Phantoms Weekly

Homestand finale sweep sets stage for massive showdown with Springfield

April 13, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (30-33-6) wrapped up the home portion of the schedule with a pair of thrilling wins to send us off in style as the team continues to pursue the last playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.

Lehigh Valley is now just two points behind Springfield and three points behind Hershey with only three away games remaining. A massive midweek showdown at Springfield is immediately ahead on Wednesday night with a chance to tie the T-Birds in the standings. We’ll wrap it up with Saturday and Sunday games in Charlotte which is also where the Phantoms would end up staying in a 6 vs. 3 matchup if they can crash the party and make their way into the postseason for a fourth consecutive season.

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

LAST WEEK
Saturday, April 11 – Bridgeport Islanders 3 – Phantoms 7
Sunday, April 12 – Cleveland Monsters 3 – Phantoms 4 (SO)

THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, April 15 (7:05) – Phantoms at Springfield Thunderbirds
Saturday, April 18 (4:00) – Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers
Sunday, April 19 (1:00) – Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers

WEEKLY RECAP
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Bridgpeort Islanders 3 – Phantoms 7
Jacob Gaucher (17th, 18th, 19th) recorded his second career hat trick, and also the second Lehigh Valley hat trick in two weeks, as the Phantoms cranked out five goals in the first period en route to a 7-3 win over the Bridgeport Islanders at PPL Center on Saturday night. Lehigh Valley recorded the critical victory in its second-to-last home game of the season to keep its playoff aspirations alive. But the Phantoms know they have to keep winning. Gaucher’s second career hat trick came on a long empty-netter following an interception by Cole Knuble. He rifled it down ice for the team’s second consecutive shorthanded empty-net marker to finish the exciting win on Wrestling Night at PPL Center. Zayde Wisdom (13th, 14th) scored twice for Lehigh Valley including an empty-netter of his own. Phil Tomasino (7th with LV) and Karsen Dorwart (10th) each had a goal and an assist as they set each other up for the first two goals of the game barely over five minutes into the contest. Aleksei Kolosov (38/41) was especially strong in holding off Bridgeport’s comeback efforts.

Sunday, April 12, 2026
Cleveland Monsters 3 – Phantoms 4 (SO)
An infusion of young talent came through when it mattered most to propel a thrilling Phantoms comeback win against the Cleveland Monsters in Lehigh Valley’s home finale on Sunday afternoon at PPL Center. Noah Powell gave the Phantoms the lead in the third period with his first career pro goal followed by fellow newcomers Cole Knuble and Jack Berglund who scored in the second and third rounds of the shootout to finish off an incredible 4-3 victory. What a sendoff for our fans with tremendous victories in the last two home games of the season!
Trailing 2-0, Jacob Gaucher (20th) got the Phantoms on the board with a power-play goal in the second period. He almost evened the score a few minutes later when he was awarded a penalty shot at the end of the second period but former Flyers’ goaltender Ivan Fedotov denied Gaucher’s backhand attempt. Boris Katchouk (6th with LV) tied the game in the third and, a few minutes later, it was Noah Powell burying the go-ahead goal on an incredible pass from defenseman Jackson Edward.

TEAM LEADERS – With five games remaining, team statistical leaders still remain up for grabs.
Lane Pederson (23-25-48) has led the team in points for most of the season but Anthony Richard (18-26-44) is still within striking distance to catch his teammate.
Pederson also leads the team in goals with 23 and holds a three-goal margin over Jacob Gaucher (20).
It’s neck-and-neck for most assists on the team with Pederson (26), Richard (25) and Christian Kyrou (24) all in contention.
Ty Murchison will take the plus-minus category with a +12 rating in 29 games but his injury in January knocked the rookie defenseman out of action for the rest of the season Tucker Robertson’s +7 rating is best among currently active players.
Garrett Wilson is up with the Flyers but still led the team in penalty minutes tacking on an additional 101 to his career total of over 1,500. Hunter McDonald is next with 88 penalty minutes.

