Robertson Rocks Home Winner in the 8th Round
Phantoms Take Wild Shootout Win at Rochester 2-1
December 13, 2025
Rochester, NY – Tucker Robertson made it look easy. But apparently it was anything but that. His shootout goal in the eighth round was the ONLY one scored by 16 combined skaters as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms eventually emerged with a 2-1 marathon shootout win at the Rochester Americans on Saturday night. Carson Bjarnason was 8-for-8 in the shootout which naturally included some point-blank denials of some of the skilled Amerks’ forwards. Devon Levi was phenomenal for the Americans with 38 saves on 39 shots through 65 minutes to keep his team in the game.
Lehigh Valley (13-9-3) improved to 5-3 in games decided after regulation which includes a 2-2 mark in shootouts as well as a 3-1 record in overtime.
It was also the second consecutive season for the Phantoms to win in a shootout at Rochester. Last year, Rodrigo Abols had the honors in the fourth round. This one would take twice as long. The Phantoms also swept the season series going 2-0 against the Americans including a 4-2 win in Allentown back on November 19.
As for Bjarnason, he improves to 6-2-2 on the season. The 20-year-old rookie is 3-0-1, 2.15, .920 in his last four games. Since Halloween, he is 5-1-1, 2.51, .911.
Rochester (14-9-1) struck early and took the initial lead when Carson Meyer (6th) got a piece of a Zac Jones shot-pass on the power play at just 3:44. They would get nothing at all past Bjarnason for the ensuing 61 minutes after that.
6’5″ Roman Schmidt had just endeared himself to his new teammates when he dropped the gloves with big 6’4″ Mason Geersten in a heavyweight tilt with some big swings from both combatants.
Lehigh Valley had several strong chances in the first period including breakaways for Oscar Eklind and Alex Bump. Another rush had Bump shooting on the move and blasting one off the left post.
The Phantoms were playing well in the first period but took it to another level in the second period. Despite having to kill three power plays early in the frame, the Orange and Black dominated to the tune of a 19-4 shots advantage. It was Lehigh Valley’s most shots in a single period this season.
Jacob Gaucher (5th) scored for a third consecutive game when he dug a barely-still-loose puck away from Levi before he could cover. Eklind had worked in behind the goal and set up Garrett Wilson out in front who was denied by Levi but Gaucher kept working when he didn’t hear a whistle, eventually found the puck, and was able to nudge it in from about one foot away to tie the game at 1-1 at 8:02 into the second period.
The third period was more evenly played with Levi again showing some of his acrobatics while Bjarnason was also tested on his end.
In overtime. Rochester received another man advantage and Lehigh Valley was again tasked with killing off one of the best power plays in the league. The Phantoms worked through the 4-on-3 to stay alive in the game and eventually get the contest to the shootout where both goalies matched each other one denial after another. Until Robertson that is.
The righty shooter carried over to the left boards and then coasted to the slot where he did a little pump-fake before casually flipping the winner to the upper-right corner for the winning strike.
This was Lehigh Valley’s final away game of 2025. Next up is a six-game homestand beginning Wednesday night against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
LOOKING AHEAD – 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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