Phantoms Power Play Presented by Provident Bank

Stretch Run – 7 Games Left!

April 1, 2025

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms continue their push for a third consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs as they play three games this week. With only three weeks remaining, there are seven games to go in the regular season and Lehigh Valley’s Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot is down to six points.

After a Wednesday morning clash at the Bridgeport Islanders, it’s back to PPL Center for a pair of games this weekend where fans can get their first look in person of Jett Luchanko, the 18-year-old who joined the Phantoms last week was a first-round selection of the Flyers in 2024.

Lehigh Valley (32-26-7) is in a neck-and-neck race with the Springfield Thunderbirds for the 5 and 6 spots in the Atlantic Division but, ultimately, six teams will qualify for the postseason so it is only a difference in seeding among those teams.

Friday’s home game against Hershey is a Berks $1 Hot Dog Night and Saturday against the Springfield Thunderbirds is the return of “Los Fantasmas” on Hispanic Heritage Night.

LAST WEEK
March 28 – Belleville Senators 3 – Phantoms 2
March 29 – Phantoms 3 – Laval Rocket 1

THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, April 2 (10:30 a.m.) – Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders
Friday, April 4 (7:05) – Hershey Bears at Phantoms
Saturday, April 5 (7:05) – Springfield Thunderbirds at Phantoms

WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, March 28, 2025
Belleville Senators 3 – Phantoms 2
18-year-old Jett Luchanko made his Lehigh Valley Phantoms debut as Lehigh Valley took a 2-1 lead in the third period. But the Belleville Senators rallied from behind with back-to-back goals, including a game-winner from former Phantom Hayden Hodgson, to take a 3-2 decision on Friday night at CAA Arena. Ethan Samson (10th) and Elliot Desnoyers (5th) struck for the Phantoms who probably deserved a positive outcome as Lehigh Valley largely outplayed the B-Sens in this one. But veteran goaltender Malcolm Subban stood on his head with a number of remarkable saves among his 32 total to hold off the Orange and Black thus providing the Senators the chance for the comeback.

Saturday, March 29, 2025
Phantoms 3 – Laval Rocket 1
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 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.

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

JETTING INTO THE VALLEY – Jett Luchanko made his Phantoms debut in a pair of games last weekend as he joins the team for the stretch-run of the regular season and into the playoffs. Luchanko, 18, was the #13 overall selection in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft out of the Guelph Storm of the OHL. He played four games with the Flyers in October before he was assigned to his Major Juniors team in Guelph where he scored 21-35-56 in 46 games in the OHL. In his OHL career over three seasons. Luchanko has played in 160 career games with Guelph over three seasons scoring 46-108-144. On Friday at Belleville, Luchanko became the second-younest player in Phantoms history at 18y 7m 7d. He already set a new record with Philadelphia as the youngest ever to dress for the Flyers on October 11 at 18y 1m 16d. He then recorded his first career pro point on Saturday night at Laval via a nifty assist for Garrett Wilson.

Phantoms Record Book:
Youngest Debuts
Zayde Wisdom 18y 6m 30d (Pro Debut: 2/6/21)
Jett Luchanko 18y 7m 7d (3/28/25)
Derek Mathers 18y 7m 19d (3/23/12)
Nick Cousins 18y 8m 11d (3/31/12)
Scott Laughton 18y 10m 13d (4/12/13)

Philadelphia Flyers First Round Selections with Lehigh Valley:
Scott Laughton – 2012 selection
Samuel Morin – 2013
Travis Sanheim – 2014
German Rubstov – 2016
Morgan Frost – 2017
Joel Farabee – 2018
Cam York – 2019
Tyson Foerster – 2020
Jett Luchanko – 2024

MORE NEW BLOOD – More new additions to the Phantoms in the past week including forward Alex Ciernik and defenseman Ty Murchison.
Ciernik, 20, signed an ATO contract for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season. The native Slovakian played for the Nybro Vikings IF in Sweden’s Allsvenskan League where he scored 11-12-23 in 46 games played this season.  Ciernik was selected by the Flyers in the fourth round (#120 overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. His father, Ivan Ciernik, played 89 NHL games with Ottawa and Washington.
Murchison, 22, signed his two-year entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers last Wednesday, beginning in the 2025-26 season. He joins the Phantoms on an ATO for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Murchison was selected by the Flyers in the fifth round (158 overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. The Corona, CA native just completed his fourth and final season at ASU where he totaled 24 points (9g-15a) in 146 regular-season games throughout his career with the Sun Devils.

