Phantoms Power Play Presented by Provident Bank

Break for the Holidays

December 24, 2024

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-11-5) wrapped up play before the Holiday Break with a pair of wins followed by a feisty setback at rival Wilkes-Barre. The Phantoms will return from the break with three games left in calendar year 2024 including two at PPL Center.

The Phantoms wish all of our fans peace and happiness this week as we have a quick pause on all the hockey fun while enjoying a little time with family and friends.

After an overtime thriller against Providence and a blowout win with a hat trick salute for Olle Lycksell against Toronto on Friday, the Phantoms concluded their pre-holiday stretch renewing rivalry spirits in Wilkes-Barre in a scrappy affair that included the most penalty minutes in a single AHL game this season.

The Phantoms rematch at Wilkes-Barre this Friday and then return to PPL Center for two games against the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday and Tuesday. Saturday night includes postgame photos with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance and then Tuesday is our annual New Year’s Eve Party including light-up sticks for the fans presented by Penn Community Bank and then the World’s Largest Puck Drop outside at midnight to ring in 2025!

LAST WEEK
December 17 – Bruins 3 at Phantoms 4 (OT)
December 19 – Marlies 2 at Phantoms 7
December 20 – Phantoms 2 at Penguins 7

THE WEEK AHEAD
Friday, December 27 (7:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
Saturday, December 28 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms
Tuesday, December 31 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms

WEEKLY RECAP
Wednesday, December 10, 2024
Phantoms 4 – Providence Bruins 3 (OT)
Olle Lycksell struck for the overtime winner and Garrett Wilson sparked the comeback with his Gordie Howe Hat Trick as the Phantoms overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period to knock off the Bruins at PPL Center on Wednesday night. Trailing 2-0 in the second period, Wilson got the boys going with his fight against Matthew Viel. Jacob Gaucher’s goal early in the third got things rolling then Garrett Wilson tied the game and Massimo Rizzo’s first career pro goal gave the Phantoms the lead. Lycksell’s overtime goal was his third of the season and was Lehigh Valley’s league-leading sixth overtime win of the 2024-25 campaign.

Friday, December 19, 2024
Phantoms 7 – Toronto Marlies 2
Hats off for Olle Lycksell! His second career hat trick led the way as the Phantoms racked up a season-high seven goals in blowing out the Marlies 7-2 at PPL Center. Lehigh Valley scored five goals in the second period, the most goals in a period in three years. Lycksell’s natural hat trick (three consecutive goals with none scored in between) was Lehigh Valley’s second all-time (also Brennan Saulnier, May 9, 2021 vs. WBS Penguins). Jacob Gaucher (13th) had a career-high four-point performance including three assists. Alexis Gendron (7th) had a three-point game. Zayde Wisdom (3rd) scored for a third time in the last six games.

Saturday, December 20, 2024
Penguins 7 – Phantoms 2
Saturday in Wilkes-Barre was the second consecutive 7-2 result for the Phantoms but this time Lehigh Valley was on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Massimo Rizzo (2nd) and Brendan Furry (1st) shorthanded scored for the Phantoms but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the Penguins’ onslaught. Emil Bemstrom (1oth) and Boris Katchouk (12th) each had one goal and two assists for the Baby Pens who also had three power-play goals.
No fewer than NINE individuals found themselves heading for the exits early via misconduct penalties stemming from various scraps and altercations which likely did NOT involve the sharing of their favorite holiday recipes! Both head coaches also were tossed with 3:30 left. Lehigh Valley’s 74 penalty minutes and the combined total of 132 PIM were both season-highs in the AHL.

MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/

LYCKSELL AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Olle Lycksell was named the Howie’s Hockey Tape AHL Player of the Week following his overtime winner vs. Providence and hat trick vs. Toronto. Lycksell had four goals and two assists for six points in two games played last week. He leads the Phantoms with 9-15-24 in 25 games played. Lycksell is the first Lehigh Valley Phantom to win AHL Player of the Week honors twice. Lycksell was recalled to the Flyers for Saturday’s game against Columbus making his NHL season debut and then was returned to the Phantoms on Sunday.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms to win AHL Player of the Week (8):

Olle Lycksell – Dec 23, 2024
Tanner Laczynski – Nov 20, 2023
Olle Lycksell – Oct 23, 2023
Cooper Marody – Mar 13, 2023
Max Willman – Feb 28, 2021
Colin McDonald – Jan 31, 2016
Nick Cousins – Mar 15, 2015
Scott Laughton – Oct 19, 2014 (Scored First Goal at PPL Center)

ANDRAE ARRIVES – The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned defenseman Emil Andrae to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Andrae, 22, has played in 20 games with the Flyers this season as well as four games with Philadelphia last year. The slick, puck-moving defenseman scored his first career NHL goal on November 25 against Vegas.

Andrae is in his second full professional season in North America after a solid rookie campaign with Lehigh Valley in which he produced 5-27-32 in 61 games. He had played in one game with the Phantoms this season on October 25 prior to playing in both Phantoms games last weekend. In his AHL career with Lehigh Valley he has produced 7-32-39 in 74 games. The 5’9″ left-handed shooter from Vastervik, Sweden was a second-round selection (#54) of the Flyers in the 2020 NHL Draft.

