PREVIEW: Phantoms at Islanders, Game #44

Lehigh Valley Phantoms (20-17-6) at Bridgeport Islanders (10-27-4)
Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CT
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 (7:00 p.m.) – Game #44

TODAY – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms play their final game before the AHL All-Star Break as they visit the last-place Bridgeport Islanders in Game 3 out of 6 in the season series.

Lehigh Valley (20-17-6) Lehigh Valley (20-17-6) is in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and only two points back of the fourth-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and three points behind the third-place Charlotte Checkers.

LAST TIME –Emil Bemstrom (17th, 18th, 19th) recorded his second hat trick of the season and the Penguins went 3-for-4 on the power play as Lehigh Valley dropped the Sunday afternoon weekend finale in northeast Pennsylvania. Cooper Marody scored his first goal of the season to conclude his stretch of his first games joining the lineup. Lehigh Valley was also without captain Garrett Wilson (injury) and one of the leading scorers, Samu Tuomaala (illness). The Baby Pens struck three times in the first to obtain a comfortable lead early. The Phantoms had a season-low 17 shots against Tristan Jarry. Aleksei Kolosov made 30 saves but lost in his second decision of the weekend.

MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/

PACKING THEM IN – Saturday’s packed house crowd at PPL Center of 8,901 fans was the team’s largest in seven years. The Phantoms reached 8,900 fans in a game for the ninth time in team history since arriving to the Lehigh Valley in 2014. The team responded with an inspired performance in an especially exciting 2-1 last-minute over the Bridgeport Islanders as the crowd roared. Thank You, Phans!!!

PHANTASTIC – 

– Cooper Marody made his belated season debut in Friday night’s game against Springfield and then scored his first goal of the season on Sunday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The elite play-maker and goal-scorer led the Phantoms last season with 56 points on 19 goals and 37 assists. But this year he had been sidelined since taking an injury during the preseason in September. Marody missed the first 40 games of the season. Marody played in his 300th career AHL game on Sunday at Wilkes-Barre.

– Olle Lycksell had a four-game goal streak that was also over a month long. Before this weekend, Lycksell’s last game with the Phantoms had been on December 20 when he recorded a hat trick against Toronto after which he received a recall to the Flyers. Lycksell also had a six-game point streak (7-4-11) dating back to December 8 before being held off the scoresheet ton Sunday to snap the streak.

– Parker Gahaen has thrived in his return to the Phantoms and especially in the last month. The 31-year-old Army Captain has a personal five-game win streak since December 28 going an incredible 5-0-0, 1.17, .955 during that stretch. Gahagen’s microscopic 1.17 GAA leads the AHL for all goalies with two or more games played in the past month.

– Garrett Wilson is second all-time in Lehigh Valley history with 261 career games. The 33-year-old captain is just 17 games away from equaling the team record of 277 games held by Greg Carey. Wilson is approaching another impressive career milestone as he currently stands at 396 pro points.

– Lehigh Valley leads the league in overtime games (15), overtime wins (7) and is also tied with Hershey for the most one-goal games (27). The Phantoms are 7-5 in OT decisions and 2-1 in shootouts. The Phantoms are 15-6-6 in one-goal games including 9-1-3 at home.

IMPENDING MILESTONES
– Garrett Wilson, 397 pro points
– Louie Belpedio, 398 pro games

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND – Bridgeport (10-27-4) is dead last in the AHL but has been showing improvement lately. The Phantoms picked up a 2-1 win over the B-Isles at PPL Center last Saturday. The Bridgeport Islanders won the season-series opener on January 12 by a 5-0 count. The Islanders are a dreadful 2-16-2 at home but one of those wins was against the Phantoms. 31-year-old Islanders captain Cole Bardreau (3-7-10) recently played in his 500th career AHL game including 226 games with the Phantoms during the first five seasons of the team in Lehigh Valley. 35-year-old sniper Chris Terry (12-24-36) leads the team and had two goals against Lehigh Valley in the first matchup. He is also the AHL’s active career-scoring leader with 323 goals and 777 points. Former Hershey Bear Brian Pinho (17-10-27) had a six-game goal streak early in the season and was named to represent the Islanders at the AHL All-Star Classic. The Islanders are surrendering 3.9 goals per game, worst in the AHL, and their 73.8% penalty kill, which rates 30th out of 32, isn’t exactly helping their cause. The Islanders are hoping the arrival of goaltender Hunter Miska from the KHL will help their cause. Jakub Skarek was recalled to the New York Islanders. Henrik Tikkanen (3-9-0, 4.96, .845) has been particularly disappointing although recording his first career shutout against the Phantoms just over two weeks ago.

Scoring Leaders
Phantoms
Samu Tuomaala 8-19-27
Olle Lycksell 12-15-27
Jacob Gaucher 14-11-25
x – Rodrigo Abols 9-10-19
x – Anthony Richard 8-11-19
Alexis Gendron 11-7-18

Bridgeport
Chris Terry 12-24-36
Laim Foud 15-13-28
Brian Pinho 17-10-27
Alex Jeffries 8-15-23
Samuel Bolduc 4-15-19

Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 18.1%, 12th / PK 80.4%, 23rd / PP vs. BRI, 1-7, 14.3%
Bridgeport – PP 17.8%, 15th / PK 74.8%, 30th / PP vs. LV, 2-7, 28.6%

Series Leaders
Lehigh Valley
Olle Lycksell 2-0-2
Louie Belpedio 0-1-1

Bridgeport
Chris Terry 3-1-4
Liam Foudy 1-2-3

SEASON SERIES
1/12/25 Away – Loss – 0-5
1/25/25 Home – Win – 2-1
1/29/25 Away
2/28/25 Home
3/1/25 Home
4/2/25 Away (10:30 a.m.)

COMING UP –  The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are off for the next nine days during the AHL All-Star Break. Olle Olle Lycksell will represent the Phantoms at the AHL All-Star Classic in Coachella Valley, Cal. Feb 2-3.
The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Friday, February 7 against the Cleveland Monsters and Saturday, February 8 against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

UPCOMING

Wednesday, January 29 (7:00) – Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders

Monday, February 2 – Tuesday, February 3 – All-Star Break. AHL All-Star Classic at Coachella Valley

Friday, February 7 (7:05) – Cleveland Monsters at Phantoms – Berks $1 Hot Dogs

Saturday, February 8 (7:05) – Hartford Wolf Pack at Phantoms – Postgame Autographs with Team presented by NJM Insurance

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