Phantoms Weekly

Two Games Before All-Star Break

February 4, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-18-4) have two games to go before the AHL All-Star Break which now also features a new representative from the Orange and Black! The Phantoms are at home on Friday night in a rivalry rematch with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and then will head to Connecticut for a Saturday road game at the Bridgeport Islanders.

All teams are off the following week during the All-Star Break while the league’s very best converge on Rockford, Ill. for the annual classic.

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

LAST WEEK
Friday, January 30 – Phantoms 1 at Springfield 2
Saturday, January 31 – Bridgeport Islanders 3 at Phantoms 5
Sunday, February 1 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 6 at Phantoms 2

THE WEEK AHEAD
Friday, February 6 (7:05) – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms
Saturday, February 7 (7:05) – Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders
Tuesday, Feb 10 and Wednesday, Feb 11 – AHL All-Star Classic at Rockford, Ill.

WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, January 30, 2026
Phantoms 1 at Springfield Thunderbirds 2
Phil Tomasino (6th) broke through on the power play for his first with the Orange and Black but Vadim Zherenko held off Lehigh Valley’s hard push the rest of the way as the Springfield Thunderbirds held on for a 2-1 nailbiter on Friday night. Aleksei Kolosov (22/24) was strong in his return to the Phantoms and only allowed a pair of power-play goals in the first period. Rookie Juraj Pekarcik (6th) and veteran Chris Wagner (12th) found the back of the net with man-advantage markers in the opening frame and held onto the lead the rest of the way.

Saturday, January 31, 2026
Bridgeport Islanders 3 at Phantoms 5
Zayde Wisdom and Christian Kyrou delivered statement, three-point performances on Saturday night at PPL Center as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms built, protected, and ultimately finished off a 5–3 victory over the Bridgeport Islanders in a lively home finale for January. Wisdom (7th, 8th) racked up two goals for the second time this season, including the empty-netter to seal it, as well as a strong assist. Kyrou (7th) racked up three points with a goal and two helpers. Jacob Gaucher (9th) opened the scoring and Anthony Richard (12th) tallied as well, while Tucker Robertson had a pair of helpers. And rookie netminder Carson Bjarnason picked up his 11th win of the season with an impressive 28-save performance.

Sunday, February 1, 2026
Phantoms 2 at W-B/Scranton Penguins 6
The Phantoms were solid for the first 40 minutes and were possibly even the better team. But a four-goal surge in the final frame propelled the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 6-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at PPL Center. NHL veteran defenseman Matt Dumba led the Penguins’ attack with a four-point performance, all assists. Lehigh Valley received goals from Lane Pederson (14th) and Anthony Richard (12th). Richard extended his point streak to five games, as did Christian Kyrou who had a pair of assists to crank up his recent total to 2-6-8 in his last five. But costly miscues resulted in too many timely and strong opportunities for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Meanwhile, the Phantoms had some strong chances of their own but Joel Blomqvist came up with some big saves on the 2-on-1’s and partial breakaways that challenged him. Avery Hayes (12th) and Owen Pickering (5th) scored back-to-back goals on consecutive power plays in the third to put the game out of reach.

ALL-STAR KYROU – Christian Kyrou has been selected to participate in the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic in Rockford, ill. February 10-11. Forward Denver Barkey is currently up with the Philadelphia Flyers and will be unable to participate.
Kyrou, 22, stormed onto the scene since arriving to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms from the Texas Stars in a trade for Samu Tuomaala on October 30, 2025. The creative, puck-moving blueliner has racked up 24 points in 34 games with the Phantoms scoring seven goals with 17 assists. Kyrou rates third on the team in scoring and is 11th among all AHL defensemen. Christian Kyrou follows in the footsteps of his older brother, Jordan Kyrou, who played in the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic as a member of the San Antonio Rampage. Jordan Kyrou is now a forward with the St. Louis Blues where he has played in 463 career games.

BACK AND FORTH – Aleksei Kolosov has been going up and down from the Phantoms to the Flyers in efforts to keep getting in games while also helping Philadelphia’s goaltending situation. Kolosov, 24, has started 21 games for the Phantoms this season, compiling a 9-11-1 record, 2.69 GAA, and .902 SV% and he has also appeared in four NHL games with Philadelphia this season.
Wed, Jan 28 – Loaned to Phantoms
Fri, Jan 30 – Starts at Springfield
Sat, Jan 31 – Recalled to Flyers. Backup goalie for Flyers
Sun, Feb 1 – Loaned to Phantoms. Starts vs. W-B/Scranton
Mon, Feb 2 – Recalled to Flyers

PEDERSON RETURNS – Center Lane Pederson was returned to the Phantoms last week and was back in the Lehigh Valley lineup on Saturday. He scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season on Sunday. Pederson played in five games with the Flyers in his first games in the NHL in almost three years since March 30, 2023 with Columbus. Pederson, 28, has been centering Lehigh Valley’s top line all season and is the team’s leading scorer with 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in 39 games played. Pederson has played in 76 career NHL games scoring four goals with seven assists for 11 points with Arizona, San Jose, Vancouver, Columbus, and Philadelphia. He also has played in 350 career AHL games scoring 125 goals with 134 assists for 259 points with Tucson, San Jose, Chicago, Abbotsford, Bakersfield and Lehigh Valley.

