PREVIEW: Phantoms vs. Cleveland, Game 46

Winter Games Weekend

TONIGHT – Love is in the Air for this Valentine’s Delight as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-20-4) return from the All-Star Break and open their Winter Games Weekend Celebration hosting the Cleveland Monsters (23-15-7), AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. We will celebrate the international spectacle with our own games and fun, plus specialty pregame jerseys. And then we will feature the start of an Orange Out weekend. Tonight’s game also includes a Winter Knit Cap giveaway presented by Gatorade.

Tonight is Game 46 of the 2025-26 season. There are just 27 games to go in the final two months of the regular season before the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Phantoms won a pair of games at Cleveland in October including a 3-0 win for Aleksei Kolosov in his first North American pro shutout.

Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/

LAST TIME – Liam Foudy (13th, 14th, 15th) capped Bridgeport’s evening with a hat trick as the Islanders avenged last week’s setback at PPL Center with a 5-1 victory in last Saturday’s rematch in Connecticut. Lane Pederson (15th) scored Lehigh Valley’s lone goal with a power-play marker in the first but the Orange and Black couldn’t break through past Marcus Hogberg any more after that. Adam Beckman (18th) opened the scoring for the Islanders in a three-goal first period and Matt Maggio (13th) also registered for the B-Isles.

ALL-STAR KYROU – Christian Kyrou showcased his abilities on the league’s biggest midseason stage at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic in Rockford, Illinois. The slick, puck-moving defenseman helped the Eastern Conference capture the Skills Competition crown, participating in both the Puck Control Relay and Rapid Fire contests. He later delivered a highlight-reel moment of his own in the Breakaway Relay with a slick finish. In the All-Star Challenge, he delivered a pair of assists including a beautiful cross-ice pass to Charlotte Checkers forward Ben Steeves for a quick-strike finish. He added another assist in the third and final game of the evening with a crisp feed to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Tristan Broz, who found Charlotte’s Jack Devine.

SEVIGNY SIGNS – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have signed defenseman Vincent Sevigny to a standard AHL contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 season and for the 2026-27 season. Sevigny, 24, had been with the Phantoms earlier this season on a PTO (Professional Try Out) and also was with the team in the preseason. The Quebec City, Que. native played in six games with Lehigh Valley in October and November. He has also played in five games with Syracuse as well as five games in the ECHL with the Reading Royals. Sevigny has played in 102 AHL games with Bridgeport, Laval, Lehigh Valley and Syracuse scoring 6-16-22. He has also played in 54 career ECHL games with Trois-Rivieres and Reading scoring 5-18-23. Sevigny won a Kelly Cup with the Trois-Rivieres Lions last year.

STREAKING –
Lane Pederson – 3-game goal streak
Anthony Richard – 7-game point streak (3-4-7)

UPCOMING MILESTONES –
– Anthony Richard, 198 pro assists
– Phil Tomasino, 199 pro points
– Max Guenette, 98 pro assists

SATURDAY SUPERSTARS – The Phantoms boast an impressive mark on Saturdays this season going 12-3-2. Seven of the 17 Saturday games have gone to overtime or shootout and the Phantoms are 6-0-1 in those Saturday extra-time contests. The Phantoms went 7-1-0 in Saturday games for December and January combined.

THE MONSTER MASH – Cleveland (23-15-7) has been on the rise and briefly touched second place in the North Division on the strength of a six-game win streak. But the Monsters dropped a pair at first-place Laval prior to the break. The “Luca X 3” Show leads the way. Third-year-pro Luca Del Bel Balluz (13-24-37) is tops on the Monsters in scoring and the second-rounder in 2022 has also played in 13 games with the Blue Jackets this year. 20-year-old fourth-rounder Luca Pinelli (10-21-31) is next and also rates fifth among AHL rookies. And 20-year-old defenseman. Luca Marrelli (0-5-5) has recently joined the Monsters to play his first eight pro games since recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
Former Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov (16-9-4, 2.87, .886) has been a workhorse for the Monsters and his 31 games played is second among all AHL goaltenders trailing only Devon Levi (32) of Rochester. The Phantoms swept a pair of games in northeast Ohio in October including a 3-0 win on October 17 with Aleksei Kolosov outdueling his former Flyers teammate while recording his first North American shutout.

SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 16-15-31
Anthony Richard 13-14-27
Christian Kyrou 7-18-25
Alex Bump 7-13-20
Alexis Gendron 8-11-19

Cleveland Scoring Leaders
Luca Del Bel Belluz 13-24-37
Luca Pinellli 10-21-31
Mikael Pyyhtiä 9-20-29
Jack Williams 9-15-24
Owen Sillinger 10-12-22

Special Teams PP / PK
LV 18.6%, 17th / 75.7%, 32nd (PP vs. CLE 2/7, 28.6%)
CLE 17.2%, 22nd / 81.9%, 12th (PP vs. LV 1/13, 7.7%)

Season Series vs. Cleveland Monsters: (2-0-0)
10/17/25 Away W 3-0
10/18/25 Away W 3-2 (SO)
2/14/26 Home
4/12/26 Home

LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms return Sunday 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 Orange and Black travel to Chocolatetown for a pair of games next weekend before returning to PPL Center on Wednesday, February 25 against the first-place Providence Bruins in the opener of a three-game homestand.

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