Phantoms Power Play Presented by Provident Bank

Heading North

March 25, 2025

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms open a three-game road trip with a pair of games in Canada this weekend at the Belleville Senators and Laval Rocket.

Lehigh Valley (31-25-7) continues its push for a third consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs with a Magic Number of 11 points and nine games remaining in the regular season. Lehigh Valley is holding steady at fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The top six teams qualify for the playoffs.

While the Phantoms are on the road, PPL Center will still be busy with plenty of exciting hockey as Allentown hosts the NCAA Regionals for a fifth time since 2018. Friday at 5:00 p.m. features 2 seed Connecticut Huskies against the 3 seed Quinnipiac Bobcats and then the 8:30 p.m. matchup includes the host Penn State Nittany Lions taking on the 1 seed Maine Black Bears.

LAST WEEK
March 19 – Phantoms 6 – Milwaukee Admirals 3
March 21 – Syracuse Crunch 3 – Phantoms 0
March 22 – Providence Bruins 3 – Phantoms 1

THE WEEK AHEAD
Friday, March 29 (7:00) – Phantoms at Belleville Senators
Saturday, March 30 (7:00) – Phantoms at Laval Rocket

WEEKLY RECAP
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Phantoms 6 – Milwaukee Admirals 3
Cal O’Reilly returned to PPL Center where he played for four years but otherwise the Phantoms dominated the night, racking up a half-dozen goals in an impressive 6-3 trouncing of visiting Milwaukee. Zayde Wisdom (11th, 12th) scored twice while Garrett Wilson (11th) nad one goal and two assists. Nikita Grebenkin (11th) scored for the second time in two games since joining the Phantoms from Toronto while Alexis Gendron (17th) and Elliot Desnoyers (4th) also recorded a goal and an assist.

Friday, March 21, 2025
Syracuse Crunch 3 – Phantoms 0
The Phantoms’ offense couldn’t keep it goin following Wednesday’s big performance as they took their second home shutout of the season in a 3-0 decision against Syracuse. Conor Geekie (4th, 5th) scored twice for the visitors while Matt Tomkins and Ryan Fanti shared the combined shutout following Tomkins’ departure with 12 minutes remaining. Lehigh Valley had its chances in the game but went 0-for-6 on the power play.

Saturday, March 22, 2025
Providence Bruins 3 – Phantoms 1
Lehigh Valley broke Michael DiPietro’s shutout attempt with 1:42 to go but the visiting P-Bruins held on for a 3-1 victory in the homestand finale. Matthew Poitras (11th, 12th) scored twice including an empty-netter that made it 3-0 before Alexis Gendron (18th) got one of them back. The Phantoms were hanging in there in a 1-0 game before Brett Harrison scored on an odd-man rush with just 11:44 to go to extended the Bruins’ lead to 2-0.

MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/

KOLOSOV TO FLYERS, GAHAGEN RETURNS – The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Additionally, the Phantoms have recalled goaltender Parker Gahagen from the Reading Royals of the ECHL. Kolosov, 23, has gone 5-6-1, 3.11, .884 in 12 games with Lehigh Valley in the 2024-25 season and is also 4-8-1, 3.45, .870 in 15 NHL games with Philadelphia. The third-round selection in 2021 from Minsk, Belarus recently appeared in five games with the Phantoms in a stretch from March 8-23 in which he went 3-2-0, 2.43, 902. Gahagen, 31, has thrived with the Phantoms in the best AHL season of his career going 9-3-2, 2.65, .906. He put together a personal seven-game win streak from December 28 through February 14 and also recorded his first career shutout in the AHL with a 26-save gem at the Hartford Wolf Pack on January 11. With the Reading Royals this season he has gone 4-5-1, 2.69, .902.

CONGRATS TO THE WILSONS – Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson missed Friday’s game for the birth of his second son. Wes Wilson checked in at seven pounds and 17 inches. Congrats to Nikki and Garrett Wilson on their second baby boy!

PHANTASTIC – The Phantoms are 18-12-2 since January 1. Lehigh Valley is 19-1-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game. The Phantoms are 20-0-2 when holding their opponents to two goals or fewer.

