Wild, Late Comeback for OT Point vs. Charlotte
Robertson Ties it with 1.7 Seconds Left
December 29, 2025
Allentown, PA – The Phantoms never call it until the game is over. Monday night at PPL Center, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms trailed 2-0 with time running out, but amazingly, scored twice in the last 32 seconds to force overtime. Alexis Gendron’s deflection got the Phantoms on the board with just 32 seconds left. Then it was Tucker Robertson, with no time to spare, wheeling behind the Charlotte net to stuff in the wrap-around with just 1.7 seconds remaining to bring the PPL Center crowd to a roar as the Phantoms had somehow, incredibly, forced overtime.
They almost pulled it off. But Nolan Foote (6th) buried it in overtime for the Charlotte Checkers who won 3-2.
L:ehigh Valley (15-11-4) was certainly not enjoying its finest game of the season. Passes weren’t connecting and the power play, which had been especially strong the last two games, wasn’t able to get going either. It was a frustrating night overall in which the team had mustered just seven shots on goal in the first 57 minutes.
The Phantoms were being outshot 32-7 at that point but were still in the game at just a 2-0 deficit. That was due to Carson Bjarnason who was outstanding in keeping the Phantoms within striking distance with one tremendous denial after another. His second-period performance saw 17 straight stops including several clean breakaway and odd-man chances.
Phantoms head coach John Snowden was once again impressed with his rookie goaltender.
“He’s playing excellent,” Snowden said.” He’s making all the saves. He’s confident in the net. He’s making the saves that he shouldn’t make, the big plays that we’re giving up behind us, and especially tonight, two on ones, breakaways. He’s prepared. He’s playing the right way. He’s ready to play every single game that he plays. And we just got to do a much better job in front of him.”
It felt like one of the weirdest games of the season. Which perhaps was appropriate considering the unusual scenario on the original gameday when the Checkers were unable to get to Allentown in time to play on the Saturday scheduled date. The makeup for an unusual Monday night game ended up providing an unusual contest as well.
Nate Smith (2nd) opened the scoring at 11:48 into the contest after Brian Pinho pushed up the left-wing boards in snappy transition and found his racing teammate on the opposite side. Charlotte captain Trevor Carrick began the sequence for the first of his three helpers on the night.
Shots in the first were 8-1 but the second period was even tougher with a 17-4 shots discrepancy. Bjarnason put on a clinic with his multiple breakaway saves to keep the game at 1-0 after 40 minutes. Lefhigh Valley enjoyed a strong chance about midway through the contest when Lane Pederson carried up the left-wing boards and connected with an onrushing Cooper Marody who cranked one off the far-post past goaltender Louis Domingue. The puck stayed in the crease for a tick as well but Lehigh Valley was unable to cash in during the scramble.
Charlotte (17-9-2) extended its lead to 2-0 early in the third period off a Carrick interception when the Phantoms couldn’t find an exit. Graecyn Sawchyn (6th) cut across to the high slot and snapped it home past the glove of Bjarnason at 4:43 into the third to make it 2-0.
Lehigh Valley kept competing but the chances still weren’t coming. Until the final minutes. After Charlotte missed on a pass across for an empty-net try right in front of the net, the Phantoms somehow stuck around. Oscar Eklind won the puck and Max Guenette offered a shot from left-center point that was deflected upstairs by Gendron with just 32 seconds left for a 6-on-4 power-play goal that meant Lehigh Valley was still alive.
Gendron was jamming on the right side of the cage in search of an equalizer but when the puck popped behind the goal it was Tucker Robertson who was there to take advantage of the space on the other side of the cage. The crowd’s deafening roar might have been the loudest we’ve had this season when Robertson somehow, incredibly, tied the game with just 1.7 seconds to go.
The team’s raced up and down in a frenetic and chaotic overtime and, eventually, Nolan Foote put it away at 2:08 on the left of the cage of a Sandis Vilmanis feed during their 2-on-1 that began with a Carrick steal.
Bjarnason in December has gone 3-1-1, 2.32, .921 while his season numbers are also impressive at 7-3-3, 2.61, .908. Not bad for a 20-year-old rookie supposedly getting acclimated to the differences of the game at the professional level.
Lehigh Valley equaled a team record for fewest shots on goal with only 13 for the game which also happened in a game against Charlotte on February 25, 2024 on the road. The franchise record for fewest shots in a game was a 12-shot performance on March 20, 2021 by the Philadelphia Phantoms against the St. John’s Maple Leafs.
The Phantoms have one more game in 2025, and on the homestand, when they host the Hershey Bears on New Year’s Eve with a Wednesday afternoon clash at 3:05. Family-friendly activities fill the concourse as we ring in 2026 in glowing fashion!
The Phantoms have a four-game road swing to open 2026 beginning with a Saturday, January 3 matchup at the Belleville Senators.
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