HEATING UP
Christian Kyrou – 5 game point streak, 2-6-8. 11th in AHL Defensemen scoring
Anthony Richard – 5 game point streak, 3-2-5. 5 goals last 10 games
Zayde Wisdom – 3 goals last 4 games
Tucker Robertson – 2-3-5 last 4 games including two multi-point games

JANUARY LEADERS
Christian Kyrou 3-5-8
Tucker Robertson 2-5-7
Anthony Richard 4-2-6
Jacob Gaucher 3-3-6
Zayde Wisdom 3-3-6
Lane Pederson 2-4-6
Max Guenette 0-6-6

SATURDAY SUPERSTARS – The Phantoms boast an impressive mark on Saturdays this season going 12-2-2. Seven of the 16 Saturday games have gone to overtime or shootout and the Phantoms are 6-0-1 in those Saturday extra-time contests.

UPCOMING –
Friday, February 6, 2026 (7:05)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (29-12-4) boasts the third-best record in the AHL and is in second-place in the Atlantic Division. The Phantoms are itching for revenge following a 6-2 humbling last Sunday in the last meeting. NHL veteran defenseman Matt Dumba (2-9-11) racked up four assists in the Sunday game on his way to AHL Player of the Week honors. The long-time Minnesota Wild blueliner has played 748 games in the NHL. Second-year pro Tristan Broz (14-14-28) leads the team in scoring but has been absent the last three weeks due to injury. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (12-8-20) has five goals against the Phantoms and had a two-goal game against Lehigh Valley in November. Second-year pro Sergei Murashov (16-5-0, 2.12, 924) is still one of the top goaltenders in the league despite some recent hiccups. Murashov is 3-0-0, 1.38, .958 against the Phantoms this season. Ville Koivunen (5-13-18) has spent more of the season with Pittsburgh but has recently returned to Wilkes. Koivunen led the Baby Pens last year with 21-35-56 and was a member of the AHL All-Rookie Team. The Penguins are 5-0-1 against the Phantoms this season.

Saturday, February 7, 2026 (7:05 p.m.)
Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CT
Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders
Bridgeport (19-19-4) has points in eight of its last 10 to solidify its hold on the sixth and final playoff position in the standings. Lehigh Valley pushed back at the Islanders last Saturday in the form of a 5-3 win led by Zayde Wisdom’s two goals and Christian Kyrou’s three-point night. But Bridgeport still leads the season series 3-2 entering Game 6 out of 8. Former Minnesota draft selection Adam Beckman (17-11-28) had a hat trick against the Phantoms on January 19 in Bridgeport and has scored 5-2-7 in the season series. Michigan State product Joey Larson (14-11-25) is having a strong rookie campaign and has 3-2-5 against the Phantoms. 36-year-old sniper Chris Terry (8-9-17) is tied with Denis Hamel for 11th all-time with 338 career goals. Veteran defenseman Ethan Bear (2-7-9) has played in 275 NHL games but had a preseason injury with the Islanders. Since joining Bridgeport following his recovery, Bear has scored both of his goals this season against Lehigh Valley. 6’9″ netminder Henrik Tikkanen (8-4-1, 2.36, .906) came on relief of Marcus Hogberg last week and has performed well. Veteran goaltender and 36-year-old Jeremy Smith has become an amazing story recording a shutout last Sunday against Springfield in his first AHL game since 2018-19 with Bridgeport. Smith spent the last six seasons in Beijing, China playing for the Kunlun Red Star of the KHL as part of a career that began in the 2009-10 season with Milwaukee and also ECHL Cincinnati. Former Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson is the first-year bench boss for the B-Isles.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 14-15-29
Anthony Richard 13-12-25
Christian Kyrou 7-17-24
Alex Bump 7-13-20
Alexis Gendron 8-11-19
Jacob Gaucher 9-8-17
Tucker Robertson 7-10-17

Atlantic Division Standings:
1. Providence 32-8-1 = 65
2. W-B/Scranton 29-12-4 = 62
3. Charlotte 25-14-3 = 53
4. Hershey 20-15-7 = 48
5. Lehigh Valley 21-18-4 = 46
6. Bridgeport 19-19-4 = 42
7. Springfield 16-21-6 = 38
8. Hartford 16-22-5 = 37

LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms are at home this Friday night against the W-B/Scranton Penguins and then travel to Bridgeport on Saturday taking on the Islanders.

Following the All-Star Break, the Phantoms have a pair of exciting home games over our Winter Games Celebration Weekend beginning Saturday, February 14 against the Cleveland Monsters on Phantoms Knit Cap Night presented by Gatorade. Sunday, February 15 at 3:05 p.m. against the Syracuse Crunch including a Postgame Photograph session with the players on the ice presented by NJM Insurance.

The post Phantoms Weekly appeared first on Lehigh Valley Phantoms.