Phantoms Power Play Preseted by Provident Bank
Spooky Fun at Haunted on Hamilton
October 22, 2024
Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-2-0) enter a busy weekend ahead beginning with a Friday trek to Hartford in a rematch of their spectacular Opening Night battle in Allentown.
The Phantoms return to PPL Center Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. for a pair of games against the Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. Saturday’s game is Boy Scout Night and Sunday features Haunted on Hamilton fun with a costume parade for the kids, trick or treating and pumpkin painting among other delights.
This weekend will mark the first-ever appearance for the Grand Rapids Griffins at PPL Center. It is also the first time for the Phantoms and Griffins to tangle since March 2009 when the Philadelphia Phantoms swept a pair of games from the Griffs.
LAST WEEK
October 18 – Phantoms 3 at WBS Penguins 4
October 19 – Penguins 3 at Phantoms 0
THE WEEK AHEAD
Friday, October 25 (7:05) – Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
Saturday, October 26 (7:05) – Phantoms vs. Grand Rapids Griffins
Sunday, October 27 (3:05) – Phantoms vs. Grand Rapids Griffins
WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, October 18, 2024
Penguins 4 – Phantoms 3
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms ran out of time in their efforts for an epic comeback at Wilkes-Barre. Lehigh Valley fell behind 4-0 in the first period but ultimately made the Penguins work for it after pulling to within a goal. Jacob Gaucher and Oscar Eklind scored 16 seconds apart of the second period and then Ethan Samson scored 6-on-4 with 51 seconds remaining. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton built their early lead on a pair of goals from Boris Katchouk and single tallies for Tristan Broz and Boko Imama.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Penguins 3 – Phantoms 0
Lehigh Valley largely dominated play with a massive 41-17 shots advantage including 31-7 in the last two periods. But newcomer Filip Larsson was on top of his game in posting a 41-save shutout at PPL Center on Saturday night. Several Phantoms cane perilously close to scoring including Oscar Eklind, Elliot Desnoyers, Samu Tuomaala, Ronnie Attard and more. But somehow the Pens held on. Emil Bemstrom’s power-play goal barely more than three minutes into the game was all the Penguins would need. Joona Koppanen doubled the advantage early in the third and Boris Katchouk’s third goal of the weekend was an empty-netter to finish it off.
PHANTASTIC
– Oscar Eklind scored his first-career AHL goal on Friday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a set up by Elliot Desnoyers. Eklind had never been to the United States before signing with the Philadelphia Flyers this year. The 26-year-old winger from Trelleborg, Sweden made his Phantoms debut.
– Sawyer Boulton made his pro debut on Saturday against the Penguins. The 20-year-old rookie forward is the son of long-time NHL enforcer Eric Boulton who amassed over 1,400 penalty minutes in his career with Buffalo, Atlanta, and the New York Islanders.
– The Phantoms lead the AHL with 42 shots per game. The Phantoms are also seventh in the AHL and first in the division with just 25 shots allowed per game.
– Lehigh Valley’s power play is 4-for-14 for 28.6% which is 4th in the AHL.
LAPPY 100 WINS – Head coach Ian Laperriere is on the verge of joining an elite group of Phantoms coaches to reach 100 career wins.
Phantoms Franchise – Career Coaching Wins
John Stevens – 230 (2000-2006)
Bill Barber – 187 (1996-2000)
Scott Gordon – 186 (2015-21)
Ian Laperriere – 99 (2021- Present)
THE CAPTAIN – Fan-Favorite Garrett Wilson is the longest-tenured player on the Phantoms and is now 50 games away from catching Greg Carey for most games played with Lehigh Valley.