PHANTASTIC – The Phantoms are 19-12-2 since January 1. Lehigh Valley is 19-1-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game. The Phantoms are 21-0-2 when holding their opponents to two goals or fewer.

– The Phantoms are 23-6-4 when scoring the first goal and are 18-3-1 when leading at the first intermission.

– Nikita Grebenkin is on a three-game point streak (1-2-3) and has points in five out of six games since joining the Phantoms from Toronto scoring 3-2-5.

UPCOMING
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 (10:35 a.m.)
Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport CT
Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders
Bridgeport (15-43-7) has just 15 wins in 65 total games but the Islanders play hard and are feisty. Plus, they’ll have several thousand school-children backing them in their morning-start Field Trip game. Last Sunday, the Islanders dramatically rallied against the Toronto Marlies for a 5-4 win after initially trialing 4-1. The Islanders will also be looking to avenge a 9-2 loss the last time the Phantoms visited the Nutmeg State on January 29. Zayde Wisdom had a hat trick in that game and Louie Belpedio had one goal with three assists.
36-year-old veteran and future Hall-of Famer Chris Terry (19-43-62) is impressively first in the conference in scoring for a team that averages less than 2.6 goals per game, worst in the conference. Last week, Terry became just the 12th player in AHL history to record 800 career points. The Islanders are hemorraging 4.1 goals allowed per game, worst in the league. But Jakub Skarek (5-13-1, 3.52, .884) is back from the NHL hoping to shore things up as the B-Isles play out the string. The Phantoms are 4-1-0 against Bridgport this season including a pair of triumphs at PPL Center in a two-game series February 28 andf March 1 by 5-2 and 5-3 scores.

Friday, April 4, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Hershey Bears at Phantoms
Hershey (39-18-7) is hanging on to first place in the Atlantic but the lead is down to just three points ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte. All is not peachy in Chocolatetown following stunning back-to-back losses to last-place utica 4-2 and 7-4. Defenseman Ethan Bear (10-34-44) leads the team in scoring and has racked up 2-6-8 against the Phantoms including a game-winning goal at PPL Center in November. Penn State product Alex Limoges (15-25-40) was certainly pleaed with last week’s NCAA results at PPL Center. Hunter Shepard (22-11-3, 2.81, .891) has not been able to repeat his Baz Bastien Memorial Award performance of a year ago. The Phantoms are 3-3-1 against the two-time defending Calder Cup Champs including 1-1-1 at PPL Center. The Phantoms and Bears will meet three times over the last six games of the season. J.R. Avon (1-4-5) and Jacob Gaucher (3-0-3) are among Lehigh Valley’s scoring leaders in the season series while Cal Petersen (3-2-1, 2.46, .911) has been especially strong against our I-78 rivals.

Saturday, April 5, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Springfield Thunderbirds at Phantoms
Springfield (33-26-6) couldn’t have been more Jeckyl and Hyde in March. The Thunderbirds have vaulted past the Phantoms for fifth place in the division via a three-game win streak immediately following a total collapse during a six-game losing skid that included a weekend allowing 22 goals in just three games against Syracuse and Providene. Somehow, the Thunderbirds have figured it out again and are playing well. 19-year-old first rounder Dalibor Dvorski (20-23-43) has been rewarded for his work with his first recall to the St. Louis Blues. 31-year-old Captain Matthew Peca (29-31-60) is thriving in his fourth season with the Birds setting a career-high in goals while equaling his all-time highest points total. lues second-rounder Nikita Alexandrov (21-27-48) scored twice in the last 1:30 at Providence on Sunday as the T-Birds stunningly rallied for a 3-2 win. Colten Ellis (22-10-3, 2.58, .923) got shelled by Syracuse last week but still ranks third in the AHL in save percentage. The Phantoms are 1-2-0 against Springfield this year including a 5-2 win in western Mass on November 2 led by Jacob Gaucher’s first-career hat trick. The T-Birds snagged a 5-1 win at PPL Center on January 24 in the most recent encounter.

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 13-17-30
Alexis Gendron 18-8-26

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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