Phantoms Weekly

Down the Strtch They Come

April 2, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (28-31-6) are in a neck-and-neck battle with the Springfield Thunderbirds for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. With seven games remaining in the final three weekends of the regular season, the Phantoms and T-Birds are tied for the sixth spot. Lehigh Valley’s Magic Number to clinch a fourth consecutive berth into the Calder Cup playoffs stands at 17 points.

Up next is a home-and-home weekend slate with the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins including a home game this Saturday on Star Wars Night! There are only three home games remaining in the regular season.

Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/

LAST WEEK
Friday, March 27 – Springfield Thunderbirds 5 at Phantoms 3
Saturday, March 28 – Hershey Bears 2 at Phantoms 4
Sunday, March 29 – Phantoms 1 at W-B/Scranton Penguins 5

THE WEEK AHEAD
Friday, April 3 (7:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
Saturday, April 4 (7:05) – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms

WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, March 27, 2026
Springfield Thunderbirds 5 at Phantoms 3
Zayde Wisdom (11th) scored a third-period tying goal for the Phantoms but Springfield exploded for three straight to put the game away in a 5-3 decision on Friday night at PPL Center. Anthony Richard (18th) and Oscar Eklind (9th) also scored for the Phantoms. Dillon Dube and Chris Wagner paced the T-Birds with three-point nights as both produced one goal and two assists. Newly arriving prospect Cole Knuble produced an assist in his pro debut as the fourth-round selection of the Flyers in 2023 connected on a give-and-go with Anthony Richard (18th) in the first period.

Saturday, March 28, 2026
Hershey Bears 2 at Phantoms 4
Boris Katchouk’s late empty-netter came with a little puck-luck but also successfully completed Lehigh Valley’s first hat trick of the season as part of a four-point performance as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms downed the Hershey Bears 4-2 on Saturday night at PPL Center. Katchouk was acquired from the Minnesota Wild organization in a trade on March 1, 2026 and now has five goals in 10 games with his new team. The lids came flying with 59.5 seconds left when he was stationed at the Hershey blueline and a long clear by David Jiricek went off the shinpad of Katchouk and perfectly into the middle of the empty cage. Rookie arrival Riley Thompson made his pro debut a successful one, centering a line with Katchouk and Phil Tomasino, who also scored. Thompson recorded his first professional point in the first period with a faceoff win leading to a Katchouk early strike past Mitch Gibson. Ilya Protas (27th) and Brett Leason (14th) scored tying goals for Hershey in the second and third periods but the Phantoms re-took the lead barely more than 60 seconds later each time.

Sunday, March 29, 2026
Phantoms 1 at W-B/Scranton Penguins 5
Zayde Wisdom (12th) broke a shutout bid for Joel Blomqvist to get the Phantoms on the board late but that would be all for the Orange and Black in a 5-1 setback at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the closing game of the weekend. 20-year-old rookie talent Tanner Howe (6th) paced the Baby Pens’ attack with a four-point performance on a goal and three assists while Blomqvist was tested early and often en route to a 30-save win. A three-goal outburst in just an eight-minute stretch of the first period turned a 0-0 contest into a 3-0 score at the first intermission. Joona Koppanen (8th), Chase Pietila (2nd) and Tanner Howe all scored for the Baby Pens in the early surge.

DANDY DEBUTS – The future looks bright with the arrivals of forwards Cole Knuble and Riley Thompson who both made thier pro debuts last weekend. Both recorded their first pro point on assits in their first period of AHL action. Knuble zoomed up the right boards to connect on a give-and-go with Anthony Richard on Friday. And Riley Thompson nudged a faceoff win forward to Boris Katchouk who buried the first of his three goals on Saturday. Knuble is a Round 4 selection of the Flyers in 2023 out of Notrre Dame who is the son of 14-year NHL veteran Mike Knuble who played five season for the Flyers. Thompson is a big, 6’4″ left-handed center out of Ohio State who signed with the Flyers organization as an undrafted free agent.

BJARNASON TO READING – The Flyers have reassigned goaltender Carson Bjarnason to the Reading Royals of the ECHL while the Phantoms have recalled goaltender Yaniv Perets from Reading.
Bjarnason, 20, is in his professional rookie season and is the youngest goaltender in the AHL. In 30 games this season, Bjarnason has gone 13-11-4, 3.45, .877. The 6’4″ left-catching goaltender out of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL was a second-round selection of the Flyers in the 2023 Draft.
Perets, 26, is a Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec product who is a 6’1″ left-catching goaltender. He has played in three games this season with the Phantoms going 1-2-0, 3.21, .873. Perets has also played in 25 games with Reading going 13-8-3, 2.92, .906. Perets was just named ECHL Goaltender of the Week with a pair of shutouts against the Norfolk Admirals on March 25 and March 28 racking up 52 total saves. Three seasons ago, Perets won a Frozen Four NCAA Championship with the Quinnipiac Bobcats while leading the country in goals-against average for a second consecutive season.