TRANSACTIONS – 
Dec 21 – Olle Lycksell – Add – Loaned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
Dec 20 – Mason Primeau – Add – Recalled to Phantoms from Reading-ECHL
Dec 20 – Olle Lycksell – Del – Recalled to Philadelphia from Phantoms
Dec 20 – Emil Andrae – Add – Loaned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
Dec 19 – Sawyer Boulton – Del – Loaned to Reading-ECHL from Phantoms
Dec 19 – Sam Sedley – Del – Loaned to Reading-ECHL from Phantoms

PHANTOMS FRANCHISE RECORD BOOK
Overtime Goals in a Season
3 – Olle Lycksell (2024-25)
3 – John Slaney (2003-04)

Fastest Overtime Goal
14 secs – Olle Lycksell (12/18/2024 vs. Providence)
14 secs – Brandon Manning (10/28/2012 at Syracuse)

Lehigh Valley Natural Hat Tricks
Olle Lycksell (12/19/2024 vs. Toronto)
Brennan Saulnier (5/9/2021 vs. W-B/Scranton)

PHANTASTIC – 

– The goals keep coming for Jacob Gaucher who now has five goals in the last six games and seven goals in the last 10 games. Gaucher’s 5-game point streak was halted on Friday after scoring 5-4-9 during the streak. Gaucher leads the Phantoms with 13 goals and was signed by the Flyers to a two-year NHL contract on December 12.

– Massimo Rizzo scored his first career pro goal in Wednesday’s win against Providence. The University of Denver product quickly followed that up just two games later with his second career goal on Saturday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

– Mason Primeau made his Phantoms debut on Saturday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The nephew of former Flyers captain Keith Primeau began the season on the shelf with an injury sustained in the preseason. The former Vegas Golden Knights fifth-round selection in 2019 had played in seven games with Reading scoring 3-1-4 and had previously played in 133 career AHL games with the Henderson (NV) Silver Knights.

– Lehigh Valley leads the AHL with 12 overtime games and six overtime wins. The Phantoms are 6-4 in overtime decisions and 1-1 in shootouts.  Lehigh Valley is second in one-goal games with 18 trailing only Hershey (19). The Phantoms are 9-4-5 in the squeakers including 6-0-2 at home in one-goal games.

UPCOMING

Friday, December 27, 2024 (7:05)
Mohegan Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The Phantoms and Penguins were not exactly filled with Holiday Cheer when they met on Saturday before the holiday break racking up an AHL season-high 132 penalty minutes. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (16-8-1) blew past the Phantoms 7-2 in the blowout decision but the various scraps and altercations leading to NINE early exits, including both teams’ head coaches, were what had everyone talking.

The Penguins continued the momentum with a 1-0 win at first-plce Hershey on Sunday led by Filip LArsson’s third shutout. Emil Bemstrom (10-15-25) had a hat trick two Saturdays ago against Springfield in a 5-4 win while Boris Katchouk (12-7-19) racked up a four-goal game during a 6-4 victory the previous week against Charlotte. The Phantoms are 2-3-1 against the Penguins this year while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has a 4-1-1 record against Lehigh Valley. Olle Lycksell struck for the overtime winner against the Penguins on November 13 at PPL Center after Alexis Gendron scored a pair of goals including the game-tying strike with just 1:33 left in the third. Gendron has scored four of his seven goals this season against the Penguins. This is Game 7 out of 12 in the season series.

Saturday, December 28, 2024 (7:05)
and
Tuesday, December 31, 2024 (7:05)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms

Charlotte (16-7-3) had its five-game win streak snapped on Sunday in a 4-1 loss against last-place Bridgeport. Otherwise, it seems there’s been little stopping the high-flying Checkers lately. Charlotte is cranking out a league-high 3.8 goals per game and has a ridiculous 33.7% success rate on the power play, also best in the AHL. And their dominating puck-possession has resulted in just 25.0 shots allowed per game, also best in the AHL. The Checkers actually lead Hershey for best points-percentage in the Atlantic Division despite trailing by four points overall (due to fewer games played) and their seven regulation losses is second-fewest in the AHL trailing only Toronto.

Westwood, NJ native John Leonard (12-12-24) leads the way after a hat trick last Friday against Bridgeport. Leonard has played in 70 NHL games with San Jose, Arizona and Nashville. Hard-shooting Trevor Carrick (5-9-14) is a two-time AHL All-Star in 2016 and 2019. 32-year-old veteran Kyle Criscuolo (10-13-23) played for the Phantoms five seasons ago. 29-year-old veteran goaltender Ken Appleby (7-2-1, 2.17, .911) has been Eatin’ Good in the Neighborhood with a career resurgence that sees him 9th in the AHL in G.A.A. He joined from the Islanders where he spent three seasons splitting time between Bridgeport and the ECHL Worcester Railers. Geordie Kinnear is the longest-tenured head coach in the AHL in his eighth season with the Florida Panthers’ AHL affiliate in Charlotte and previously in Springfield.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Olle Lycksell 9-15-24
Jacob Gaucher 13-9-22
Samu Tuomaala 8-14-22
Anthony Richard 6-10-16
Alexis Gendron 7-5-12
Rhett Gardner 4-8-12

UPCOMING

Friday, December 27 (7:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins

Saturday, December 28 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms – Postgame Photographs with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance

Tuesday, December 31 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms – Light-up glow sticks from Penn Community Bank. World’s Largest Puck-Drop at Midnight!

Friday, January 3 (7:00) – Phantoms at Utica Comets

Saturday, January 4 (7:00) – Phantoms at Syracuse Crunch

Tuesday. January 7 (7:00) – Phantoms at Hershey Bears

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