Marathon Shootout, Phantoms Earn Standings Point

Hartford Wins in 12th Round

February 28, 2026

Allentown, PA – It was a history-making night. Lehigh Valley played its longest shootout in team history in a 12-round marathon to secure a valuable standings point while the visiting Hartford Wolf Pack prevailed on a goal by Justin Dowling to finally end the insanity in a 5-4 final. The Wolf Pack did not lead all night long…until the very end of the lengthy battle.

The game eclipsed the previous longest shootout in Lehigh Valley history on November 1, 2015 with a 10-round win at Hershey on a goal by Kevin Sundher. The longest shootout in PPL Center was a nine-round duel back in the team’s inaugural season when Adam Comrie struck for the winner against the Norfolk Admirals on December 27, 2014.

However, the game still fell shy of the franchise-record 15 rounds played by the Adirondack Phantoms against Binghamton Senators on April 14, 2013 when new defenseman Mark Alt scored the goal to finally end the night making a winner of Brian Boucher between the pipes.

Lehigh Valley (22-22-5) had leads of 2-0 and 4-2 on goals by Devin Kaplan (5th), Luke Pederson (17th), Phil Tomasino (4th with LV) and Oscar Eklind (3rd). But visiting Hartford rallied back twice to tie with Connor Marckey (4th), Adam Sykora (10th), Jusso Parssinen (4th) and Brennan Othmann (7th) all converting for the visitors.

A hot start with back-to-back goals by Kaplan and Pederson just 49 seconds apart had the Orange and Black off and running. Kaplan took it up the left wing and powered through to the net to push it in past starting goaltender Spencer Martin. And Tucker Robertson weaved his way out of the zone and found Oliver Bonk whose shot from the right circle bounced out to Lane Pederson who buried his team-leading 17th of the season for a 2-0 lead. That spelled an early end to the night for Spencer Martin as Dylan Garand took over the crease just 5:33 into the contest.

“You know, I think there were spurts in the game that I thought, if you were to look at in in totality, I thought that we did a lot of good things,” Phantoms head coach John Snowden said. “We controlled a lot of play. We generated some chances. We missed some chances, you know, but that’s the game, and that’s kind of where we’re at right now. We got to stop those moments where we we beat ourselves and we put ourselves in the situation we’re in.”

Hartford (20-25-7) found its form and put together its own back-to-back goals just 27 seconds apart to even the score. Connor Mackey’s long shot from the blue line found the corner with a little help from a screen in front of Carson Bjarnason. And a dump-in took an unfriendly bounce on Bjarnason and popped right out to a hustling and onrushing Sykora who buried one into the open net before the Phantoms’ netminder could recover.

The Phantoms again pushed out to a two-goal advantage in the second period. Christian Kyrou carried into the zone with speed and almost with an odd-man rush. But instead of forcing it through traffic, he dropped it backwards to Max Guenette on the point who quickly connected on a cross-ice pass to Tomasino in the left-dot who rifled home his one-timer for a 3-2 lead at 2:05 into the middle frame. Tomasino extended his point streak to four games (2-4-6).

Guenette and Zayde Wisdom helped spring Eklind free nine minutes later allowing the forward to drive around the net for a wraparound he powered off the left pad of Garand. The puck bounced off the Wolf Pack goaltender but had so much top-spin it rolled backwards and through his legs as Eklind picked up his second conversion in his last three games played. The Phantoms were up 4-2 at 11:35 of the second period and seemed in control.

Max Guenette had a pair of helpers on the second-period goals.

“I think we did a couple of good things,” Guenette said. “Overall, I think we played a good game. We had maybe a couple bad decisions or just maybe brain freeze of not sticking to a plan and that causes a couple goals, I guess. But I think we created offense, just in our zone. ‘Barney’ (Bjarnason) did an awesome job, but we just gotta limit those mistakes, those small mistakes.”

Hartford hung in there and was ready to take advantage of those small mistakes as the Wolf Pack put together consecutive strikes yet again. A long push and shift in the Phantoms’ end led to Jusso Parssinen’s tap at the net front from Derrick Pouliot to make it 4-3 at 17:48. And a 4-on-4 goal was created by a missed shot from a left-wing angle that came around the boards and perfectly to speedy Trey Fix-Wolansky for a 2-on-1 where he found Othamann on the other side with just 20 seconds left in the period for a Wolf Pack momentum lift into the room in a 4-4 deadlock.

The Phantoms had a power play with just 3:27 left in the third on a late high-sticking penalty but the Phantoms were unable to break Garand on a night in which both teams finished at 0-for-4 on the man advantage.

A scoreless overtime led to the longest shootout in Lehigh Valley history. Alex Bump scored in the second round for the Phantoms but Brennan Othmann kept it alive for the Wolf Pack with his goal in the third round. Christian Kyrou put the Phantoms ahead with a nifty slip past Garand in the eighth round. But big Dylan Rooebroeck tinged it off the inside of the left iron and in. We played on. Justin Dowling slipped it past the left pad of Bjarnason in the 12th round to give Hartford its first, and only, lead of the night.

Phil Tomasino (2-4-6), Oliver Bonk (2-2-4) and Anthony Richard (0-4-4) all extended their point streaks to four games. It was the first time the Wolf Pack had defeated the Phantoms in five tries this season.

Lehigh Valley and Hartford rematch on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. at PPL Center in the finale of the season series. Sunday’s game is also meLVin’s Birthday with his mascot friends…and you’re invited!

Lehigh Valley – Longest Shootouts
12 Rounds – 2/28/2026 – Hartford wins over Lehigh Valley – Justin Dowling
10 Rounds – 11/1/2015 – Lehigh Valley wins at Hershey – Kevin Sundher
9 Rounds – 12/27/2014 – Lehigh Valley wins vs. Norfolk – Adam Comrie

Longest Shootout -Phantoms Franchise History
15 Rounds – 4/14/2013 – Adirondack Phantoms win vs. Binghamton – Mark Alt

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