Phantoms Weekly

Coming Off 4-Point Weekend

March 17, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (26-27-6) picked up a pair of big wins on the road against tough competition last weekend and came oh-so-close to making it a perfect three-for-three stretch. The Phantoms have moved up in the standings to fifth place in the Atlantic Division and have trimmed their Magic Number to 25 points with 13 games remaining in the last month of the campaign. The top six teams in the division qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs and, right now, 5-seed Lehigh Valley would be aligned for a rivalry rematch with 4-seed Hershey in the first round.

Up next is a Wednesday night battle with the top team in the league as the Providence Bruins boast an AHL-best 45 victories. After that is a pair of afternoon matchups this weekend down south against the surging and always-dangerous Charlotte Checkers.

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

LAST WEEK
Friday, March 13 – Phantoms 4 at Syracuse Crunch 1
Saturday, March 14 – Phantoms 4 at W-B/Scranton Penguins 3 (OT)
Sunday, March 15 – PhW-B/Scranton Penguins 3 – Phantoms 1

THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, March 18 (7:05) – Providence Bruins at Phantoms
Saturday, March 21 (4:00) – Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers
Sunday, March 22 (1:00) – Phantoms mat Charlotte Checkers

WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, March 13, 2026
Phantoms 4 at Syracuse Crunch 1
Aleksei Kolosov had possibly the best game of his career in a 39-save performance to backstop the Phantoms to a hard-earned 4-1 victory at the Syracuse Crunch on Friday night. Kolosov faced 22 shots in the first period, the most allowed in a single period by Lehigh Valley this season, and never looked back as he repelled one point-blank chance after another after another. Lehigh Valley pushed through on the strength of goals by Tucker Robertson (12th), Brett Harrison (9th), Lane Pederson (19th) and Jacob Gaucher (16th) with an empty-netter to cap the night. The game marked the pro debut of 21-year-old rookie Noah Powell who joined from Arizona State earlier in the week. Brett Harrison made his Lehigh Valley debut a memorable one with a goal in his first game with his new team following three seasons with the Providence Bruins before he joined exactly one week ago via trade. Gaucher’s empty-netter to seal the victory extended his goal-streak to four games.

Saturday, March 14, 2026
Phantoms 4 at W-B/Scranton Penguins 3 (OT)
Lane Pederson (20th, 21st) scored a late tying goal and then blasted home the overtime winner as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms pulled off another fantastic, late rally to down the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-3 on Saturday night. The Phantoms were down 3-1 with under 6:00 remaining. But Oliver Bonk (5th) scored on the power play to spark the comeback. Pederson tied the game with a 6-on-5 goal with just 1:04 left and then cranked home the winner with a 4-on-3 power-play blast with just 10 seconds remaining in overtime. Boris Katchouk (7th) also scored for the Phantoms in his return to Wilkes-Barre again his former team while David Jiricek racked up three assists in just his third game with his new team and Anthony Richard posted a three-helper night as well. Ryan Graves (3rd), Joona Koppanen (7th) and Finn Harding (2nd) all found the back of the net for the Baby Pens.

Sunday, March 15, 2026
W-B/Scranton Penguins 3 at Phantoms 1
Phil Tomasino (10th) scored against his former team to give the Lehigh Valley Phantoms the initial lead, but the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rallied from behind to post a 3-1 victory at PPL Center on Sunday evening, thus earning a split in the home-and-home series. The visiting team won in each half of the two-game set and Lehigh Valley fell just short of finishing a perfect 3-for-3 weekend when Owen Pickering clinched the final with a long empty-netter. Ultimately, penalty trouble proved costly to the Phantoms as Gabe Klassen (14th) scored a power-play goal early in the third period to break a 1-1 tie. The Penguins benefitted from six power play opportunities while the Phantoms had just one. 24 hours earlier, the Phantoms triumphed in northeast Pennsylvania with a bevy of man-advantage markers and seven total power plays.

KNUBLE KNOWLEDGE – The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward Cole Knuble to a two-year entry-level contract beginning with the 2026-27 season. Knuble will join the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a PTO (Professional Try Out) for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. Knuble, 21, was selected by Philadelphia in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft and has participated in Flyers development camp in each of the last three years. He is the son of former Flyers forward Mike Knuble, who appeared in 338 regular-season games with the club from 2005–09 and 2013 among 1,068 career NHL games. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward finished his third collegiate season with the University of Notre Dame, where he scored nine goals with 22 assists for 31 points through 36 games.