HAPPY HATTIES! – Boris Katchouk brought the hats flying inside PPL Center in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Hershey. Katchouk scored his second career hat trick along with a four-goal game he posted last season in December with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins against Charlotte. The recently acquired forward joined from the Iowa Wild on March 1 and now has five goals in 10 games with his new team.
It was Lehigh Valley’s first hat trick of the season and the first since Zayde Wisdom notched a trifecta at the Bridgeport Islanders on January 29, 2025 in a 9-2 win. It was the first hat trick at PPL Center since December 20, 2024 when Olle Lycksell recorded a trio against the Toronto Marlies in a 7-2 win.

Katchouk notched the 24th hat trick in Lehigh Valley history and the 11th Phantoms’ hat trick at PPL Center:

1. NICK COUSINS JANUARY 17, 2015 VS. BINGHAMTON SENATORS
2. COLIN MCDONALD JANUARY 27, 2016 VS. BINGHAMTON SENATORS
3. TAYLOR LEIER FEBRUARY 10,2016 VS. BINGHAMTON SENATORS
4. DANICK MARTEL JANUARY 25, 2017 VS. BINGHAMTON SENATORS
5. DANICK MARTEL OCTOBER 7, 2017 VS. HERSHEY BEARS
6. BRENNAN SAULNIER MAY 9, 2021 VS. WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS
7. GARRETT WILSON FEBRUARY 20, 2023 VS. HARTFORD WOLF PACK
8. COOPER MARODY MARCH 11, 2023 VS. BELLEVILLE SENATORS
9. GARRETT WILSON MARCH 15, 2023 VS. HERSHEY BEARS
10. OLLE LYCKSELL DECEMBER 20, 2024 VS. TORONTO MARLIES
11. BORIS KATCHOUK MARCH 28, 2026 VS. HERSHEY BEARS

JIRICEK SIGNS EXTENSION WITH FLYERS – The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman David Jiricek to a two-year contract extension, according to General Manager Daniel Briere.
Jiricek, 22, was acquired by the Flyers from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Bobby Brink at the trade deadline and has since appeared in 10 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms recording 2-8-0 including three multi-point performances. His assist on Sunday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was his 100th career professional point This season he has also played in 24 games with the Iowa Wild where has also scordc 2-8-10 as well as 25 NHL games with the Minnesota Wild. The 6-foot-4, 204-pound defenseman was originally selected by Columbus in the first round (6th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. He has appeared in 84 NHL games with the Blue Jackets (2022–25) and Wild (2024–26), recording 2-11-13. Jiricek has played parts of four seasons in the AHL suiting up with the Cleveland Monsters, Iowa Wild, and Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Across 149 AHL games, he has registered 19-68-87

MILESTONES –
Helge Grans – 298 pro games
Anthony Richard – 396 pro points
David Jiricek – Recorded 100th pro point on March 29 at W-B/Scranton

UPCOMING –
Friday, April 3 (7:05 p.m.)
Mohegan Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Phantoms at WBS Penguins
and
Saturday, April 4 (7:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
WBS Penguins at Phantoms
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (41-16-8) has clinched a playoff spot but would love to lock up a first-round bye to avoid any possible first-round exits to the Phantoms yet again! The second-place Penguins hold a diminishing five-point margin over third-place Charlotte. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has won four straight including a pair of home wins last week over Laval, 3-1, and Lehigh Valley, 5-1 Aidan McDonough (20-18-38) paces the offense and has four goals in the season series. Tristan Broz (14-20-34) hasn’t played since February due to injury. Ville Koivunen (11-22-33) was briefly back with the Baby Pens but has since been recalled up to Pittsburgh again. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (18-15-30) has seven goals against the Phantoms this season. Rookie addition Tanner Howe (6-8-14 in 20 games) notched a four-point performance against the Phantoms on Sunday. The Phantoms have had some tough times against the Baby Pens going 2-8-0 in the season series. Lane Pederson had an overtime winner at Wilkes-Barre on March 14 in a tremendous comeback and Tucker Robertson staarred with a goal and a shootout winner on December 28 at PPL Center. Boris Katchouk scored 21-28-49 for W-B/Scranton last year and Phil Tomasino played for the Penguins earlier this season scoring 5-10-15 in 14 games before he arrived to the Phantoms via a trade on New Year’s Eve in exchange for Egor Zamula. This weekend marks the final games of the rivalry series.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 22-24-46
Anthony Richard 18-26-44
Christian Kyrou 9-24-33
Jacob Gaucher 16-16-32
Tucker Robertson 13-15-28

Atlantic Division Standings:
x – 1. Providence 50-13-1 = 101
x – 2. W-B/Scranton 41-16-8 = 90
x – 3. Charlotte 40-21-5 = 81
4. Bridgeport 29-28-5 = 66
5. Hershey 28-28-9 = 65
6. Springfield 27-29-8 = 62
6. Lehigh Valley 28-31-6 = 62
8. Hartford 24-32-8 = 56

LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms have three home games left in the regular season including Saturday, April 4 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Star Wars Night! Next weekend is the home conclusion for the schedule including Wrestling Night on Saturday, April 11 against the Bridgeport Islanders and Kids Take Over Day on Sunday, April 12 against the Cleveland Monsters in the last home game of the regular season.

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