Phantoms Weekly

Goals, Transactions, and a Busy Week Ahead

March 2, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (24-23-5) are racking up the goals and have exactly 20 games to go in the final one-and-a-half months of the regular season. The Phantoms have jumped ahead of Bridgeport for fifth place in the Atlantic Division with points in four of their last five games (3-1-1) largely due to the team’s surging offense which has cranked out four or more goals per game for the last five in a row to tie an all-time Lehigh Valley record.

Four games on tap for this week, beginning Tuesday night at the Utica Comets and continuing at home with a pair of games against the Charlotte Checkers during our PA-250 Celebration weekend. The Phantoms’ Magic Number stands at 35 points to clinch a fourth consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

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

LAST WEEK
Wednesday, February 25 – Providence Bruins 6 at Phantoms 4
Saturday, February 28 – Hartford Wolf Pack 5 at Phantoms 4 (SO)
Sunday, March 1 – Hartford Wolf Pack 3 at Phantoms 6

THE WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday, March 3 (7:00) – Phantoms at Utica Comets
Friday, March 6 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms
Saturday, March 7 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms
Sunday, March 8 (3:00) – Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders

WEEKLY RECAP
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Providence Bruins 6 at Phantoms 4
Oliver Bonk (4th) got the Phantoms on the board and then Cooper Marody (6th) and Alexis Gendron (10th) strung together back-to-back goals in a third-period comeback effort. But former Philadelphia Flyer Patrick Brown (16th, 17th) struck for a pair to lead the first-place Providence Bruins past the Phantoms on Wednesday night at PPL Center. No sooner had Lehigh Valley cut Providence’s margin to 4-3 than Providence reestablished its three-goal advantage again at 6-3 in a wild opening seven minutes of the third period that saw four combined goals. Providence had put together an early strong start on goals by Matej Blumel (11th) and Georgii Merkulov (18th) in the first for a 2-0 lead that eventually grew to 3-0 and 4-1 on Brown’s goals. Jacob Gaucher’s shorthanded goal with just 13.3 seconds left concluded Lehigh Valley’s scoring.

Saturday, February 28, 2026
Hartford Wolf Pack 5 at Phantoms 4 (SO)
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. Lehigh Valley 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). Lehigh Valley even knocked out the starting goaltender, Spencer Martin, with a 2-0 advantage in the first six minutes. But replacement Dylan Garand kept his team in it the rest of the way. And 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.

Sunday, March 1, 2026
Hartford Wolf Pack 3 at Phantoms 6
The Phantoms’ offense kept it up and made it five consecutive games with four or more goals as they wrapped up their three-game homestand with a 6-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday afternoon at PPL Center. Anthony Richard (14th, 15th) led the way as he extended his point streak to five games. Oscar Eklind (4th) scored for a second consecutive game while Alex Bump (11th), Lane Pederson (18th) and Cooper Marody (7th) also converted. But the Phantoms also required brilliance from Aleksei Kolosov (23/26). And he delivered with a perfect second period while the Phantoms were hemmed in and protecting a one-goal lead.

TRADE! WELCOME, BORIS KATCHOUK – The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired forward Boris Katchouk from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for defenseman Roman Schmidt. Katchouk, 28, joins the Phantoms from the Iowa Wild where he has played eight games this season scoring one goal with two assists. He also has played in 21 games with the Syracuse Crunch this season scoring 4-6-10 as well as three NHL games with Tampa Bay. Last season, the veteran forward from Vancouver, B.C. scored 21-28-49 with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins setting career highs for goals and points. He also racked up an impressive Hat-Trick-Plus-One on December 11, 2024 scoring four goals in a game for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton against Charlotte. Katchouk has played in 269 career AHL games with Syracuse, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Rockford and Iowa scoring 65-92-157 and also 179 career NHL games with Tampa Bay, Chicago and Ottawa, scoring 15-21-35.
Schmidt, 23, appeared in 16 games with the Phantoms this year after being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization from Tampa Bay in exchange for Ethan Samson. He was teammates with Katchouk on the Syracuse Crunch at that time where he had played in 13 games this season.

GINNING RECALLED – The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defenseman Adam Ginning from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Additionally, defenseman Vincent Sevigny has been recalled by the Phantoms from the Reading Royals of the ECHL. Ginning, 26, has played in 31 games with the Phantoms this season scoring 1-3-4. The 6’3″ right-handed shooter began the season with the Philadelphia Flyers where he played in five games. For his career, the fourth-year pro has played in 226 games with the Phantoms scoring 8-47-55. The 2018 second-rounder from Linkoping, Sweden is approaching the all-time Lehigh Valley record for games by a defenseman held by Reece Willcox with 232.
Sevigny, 24, has played in six games with Lehigh Valley and five games with Syracuse this season on separate PTO’s and then signed an AHL contract with the Phantoms on February 9. The 6’3″ lefty shooter has also played in 10 games with the Reading Royals this season scoring 1-5-6. Sevigny has played in 102 career AHL games with Bridgeport, Laval, Lehigh Valley and Syracuse scoring 6-16-22.