PLAYOFF PUSH – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are still pushing for a playoff spot. And a 3-0 record in the final away games of the season is likely to get them there but is not a guarantee.
First up is a massive head-to-head showdown at the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday night. Lehigh Valley trails Springfield by two points for the final spot. A regulation win on Wednesday would move the Phantoms into a tie with the T-Birds in the standings. However, Springfield has clinched the tiebreaker advantage based on regulation wins, so Lehigh Valley would still need to pass the Thunderbirds in order to make it in. A tie isn’t enough.
Lehigh Valley can also potentially catch Hershey for one of the coveted spots. The Bears have a Magic Number of 3 points to clinch. If the Phantoms go 3-0 then they would need for Hershey to go 1-2 or worse in order to catch the Bears.

JIRICEK RECALLED – The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defenseman David Jiricek from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Additionally, the Phantoms have summoned defenseman Ben Meehan from the Reading Royals of the ECHL. Jiricek, 22, was acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Bobby Brink on March 6, 2026. Jiricek has been a point-per-game player with the Phantoms in 13 games scoring two goals with 11 assists for 13 points. He has also accumulated a six-game assist streak . The #6 overall selection in the 2022 Draft by Columbus has played in 152 career AHL games scoring 19-71-90 in separate stretches with Cleveland, Iowa and Lehigh Valley. He has also played in 84 career NHL games with Columbus and Minnesota scoring 2-11-13. Meehan, 24, is the leading scorer with the Reading Royals racking up 12-34-46 in 69 games. He has also played in three games with the Phantoms this season. The UMass Lowell product began his professional career at the end of last season suiting up in two games with the Iowa Wild. A 6’0″ lefty shot from Walpole, MA, Meehan was previously a fifth-round selection of the Los Angeles Kings in 2020.

JUMPIN’ JACK BERGLUND – Center Jack Berglund made his North American pro debut on Saturday and the 20-year-old immediately impressed in his first reps with the Phantoms. The new arrival continued his debut weekend with a slick backhand move in Round 3 of the shootout to beat former Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov in a shootout win against Cleveland in the home finale.
The Philadelphia Flyers signed center Jack Berglund to a three-year entry-level contract earlier last week and he joined the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a PTO (professional tryout) for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. Berglund was selected by the Flyers in the second round (51st overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft. The new arrival also celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday. He captained Sweden to its first World Juniors gold medal since 2012, finishing tied for the team lead in scoring with 10 points (3g-7a) in seven games while also leading the tournament with a +9 rating. The Karlstad, Sweden native recently completed his first full season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with Färjestad BK, scoring 7-5-12 in 40 games.

AWARDS – Lane Pederson was honored with the annual Tony Voce Memorial Award as the team’s most valuable player as voted on by his teammates. Carson Bjarnason was recognized as Lehigh Valley’s Community Achievement Leader for his role as a Phantoms’ ambassador making several local appearances to schools and charitable groups.

KIDS TAKEOVER! – Jack Berglund becomes the fourth player from Philadelphia’s 2024 draft class to ink an entry-level deal and is the sixth prospect to sign with the Flyers in the last month, joining Porter Martone, Noah Powell, Cole Knuble, Alex Ciernik, and Riley Thompson.

HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE – Lehigh Valley blasted away for five goals in the first period on Friday to equal a team record last achieved in the season finale almost exactly one year ago on April 18, 2025 when the Phantoms struck for a quintet of markers in the third period against the Cleveland Monsters in the home finale as part of another 7-3 triumph. The Phantoms’ franchise record is six goals in a period achieved by the Adirondack Phantoms on April 1, 2011 in the second period of a 9-5 victory over the Albany Devils. In last night’s game, Lehigh Valley also equaled a season high for goals in a game tying a 7-3 victory against Springfield on November 14, 2025.

