valley is 9-4-5 in the squeakers including 6-0-2 at home in one-goal games.
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (14-781) is tied with Lehigh Valley for fourth in the division but the Penguins have four games-in-hand. The Penguins dropped a 3-0 decision to former Penguin Matt Murray of the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday. 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 week against Charlotte. It’s actually three hat tricks in the lastsix 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 scored a pair of goals including the game-tying strike with just 1:33 left in the third. Gendron has scored four of his seven goals this season against the Penguins. This is 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.
SCORING LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
Olle Lycksell 9-15-24
Samu Tuomaala 8-14-22
Jacob Gaucher 13-9-22
Anthony Richard 6-10-16
Oscar Eklind 4-8-12
Alexis Gendron 7-5-12
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Emil Bemström 9-13-22
Ville Koivunen 4-14-18
Boris Katchouk 11-5-16
Tristan Broz 8-7-15
Mac Hollowell 0-15-15
Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 21.2%, 7th / PK 82.3%, 18th / PP vs. WBS 4-16, 25.0%
W-B/Scranton – PP 23.3%, 2nd / PK 82.4%, 17th / PP vs. LV 3-18, 16.7%
Series Leaders
Lehigh Valley
Alexis Gendron 4-0-4
Samu Tuomaala 0-4-4
Oscar Eklind 3-0-3
Olle Lycksell 1-2-3
Louie Belpedio 2-0-2
W-B/Scranton
Emil Bemstrom 2-2-4
Sam Poulin 1-3-4
Boris Katchouk 3-0-3
Joona Koppanen 1-2-3
SEASON SERIES
10/18/24 Away – Loss – 3-4
10/19/24 Home – Loss – 0-3
11/6/24 Away – OT Loss – 1-2 (OT)
11/8/24 Home – Win – 5-3
11/13/24 Home – Win – 4-3 (OT)
12/21/24 Away
12/27/24 Away
1/26/25 Away
2/14/25 Away
2/16/25 Home
3/14/25 Home
3/16/25 Home
COMING UP – The Phantoms return to action on Friday, December 27 also at rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before coming back to PPL Center to take on the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, December 28 featuring postgame photos with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance.
UPCOMING
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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