TRANSACTIONS –
3/1/26 Del Adam Ginning (D) – Recalled to PHI
3/1/26 Add Vincent Sevigny (D) – Recalled by LV from Reading
3/1/26 Del Roman Schmidt (D) – Traded PHI to MIN
3/1/26 Add Boris Katchouk (F) – Acquired trade from MIN, loaned to LV
3/2/26 Add Ben Meehan (D) – Recalled by LV from Reading

BOMBS AWAY – The Phantoms have been cranking out the goals and have now scored four or more goals in five consecutive games. That is tied for the longest streak ever for Lehigh Valley to score four or more goals in a game and is just the fourth time it has happened in Lehigh Valley history. It was last done January 8-20, 2017.

Lehigh Valley – Consecutive Games with 4 or more Goals
5 – February 20 – March 2, 2026
5 – January 8-20, 2026
5 – November 2-12, 2016
5 – January 17-30, 2016

STREAKS –
Phil Tomasino, 5 game point streak (2-5-7)
Oliver Bonk, 5 game point streak (2-3-5)
Anthony Richard, 5 game point streak (2-4-6)
Oscar Eklind, 2 game goal streak and goals in 3 of last 4 games played
Cooper Marody, 2 game goal streak and goals in 3 of last 4 games played

SHOOTOUT MARATHON MADNESS – Saturday’s 12-round shootout was the longest in Lehigh Valley history. 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 – 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

UPCOMING –
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Memorial Auditorium, Utica, NY
Phantoms at Utica Comets
Utica (18-25-9) won back-to-back over Belleville last weekend, 5-3 and 5-1, but the last-place Comets are still 11 points behind Rochester for the last playoff spot in the North. Former Phantom Kyle Criscuolo (9-16-25) paces the Comets’ offense which rates last in the conference at 2.5 goals per game. Criscuolo has 308 points in 542 career AHL games in a career spent primarily with Grand Rapids, Rochester and Utica. But he also played for the Phantoms in the 2019-20 season. Brian Halonen leads the team with 15 goals in his fourth year with the Comets to tie with former longtime Belleville Senator Angus Crookshank who also has 15. Third-rounder Nico Daws (10-13-7, 2.96, .886) has 53 games of NHL experience with New Jersey but has spent almost the entirety of 2025-26 with Utica in his fifth professional season. Former Philadelphia Phantoms and Flyers forward Ryan Parent is the head coach for the Comets.
Alex Bump scored the overtime winner against Utica on December 8 at PPL Center in the only previous meeting between the two clubs.

Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms
At long last, it’s the end of the road for the Charlotte Checkers who are wrapping up an epic and marathon 10-game road swing with back-to-back battles in Allentown. Charlotte (30-18-4) is in third place in the Atlantic Division and will play Monday and Tuesday contests at the Hershey Bears this week. A pair of undrafted second and third-year pros, Ben Steeves (18-15-33) and Wilmer Skoog (17-16-33), pace the offense. 21-year-old Jack Devine (13-17-30) and defensman Tobias Bjornfot were tabbed for the AHL All-Star Classic in Rockford, but Bjornfot has been recalled to the Florida Panthers. Imposing 6’8″ Cooper Black (20-9-3, 2.53, .904) has been their top goaltender but veteran Louis Domingue has been the winning goaltender for Charlotte in the two previous encounters at PPL Center with a 3-2 overtime decision on December 29 and a wild 8-5 verdict on January 23. Lehigh Valley has yet to visit North Carolina this season but will do so four times before the regular season concludes.

Sunday, March 8, 2026 (3:05 p.m.)
Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CT
Phantoms at Bridgeport Islanders
The Phantoms and Islanders have been trading spots back-and-forth in the Atlantic Division standings with Lehigh Valley most recently leaping ahead of Bridgeport (22-24-8) to snag the fifth-place position. The B-Isles dropped a pair of hard-fought one-goal battles to the first-place Providence Bruins on Saturday and Sunday. Matt Luff (15-27-42) arrived from Springfield last week via a trade for Julian Gauthier and scored a goal vs. Charlotte in his B-Isles debut with Adam Beckman (22-15-37) striking for the overtime winner last Friday. Beckman has scored 6-4-10 against the Phantoms in six previous games including a January 19 hat trick. Liam Foudy (18-14-32) has five goals against the Phantoms this season and Matthew Highmore (9-21-30) also provides additional experienced scoring pop. The Phantoms are 2-4-0 in the season series entering their last visit to Bridgeport. The two teams will meet once more on April 11 in Allentown.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 18-18-36
Anthony Richard 15-18-33
Christian Kyrou 8-23-31
Alex Bump 11-15-26
Tucker Robertson 11-13-24

Atlantic Division Standings:
1. Providence 41-10-1 = 83
2. W-B/Scranton 36-16-6 = 78
3. Charlotte 30-18-4 = 64
4. Hershey 25-20-8 = 58
5. Lehigh Valley 24-23-5 = 53
6. Bridgeport 22-24-8 = 52
7. Springfield 21-25-7 = 49
8. Hartford 20-26-6 = 46

LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms travel to the Utica Comets on Tuesday, March 3 and then return to PPL Center for two more home games against the Charlotte Checkers on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7. Lehigh Valley is on the road for three straight from March 8-14 with treks to the Bridgeport Islanders, Syracuse Crunch and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

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