PREVIEW: Phantoms vs Penguins, Game 67

Star Wars Night

TONIGHT – The Force shall be with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (28-32-6) in a rivalry night clash against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (42-16-8) on Star Wars Night as the two teams conclude the season’s 12-game set. With just six games remaining in the regular season, Lehigh Valley is neck-and-neck with the Springfield Thunderbirds in a heated race for the last playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Following yesterday’s action, the Phantoms find themselves two points behind the T-Birds for the final postseason ticket. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is all alone in second place in the division and looking to secure a first-round playoff bye that comes with a Top 2 finish.

The Phantoms have truly been Menaced by the Penguins who lead the season series 9-2. Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/

LAST TIME – Oliver Bonk (6th) tried to get another rally in Wilkes started again with his late 6-on-5 goal but this time the Phantoms were unable to complete the comeback as the Penguins hung on in a 3-1 decision on Good Friday in NEPA in the opener of a weekend home-and-home series. Bonk had scored a key goal here on March 14 late in the third period to similarly pull the Phantoms to within one at Wilkes-Barre en route to a thrilling overtime win. This time, the Phantoms couldn’t find the equalizer. Avery Hayes (23rd) rejoined the Baby Pens from Pittsburgh and racked up a three-point performance to lead the Black and Gold. The Phantoms were sluggish out of the gate but finished with a flourish in dominating the third period and almost pulling off another exciting comeback. Sergei Murashov (23/24) is rated second in the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage and was on top of his game in improving to 5-0-0 against Lehigh Valley this season. Aleksei Kolosov (27/29) was solid as well but surrendered first-period goals to Gabe Klassen and Avery Hayes as the Phantoms fell behind 2-0.

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 assists 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. He made his ECHL debut on Thursday night at the Worcester Railers in a 5-3 setback. Former Phantoms’ goaltender Parker Gahagen was the winner for Worcester.
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.

JIRICEK SIGNS EXTENSION – 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.

YOUNG PROSPECTS REPORTING FOR DUTY! – Six players from the Flyers 2023 NHL Draft Class have inked entry-level deals: Carson Bjaranason, Alex Ciernik, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, Cole Knuble, and Matvei Michkov. Alex Ciernik recently signed an entry-level contract and is expected to join the Phantoms next season. He is one of five prospects to sign with the Flyers in the last month joining Noah Powell, Cole Knuble, Riley Thompson and Porter Martone who went directly to Philadelphia.

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

PREPOSTEROUS PENGUINS! – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (42-16-8) 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 hae won five straight and hold a five-point margin over third-place Charlotte. And now the Penguins have received reinforcements from Pittsburgh in the form of first-rounder Rutger McGroaty (7-29-26 in 2 games), Avery Hayes (23-15-38 in 40 games), and Ville Koivunen (11-22-33 in 30 games) who were all loaned from the big club this week. All have played roughly half or more of the season with Pittsburgh.
19-year-old second-rounder Harrison Brunicke is back from Kamloops of the WHL and ready to jump in as well. 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. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (19-15-34) has eight goals against the Phantoms this season. Rookie addition Tanner Howe (6-8-14 in 21 games) notched a four-point performance against the Phantoms last Sunday in a 5-1 win. Sergei Murashov (23-8-3, 2.13, .922) is the top rookie goaltender in the AHL and second-best overall only to Michael DiPietro of Providence. Murashov is 5-0-0, 1.20, .956 against Lehigh Valley

The Phantoms have had some tough times against the Baby Pens going 2-9-0 in the season series. Lane Pederson had an overtime winner at Wilkes-Barre on March 14 in a tremendous comeback and Tucker Robertson starred with a goal and a shootout winner on December 28 at PPL Center. Pedesrson has scored 5-3-8 in the season series. 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.

SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 22-25-47
Anthony Richard 18-26-44
Christian Kyrou 9-24-33
Jacob Gaucher 16-16-32
Tucker Robertson 13-15-28

W-B/Scranton Scoring Leaders
Aidan McDonough 20-18-38
Avery Hayes 23-15-38
Tristan Broz 14-20-34
Ville Koivunen 11-22-33
Rafael Harvey-Pinard 19-15-34

Special Teams PP / PK
LV 18.8%, 17th / 77.6%, 29th / PP vs. WBS 8-49, 16.3%
WBS 16.2%, 24th / 81.1%, 19th / PP vs. LV 11-42, 26.2%

Series Leaders
Lehigh Valley
Lane Pederson 5-2-7
Anthony Richard 3-4-7
Karsen Dorwart 0-5-5
Tucker Robertson 3-0-3

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard 8-5-13
Avery Hayes 5-5-10
Ville Koivunen 2-7-9
Aidan McDonough 5-4-9
Tristan Broz 3-5-8
Sergei Murashov 5-0-0, 1.20, .956

Season Series vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins: (2-8-0)
10/12/25    Home        L              1-4
10/22/25    Away         L              1-4
11/28/25    Away         L              1-4
12/5/25      Away         L              2-6
12/28/25    Home       W             4-3 (SO)
2/1/26       Home        L              2-6
2/6/26       Home        L              5-6
3/14/26      Away         W             4-3 (OT)
3/15/26      Home        L              1-3
3/29/26      Away        L              1-5
4/3/26       Away       L              1-3
4/4/26       Home

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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