– The Phantoms are 22-6-4 when scoring the first goal and are 17-3-1 when leading at the first intermission.

– Aleksei Kolosov started five out of six games for the Phantoms from March 9-22 going 3-2-0, 2.43, .902

– Garrett Wilson has scored 2-3-5 in his last four games.
Zayde Wisdom has racked up 4-2-6 in the last seven games.
Alexis Gendron has two goals in the last three games and is second on the team with 18 goals

UPCOMING
Friday, March 29, 2025 (7:00 p.m.
CAA Arena, Belleville, Ont.
Phantoms at Belleville Senators
Belleville (29-23-7) is fighting for the last playoff spot in the North Division but it won’t be easy as fifth-place Syracuse and fourth-place Cleveland attempt to distance themselves from the Senators. Belleville opened last weekend with 3-2 win over Toronto but then racked up consecutive losses with a 4-2 setback in the rematch against the Marlies followed by a 2-1 setback against the Cleveland Monsters. Defenseman Jeremy Davies (11-31-42) is the top scorer among active B-Sens after the first recall of second-year pro Stephen Halliday (15-28-43). Former Edmonton first-rounder Xavier Bourgault (8-11-19) is a third-year pro in his first season with the Senators. Leevi Meriläinen (14-8-3, 2.30, .913) is seventh in the AHL in GAA and also impressed in his almost two-month stint with Ottawa going 8-3-1, 1.99, .925). Former Phantoms Hayden Hodgson (4-6-10, 121 PIM) and Wyatte Wylie (4-8-12) both played for Ian Laperriere in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Lehigh Valley topped Belleville 3-2 on January 15 with Anthony Richard’s power-play goal with 10:46 left breaking the late tie.

Saturday, March 30. 2025 (7:00 p.m.)
Place Bell, Laval, Que.
Phantoms at Laval Rocket
Laval (41-16-4) is not only in first place in the North Division but also boasts the best record in the AHL. And the Rocket are peaking at the right time with a five-game point streak (4-0-1) including shutout wins in two of the last three games as well as points in 10 of the last 11 games (9-1-1). Alex Barre-Boulet (18-34-52) won the AHL Rookie of the Year honor (Red Dudley Garrett Award) in his first of six terrific seasons with Syracuse and is now thriving in his Quebec homecoming. 21-year-old Joshua Roy (20-15-35) has veen recalled to Montreal while slick-moving defenseman Logan Mailloux (12-19-31) has a bright future appearing in back-to-back AHL All-Star Classics to begin his pro career. 20-year-old rookie fourth-rounder Florian Xhekaj (18-11-29, 157 PIM) leads the league in penalty minutes. Laval’s stingy defense gives up just 2.52 goals per game, second-best in the AHL behind only the Colorado Eagles. 25-year-old Cayden Primeau (16-2-1, 2.13, .916) has excelled since arriving from Montreal in January. Growing up in Philadelphia, the son of former Flyers captain Keith Primeau had been teammates with Daniel Briere’s sons. The Phantoms rallied from a 2-0 deficit to top the Rocket 4-3 back on November 30 at PPL Center led by Jacob Gaucher with one goal and one assist.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
x – Olle Lycksell 17-24-41
Jacob Gaucher 20-16-36
Anthony Richard 15-19-34
Samu Tuomaala 11-21-32
Zayde Wisdom 12-17-29
Alexis Gendron 18-8-26

UPCOMING

Friday, March 28, (5:00) – NCAA Allentown Regional, UConn vs. Quinnipiac

Friday, March 28 (8:30) – NCAA Allentown Regional, Maine vs. Penn State

Sunday, March 30 (TBD) – NCAA Allentown Regional Final

Friday, March 28 (7:00) – Phantoms at Belleville Senators
Saturday, March 29 (7:00) – Phantoms at Laval Rocket
Wednesday, April 2 (10:30 am) – Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders

Friday, April 4 (7:05 pm) – Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears. Berks $1 Hot Dogs

Saturday, April 5 (7:05 pm) – Phantoms vs. Springfield Thunderbirds. Los Fantasmas!

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