GREAT NIGHT FOR GAUCHER – Jacob Gaucher recorded his second career hat trick in Saturday’s 7-3 win over Bridgeport. The third-year center on the Phantoms also racked up a trio of goals last season on November 2, 2024 in a 5-2 victory at the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Gaucher becomes just the sixth Lehigh Valley player to record multiple hat tricks with the Phantoms joining Nick Cousins, Danick Martel (3), Garrett Wilson, Cooper Marody, and Olle Lycksell.
Gaucher recorded the 12th Phantoms’ hat trick at PPL Center and the second one in two weeks along with Boris Katchouk’s hattie against Hershey on March 28:

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
12. JACOB GAUCHER APRIL 11, 2026 VS. BRIDGEPORT ISLANDERS

UPCOMING –
Wednesday, April 15 (7:05 p.m.)
MassMutual Center, Springfield, Mass.
Phantoms at Springfield Thunderbirds
It’s a massive Massachusetts midweek showdown this Wednesday night as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms aim to catch the T-Birds in the standings. Springfield (30-31-8) has left the door open for the Orange and Black via back-to-back losses on Saturday and Sunday to Hartford and Providence while the Phantoms picked up consecutive home wins. Springfield still holds the tiebreaker advantage though, so even a Phantoms regulation win to even it up in the standings will still leave the Thunderbirds in the driver’s seat. Chris Wagner (24-21-5) has taken over as captain after Matthew Peca was traded to Syracuse and helped spark a resurgence for the T-Birds who initially had only two wins in their first 15 games. Wagner has scored 4-3-7 against the Phantoms in five games. Former Calgary Flames veteran Dillon Dube (16-15-31) has been a big contributor since arriving in January. Alek Kaskimaki (18-21-39) is a young prospect who has scored 2-4-6 against Lehigh Valley and rates second in team scoring overall. Second-rounder Colin Ralph made his pro debut last week after signing out of Michigan State where he had been teammates with Flyers first-rounder Porter Martone. Felix Trudeau has also arrived after signing as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues following a 48-point campaign at Sacred Heart University. Credit new head coach Steve Ott for the massive turnaround for the Thunderbirds this season who pushed up the standings since his arrival in January. The Phantoms are 2-3-0 against Springfield this season including 1-1-0 at MassMutual Center. Anthony Richard has scored 3-2-5 against Springfield including a winning goal with just 11 seconds left on January 10.

Saturday, April 18 (4:00 p.m.)
Sunday, April 19 (1:05 p.m.)
Bojangles’ Coliseum, Charlotte, N.C.
Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers
The Checkers are already locked in for third place in the Atlantic Division so their motivation is potentially lacking ahead of their first-round series which they will host. Charlotte (43-22-5) could potentially host the Phantoms in the first round next week if Lehigh Valley can make it in. Latvia product and second-year pro Sandis Vilmanis (16-19-35) has excelled since his return from the Florida Panthers a month ago with an overtime winner against the Phantoms and a four-goal game against Hershey on Sunday in a 6-1 victory. Second-year pro out of Minn-Fuluth Ben Steeves (22-22-44) paces the fast-paced offense. Big Cooper Black (25-12-4, 2.50, .902) out of Dartmouth College is having a strong second professional season. 34-year-old lefty veteran Louis Domingue (8-4-0, 2.33, .892) has gone 3-0-0 against the Phantoms who are aiming to beat the Checkers for the first time this season. The last visit to North Carolina did not treat the Phantoms kindly with 5-1 and 6-2 losses on March 21 and 22. Hot starts for Charlotte have been the hallmark of the series as the Checkers have outscored the Phantoms 15-2 in the first period over the previous six matchups.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 23-25-48
Anthony Richard 18-26-44
Jacob Gaucher 20-16-36
Christian Kyrou 9-24-33
Tucker Robertson 13-15-28
Zayde Wisdom 14-12-26
Phil Tomasino 7-19-26

Atlantic Division Standings:
y – 1. Providence 54-14-2 = 110
x – 2. W-B/Scranton 44-16-9 = 97
x – 3. Charlotte 43-22-5 = 87
x – 4. Bridgeport 32-29-8 = 72
5. Hershey 30-30-9 = 69
6. Springfield 30-31-8 = 68
7. Lehigh Valley 30-33-6 = 66
8. Hartford 25-36-8 = 58

LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms have three away games to conclude the 2025-26 campaign when they travel to Springfield on Wednesday, April 15 and then head to Charlotte for a pair of games on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. If the Phantoms qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs then they would likely begin in a 6 vs. 3 matchup at Charlotte on Wednesday, April 22 in a Best of 3 series.

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