PREVIEW: Phantoms at Senators, Game #64

Lehigh Valley Phantoms (31-25-7) vs. Belleville Senators (29-24-8)
CAA Arena, Belleville, ON
Friday, March 28, 2025 (7:05 p.m.) – Game #64

TODAY – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms continue their march for a third consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs as they start a three game road-trip at CAA Arena against the Belleville Senators, AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators.

Lehigh Valley (31-25-7) has a Magic Number of 10 points with 9 games remaining in the regular season. The Phantoms are holding steady at fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The top six teams qualify for the playoffs.

Belleville (29-24-8) is coming off a 5-1 loss to the Cleveland Monsters and are sitting in sixth place in the North Division. The Senators have a Magic Number of 27 points to clinch a playoff spot. They are entering game three out of a seven game homestand. playoff spot tonight but the Bruins have their sites set on a Top 2 finish which carries a first-round bye in the postseason.

LAST TIME –  The Lehigh Valley Phantoms ended their five-game homestand with a  3-1 loss to the  Providence Bruins last Saturday. Lehigh Valley had several strong chances but Providence goaltender Michael DiPietro (28/29) was a brick wall. Young prospect Matthew Poitras (11th, 12th) scored twice for the Bruins and Brett Harrison (5th) also lit the lamp. Aleksei Kolosov (22/24) was very strong between the pipes as well with multiple impressive denials on breakaways and odd-man rushes. But Alexis Gendron’s (18th) late-game strike from Nikita Grebenkin to break a 3-0 shutout bit was DiPietro’s only blemish as he showed why he’s perhaps the best goaltender in the AHL this season with a league-leading .928 save percentage. Phantoms fans enjoyed the team’s first PhanCon event in conjunction with Lehigh Valley ComicCon.

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

YOUNG REINFORCEMENTS – The Phantoms received a new package in the mail in the form of forwards Alex Ciernik and Jett Luchanko.

Luchanko, 18, was the #13 overall selection in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft out of the Guelph Storm of the OHL. He played four games with the Flyers in October before he was assigned to his Major Juniors team in Guelph where he scored 21-35-56 in 46 games in the OHL. In his OHL career over three seasons. Luchanko has played in 160 career games with Guelph over three seasons scoring 46-108-144. At 18y 7m 7d, Luchanko can become the second-youngest ever to play for the Phantoms. He already set a new record with Philadelphia as the youngest ever to dress for the Flyers on October 11 at 18y 1m 16d. Ciernik is 20 year old from Slovakia who signed an ATO contract for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season. He played for the Nybro Vikings IF in Sweden’s Allsvenskan League where he scored 11-12-23 in 46 games played this season.  Ciernik was selected by the Flyers in the fourth round (#120 overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Phantoms Record Book:
Youngest Debuts
Zayde Wisdom 18y 6m 30d (Pro Debut: 2/6/21)
Derek Mathers 18y 7m 19d (3/23/12)
Nick Cousins 18y 8m 11d (3/31/12)
Scott Laughton 18y 10m 13d (4/12/13)

Philadelphia Flyers First Round Selections with Lehigh Valley:
Scott Laughton – 2012 selection
Samuel Morin – 2013
Travis Sanheim – 2014
German Rubstov – 2016
Morgan Frost – 2017
Joel Farabee – 2018
Cam York – 2019
Tyson Foerster 2020

KOLOSOV UP, GAHAGEN RETURNS – The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from the Phantoms while the Phantoms have recalled goaltender Parker Gahagen from the Reading Royals of the ECHL. Kolosov, 23, has gone 5-6-1, 3.11, .884 in 12 games with Lehigh Valley in the 2024-25 season and is also 4-8-1, 3.45, .870 in 15 NHL games with Philadelphia. The third-round selection in 2021 from Minsk, Belarus recently appeared in five games with the Phantoms in a stretch from March 8-23 in which he went 3-2-0, 2.43, 922.
Gahagen, 31, has thrived with the Phantoms in the best AHL season of his career going 9-3-2, 2.65, .906. He put together a personal seven-game win streak from December 28 through February 14 and also recorded his first career shutout in the AHL with a 26-save gem at the Hartford Wolf Pack on January 11.

PHANTASTIC – The Phantoms are 18-12-2 since January 1. Lehigh Valley is 19-1-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game. The Phantoms are 20-0-2 when holding their opponents to two goals or fewer.

– The Phantoms are 22-6-4 when scoring the first goal and are 17-3-1 when leading at the first intermission.

BELLE OF THE BALL – Belleville (29-23-7) is fighting for the last playoff spot in the North Division but it won’t be easy as fifth-place Syracuse and fourth-place Cleveland attempt to distance themselves from the Senators. Belleville has now dropped three straight including an impactful 5-1 setback against Cleveland on Wednesday. Defenseman Jeremy Davies (11-31-42) is the top scorer among active B-Sens after the first recall of second-year pro Stephen Halliday (15-28-43). Former Edmonton first-rounder Xavier Bourgault (8-11-19) is a third-year pro in his first season with the Senators. Leevi Meriläinen (14-9-3, 2.40, .911) is 10th in the AHL in GAA and also impressed in his almost two-month stint with Ottawa going 8-3-1, 1.99, .925. First-rounder and #10 overall pick in 2021 Tyler Boucher (5-3-8) is the son of Brian Boucher who is a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Flyers and former goaltender for the Flyers and Philadelphia Phantoms. Former Phantoms Hayden Hodgson (4-6-10, 121 PIM) and Wyatte Wylie (4-8-12) both played for Ian Laperriere in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Lehigh Valley topped Belleville 3-2 on January 15 with Anthony Richard’s power-play goal

Scoring Leaders
Phantoms
x – Olle Lycksell 17-24-41
Jacob Gaucher 20-16-36
Anthony Richard 15-19-34
Samu Tuomaala 11-21-32
Zayde Wisdom 12-17-29

Senators
Stephen Halliday 15-28-43
Jeremy Davies 11-31-42
Angus Crookshank 22-18-20
Garrett Pilon 9-29-38
Wyatt Bongiovanni 18-10-28

Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 17.7%, 22nd / PK 79.9%, 22nd / PP vs. BEL 1-2
Belleville – PP 16.6%, 27th / PK 77.1%, 29th / PP vs. LV 1-7

COMING UP –  The road trip continues at the first-place Laval Rocket on Saturday. Montreal’s affiliate has the top best record in the AHL.

UPCOMING

Friday, March 28, (5:00) – NCAA Allentown Regional, UConn vs. Quinnipiac

Friday, March 28 (8:30) – NCAA Allentown Regional, Maine vs. Penn State

Sunday, March 30 (TBD) – NCAA Allentown Regional Final

Friday, March 28 (7:00) – Phantoms at Belleville Senators
Saturday, March 29 (7:00) – Phantoms at Laval Rocket
Wednesday, April 2 (10:30 am) – Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders

Friday, April 4 (7:05 pm) – Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears. Berks $1 Hot Dogs

Saturday, April 5 (7:05 pm) – Phantoms vs. Springfield Thunderbirds. Los Fantasmas!

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