LEHIGH VALLEY – GAMES PLAYED
1. Greg Carey 277
2. Chris Conner 265
3. Colin McDonald 248
4. Reece Willcox 232
5. T.J. Brennan 230
6. Nic Aube-Kubel 229
7. Garrett Wilson 227
8. Cole Bardreau 226
8. Taylor Leier 226
TRANSACTIONS
October 21 – Add Emil Andrae (D) – Returned from Flyers to Phantoms
UPCOMING
Friday, October 24, 2024 (7:05)
XL Center, Hartford, CT
Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
The Phantoms travel to the Insurance City for a rematch of the spectacular October 12 Opening Night showdown at PPL Center which the Phantoms won in a shootout 4-3.
Hartford (2-1-1) picked up a pair of wins last weekend, including the first for new head coach Grant Potulny who is the older brother of former Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia Phantoms forward Ryan Potulny. Opening Night at XL Center on Friday was a 6-5 triumph over Springfield including two goals apiece for Brennan Othmann and Jaroslav Chmelar. The Wolf Pack split a pair of games at Bridgeport with a 5-4 overtime victory on Saturday on Brett Berard’s winning goal followed by a Sunday 4-0 loss on Jakub Skarek’s 24-save effort.
The Pack are allowing 4.25 goals per game, 29th out of 32 in the AHL. Hartford is led by 2020 fifth-rounder Brett Berard (4-2-6), who had 25 goals last year, and 2018 Anaheim second-rounder Bo Groulx (2-3-5) who signed with the Rangers as a free agent. First-rounder Brennan Othmann (2-2-4) had 21 goals as a rookie. Veteran Louis Domingue (1-1-1, 3.93, .892) has received three out of four starts. The 32-year-old backstop has played in 143 NHL games with seven teams beginning with Arizona in 2014-15.
Satruday, October 26, 2024 (7:05)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Grand Rapids Griffins at Phantoms
Sunday, October 27, 2024 (3:05)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Grand Rapids Griffins at Phantoms
Lehigh Valley and Grand Rapids meet for the first time ever with a pair of games at PPL Center this weekend. The last time the Phantoms and Griffins played was over 15 years ago in some of the last-ever games at Wachovia Spectrum. The Philadelphia Phantoms swept the Griffs 7-4 and 4-1 on March 28 and March 29, 2009. The 7-4 win included hat tricks from Jon Matsumoto and Rob Sirianni marking the only time in franchise history the Phantoms have had two hat tricks in the same game.
Grand Rapids joined the AHL in 2001 transferring over from the former IHL where the Griffs had been members from 1996-2001. The Griffins won Calder Cup titles in 2013 and 2017 besting the Syracuse Crunch both times. Hershey head coach Todd Nelson was the Grand Rapids bench boss for the team’s 2017 run.
Grand Rapids (3-1-0) won a pair of low-scoring squeakers at home last weekend sweeping Manitoba 1-0 and 2-1. The Griffins have added 28-year-old forward Joe Snively who scored the lone goal in the Grand Rapids Saturday win. Snively was a Hershey mainstay for the last five years. Ville Husso earned a 34-save shutout in his season debut. The 29-year-old goaltender has played 133 NHL games with Detroit and St. Louis. 2021 picks Carter Mazur (third round) and Shai Buium (second round) were teammates at the University of Denver with Massimo Rizzo and Bobby Brink. 6-foot-7 goaltender Sebastian Cossa (2-1-1, 1.67, .949) was the #15 overall selection in 2021 and won gold for Canada at the World Juniors in 2022 where he was teammates with Lehigh Valley’s Elliot Desnoyers. Dan Watson is in his first season as head coach following six years as bench boss for the ECHL Toledo Walleye.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Samu Tuomaala 1-2-3
Jacob Gaucher 2-0-2
Anthony Richard 1-1-2
Rodrigo Abols 0-2-2
UPCOMING
Friday, October 25 – Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
Saturday, October 26 – Grand Rapids Griffins at Phantoms
Sunday, October 27 (3:05) – Grand Rapids Griffins at Phantoms (Haunted on Hamilton, Spooky Fun!)
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