PREVIEW: Phantoms at Syracuse, Game 24

New York State of Mind This Weekend

TONIGHT – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-8-3) head to the Empire State as they go toe-to-toe with the Syracuse Crunch (13-9-1), AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tonight’s game is a battle of third-place teams in their respective divisions. Syracuse is the only team on the schedule the Phantoms haven’t played yet. This is the only Syracuse trip of the season for the Phantoms.

Tonight is also Game #24 of the season and Game 2 out of 3 in the team’s road trip which concludes tomorrow evening in Rochester.

Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/

LAST TIME – Another game in Hershey. Another squeaker. For the third time this season in Chocolatetown, the Phantoms and Bears competed in a game that could have gone either way. But Brett Leason found the winning strike with just 3:30 left to propel a 3-2 victory for the Hershey Bears on Sunday evening at Giant Center. Alex Bump (6th) and Jacob Gaucher (3rd) scored for the Phantoms who rallied back to tie the game on two occasions but were unable to do so a third time. Aleksei Kolosov almost converted the best save of the year into a game-deciding momentum lift. But his impressive diving denial with his blocker on his right arm only delayed the decisive tally as Hershey kept the puck alive and rotated the puck back to Leason who buried the winning strike. All five games between the Phantoms and Bears have been decided by one goal.

TRANSACTIONS –
12/6/25 Del Ty Murchison (D) – Recalled to PHI
12/8/25 Del Ethan Samson (D) – Traded to TB (Assigned to Syracuse)
12/8/25 Add Roman Schmidt (D) – Via Trade from TB (Syracuse)

MURCHISON NHL DEBUT – Ty Murchison became the first Lehigh Valley Phantoms player this season to enjoy an NHL “Rookie Lap” when he made his debut for the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks in a 4-1 win. The Flyers’ fifth-round selection in 2021 out of Arizona State became the 48th Lehigh Valley Phantoms player all-time to join the Philadelphia Flyers for his rookie lap and NHL debut. And the first this year and also the first since Jacob Gaucher on February 2, 2025. Murchison was honored by his teammates in the room after the game with the handoff of the Bernie Parent mask as the team’s player of the game. Murchison, 22, stayed with the Flyers and played well in his second career NHL game on Thursday against Vegas. He has scored one goal with three assists while accumulating 30 penaltty minutes with the Phantoms this season in 21 games played. He also played in four games with the Phantoms at the end of last season scoring one goal with one assist.

ROMAN SCHMIDT ACQUIRED FOR SAMSON – The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Roman Schmidt from Tampa Bay in exchange for defenseman Ethan Samson.
Schmidt, 22, has appeared in 13 games this season with Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound native of Midland, Michigan has recorded one assist and leads the Crunch with 38 penalty minutes and was originally drafted by Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft. He has scored 3-7-10 in 63 career AHL games, along with 117 total penalty minutes.
Samson, 22, was selected by the Flyers in the sixth round in the 2021 NHL Draft and has played parts of three seasons for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms appearing in 142 games and scoring 15-25-40.

NEW BLOOD – Tonight could be the third consecutive game for a new defenseman to make his Lehigh Valley debut. If recently acquired Roman Schmidt is in the lineup then he will keep the streak going. Last Saturday, it was first-rounder Oliver Bonk making his pro debut for the Phantoms after recovering from a preseason injury. On Sunday, it was Max Guenette who played in his first game for Lehigh Valley. He was acquired from the Ottawa Senators on November 17 in a trade for Dennis Gilbert. Next up would be the 6’5″ Schmidt who was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization last Monday in exchange for Ethan Samson.

PHANTASTIC
– Alex Bump is third in the AHL with 76 shots and is first among all rookies.
– Bump (6-12-18) is also on a two-game goal streak.
– Christian Kyrou (4-10-14) is 9th in AHL defensemen scoring and is 3rd in the Eastern Conference.
– The Phantoms are 7-0-1 when scoring 4 or more goals
– The Phantoms are 9-0-2 when scoring the first goal of the game
– The Phantoms are 11-3-1 when allowing 3 goals or fewer
– The Phantoms are 5-1-1 against the North Division

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE – Lehigh Valley is 12-1-2 when playing any team that is NOT in the Top 3 in the conference (any team that is NOT W-B/Scranton, Providence, Laval).

STICK IT TO SYRACUSE – The Syracuse Crunch (13-9-1) are dangerous. But the North Division third-place Crunch have been hit by recalls to Tampa Bay as well as injuries and have now dropped three in a row including Wednesday at Utica as well as a pair of decisions at Cleveland last week. Joel Bouchard’s crew is also the only team in the Eastern Conference the Phantoms have not played yet.
The night could certainly be interesting for recently traded defensemen Roman Schmidt, now of Lehigh Valley, and Ethan Samson, now of Syracuse, as their first games with their new teams will be against their former clubs.
Veteran forward, and former Philadelphia Flyer, Jakob Pelletier (12-16-28), is second in the league in scoring. Pelletier played 25 games for the Flyers last year after coming over in a trade with Calgary (for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee). Conor Geekie (5-15-20) is down from Tampa Bay. The former Arizona first-rounder is in his second season with the Lightning organization. 20-year-old rookie Ethan Gauthier was the #37 overall pick in the 2023 Draft.
Brendan Furry (4-3-7) was popular in his two seasons with the Phantoms and had an overtime winner for the Phantoms at Syracuse last year on January 4.

SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Alex Bump 6-12-18
Anthony Richard 7-10-17
Lane Pederson 7-9-16
x – Carl Grundstrom 6-9-15
Denver Barkey 7-8-15
Christian Kyrou 4-10-14

Syracuse Scoring Leaders
Jakob Pelletier 12-16-28
Nick Abruzzese 6-15-21
Conor Geekie 5-15-20
Dylan Duke 8-10-18
Wojciech Stachowiak 8-6-14

Special Teams PP / PK
LV 19.8%, 15th / 76.8%, 28th
SYR 22.6%, 8th / 80.8%, 16th

LOOKING AHEAD – Next weekend, the road trip continues with a pair of Empire State contests at the Syracuse Crunch and Rochester Americans.

The Phantoms have a big six-game homestand coming up from December 17 through December 31 including the annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Big Woody’s on Saturday, December 20 against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Other exciting promos in the upcoming homestand include the Service Electric Warm-Up Drive on December 19 and Postgame Autographs on December 28.

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