Phantoms Rocket Past Laval

Grebenkin’s Early Goal Sparks 3-1 Win

March 29, 2025

Laval, Que. – Parker Gahagen (24/25) was tremendous while Nikita Grebenkin (3rd), Zayde Wisdom (13th) and Garrett Wilson (12th) all buried early markers in a 3-1 Phantoms win against the first-place Laval Rocket on Saturday night at Place Bell.

Adam Ginning notched assists on two of the goals and newcomer Jett Luchanko recorded his first career pro point with a slick assist on Wilson’s tally early in the second period that put the Phantoms ahead at 3-0.

Lehigh Valley (32-26-7) trimmed its Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot down to just six points with seven games remaining as the Phantoms also received help in the form of a Providence 2-1 win over Hartford.

The Phantoms nicely responded from a disappointing 3-2 result at the Belleville Senators on Friday in which Lehigh Valley squandered a 2-1 lead in the third period. But the Phantoms were prepared to finish the job this time and they did so against the top team in the AHL. The Laval Rocket have the most wins and highest points percentage in the league and were also one of the hottest teams with a six-game point streak as well as points in 11 of the last 12 (10-1-1).

Lehigh Valley took control less than a minute into the game when Grebenkin cut from the left boards to the high slot ripping a shot on the move and keeping it low to beat goaltender Connor Hughes just 51 seconds into the contest for the team’s second-fastest goal of the season (Rodrigo Abols scored just 41 seconds into a game on Dedcember 14 at Cleveland). Grebenkin’s third goal with the Phantoms and his 12th overall this season was assisted by Helge Grans and Adam Ginning.

Grebenkin has a three-game point streak and has also accumulated points in five of the six games he has played since coming over from Toronto in the Scott Laughton trade. The energetic 21-year-old has scored 3-2-5 in his six games with the Orange and Black. The goal was also Grebenkin’s 12th overall this season including nine goals with the Toronto Marlies before arriving to the Phantoms.

A similar shot on the move from distance and kept low would beat Hughes again. This time it was Zayde Wisdom at 15:53 into the game racking up his 30th point of the year to make it 2-0.

Laval (42-17-4) kept coming and the Rocket also kept Gahagen on his toes. A backdoor cut for Gustav Lindstrom and a perfect pass with 3:30 left in the period looked like a strong play that was going to get the Rocket on the board. Instead, Gahagen dove to his left and made a spectacular glove save while pulling the splits that perhaps rates as his very best of the season. In the very least, one of his best.

Jett Luchanko showed off his skills early in the second period as he zoomed around the zone looking to create. He pump in the high slot froze defender Florian Xhekaj allowing his to slip a perfect little backhand toss to Garrett Wilson between the circle where the captain took care of the rest with his 12th of the season at 2:21 into the second period as the Phantoms forged a 3-0 cushion.

Laval was deflated after that and the Phantoms were knocking on the door looking to quiet the big crowd even further but Hughes held off the Lehigh Valley efforts to keep the Rocket within reasonable striking distance.

The Rocket finally broke through on another cut with some zippy passing at 8:57 of the third leading to a Sean Farrell (16th) chip-in at the net front to make it 3-1.

Laval kept pushing but the Phantoms held them off including a penalty kill with five minutes remaining and the 6-on-5 attack at the end of the game.

Lehigh Valley swept the season-series from the Laval Rocket including a 4-3 in Allentown on November 30.

The Phantoms look to trim their Magic Number even further as tehy conclude their three-game road swing with a morning game on Wednesday at the Bridgeport Islanders at 10:30 a.m.

The Phantoms return to PPL Center next weekend with games on Friday and Saturday against the Hershey Bears and Springfield Thunderbirds including the return of Hispanic Heritage Night and Los Fantasmas on Saturday, April 5.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st 0:51 – LV, N. Grebenkin (12th) (A. Ginning, H. Grans) (1-0)
1st 15:33 – LV, Z. Wisdom (13th (Unassisted) (2-0

2nd 2:21 – LV, G. Wilson (12th) (J. Luchanko, A. Ginning) (3-0)

3rd 8:57 – LAV, S. Farrell (16th) (N. Hoefenmayer, L. Dauphin) (3-1)

Shots:
LV 22 – LAV 25

PP:
LV 0/3, LAV 0/4

Goaltenders:
LV – P. Gahagen (W) (10-3-2) (24/25)
LAV – C. Hughes (L) (15-11-2) (19/22)

Records:
Lehigh Valley (32-26-7)
Laval (42-17-4)

UPCOMING

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!

Friday, April 11 (7:00 pm) – Phantoms at Syracuse Crunch

Saturday, April 12 (7:05 pm) – Hershey Bears at Phantoms. Star Wars Night!

Friday, April 18 (7:05 pm) – Cleveland Monsters at Phantoms. Regular Season Home Finale

Saturday, April 19 (7:00 pm) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hershey Bears. End of Regular Season

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