CAPTAIN GETS THE CALL – Lehigh Valley’s captain and all-time games-played leader has been recalled to the Philadelphia Flyers. Wilson, 35, could potentially play his first NHL game in seven years. The rugged 6’3″ winger from Barrie, Ontario has not played in the NHL since the 2018-19 season when he suited up in 50 regular-season and four Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Wilson has played in 84 career games in the NHL with Florida and Pittsburgh scoring 2-6-8 while also playing in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Wilson’s last regular-season NHL game was 2,527 days ago on April 16, 2019 for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Islanders. Wilson is in his sixth season with the Phantoms and his 341 games with the club is most in Lehigh Valley history. He is also first on the team in PIM (789), and fourth in goals (62) and points (148).

POWELL’S PRO DEBUT – Noah Powell didn’t exactly have a lot of time to get acclimated. After arriving from Arizona State on Wednesday night and joining the team for one practice on Thursday, it was Go Time for his pro debut on Friday at Syracuse where the new arrival caused several disruptions on the forecheck while connecting on some sharp passes.
Powell, 21, is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound forward who recorded seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 34 games this season as a freshman with the Arizona State Sun Devils. The 2024 selection in the fifth round is from Northbrook, Illinois. Powell led the USHL with 43 goals playing for Dubuque in 2023-24. Powell was born with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. He uses hearing aids and reads lips to communicate.

MARODY TRADED – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have traded forward Cooper Marody to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in exchange for future considerations. Marody, 29, has scored eight goals with 17 assists for 23 points with the Phantoms this season in 41 games. He has played in parts of four seasons for the Phantoms amassing 162 career games and scoring 43 goals with 79 assists for 122 points. He is ninth all-time in Lehigh Valley history in points and is seventh all-time in assists.

GINNING RECORD – Adam Ginning is closing in on Reece Wilcox’s Lehigh Valley record of 232 games by a defenseman. Ginning has played in 231 games with the Phantoms and can potentially tie the record on Wednesday against Providence and would be in line to break the record on Saturday at Charlotte. Drafted by the Flyers in the second round in 2018, the 6’4″ lefty shot has been a blueline mainstay with Lehigh Valley for four seasons scoring nine goals with 48 assists for 57 points. Ginning has also played in 16 career NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers including five games this year when he made the team’s Opening Night roster out of training camp.

TRANSACTIONS –
3/11/26 Add Noah Powell (F) – Signed PTO with Phantoms
3/13/26 Del Cooper Marody (F) – Traded to Coachella Valley for Future Considerations
3/13/26 Del Garrett Wilson (F) – Recalled to PHI
3/17/26 Add Cole Knuble (F) – Signed PTO with Phantoms

UPCOMING –
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Providence Bruins at Phantoms
Providence (45-12-1) is tops in the AHL having pushed past the Grand Rapids Griffins for the best points percentage and most wins in the circuit. With an offense (3.36 goals per game) and defense (2.14 allowed per game) that both rate first in the conference, it is easy to see how they got there. Former Flyer Patrick Brown (17-32-49) paces the balanced attack and has four goals against the Phantoms this season while goaltender Michael DiPietro (28-6-0, 1.80, .936) leads the league in goals-against and save percentage and is in the running to win his second straight Red Garrett Award as AHL Goaltender of the Year. Riley Tufte (25-20-45) has equaled his career-high for points and Matej Blumel (17-26-43) led the AHL last year with 39 goals with Texas while Georgii Merkulov (18-30-48) is on his way to his fourth straight 50-point season. Alexis Gendron hasn’t scored yet in five games with his new team since he was traded with Massimo Rizzo in exchange for new Phantoms Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward. Lehigh Valley is 0-3 against the P-Bruins this season and lost a wild 6-4 decision at PPL Cetner on February 25 in the last encounter.

Saturday, March 21 (4:00 p.m.)
and
Sunday, March 22 (1:00 p.m.)
Bojangles’ Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers
Charlotte (35-18-5) is closing the gap on the second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and is eyeing a Top 2 finish in the Atlantic to earn a playoff bye. The Checkers are on a five-game win streak following back-to-back shutout wins of the Bridgeport Islanders last weekend and entering a two-game series against last-place Hartford on Tuesday and Wednesday. The last time the Phantoms and Checkers met on March 7 was certainly a memorable one with Lehigh Valley rallying from a 4-0 deficit to roar all the way back to tie the game with 4:20 left on David Jiricek’s power-play blast in his Phantoms’ debut. But Sandis Vilanis (11-11-22) had the last laugh with the overtime winner on his second goal of the night in the crazy 5-4 final. Charlotte is eighth in the AHL in offense (3.33 goals per game) and seventh in defense (2.71 allowed). Imposing 6’8″ Cooper Black (22-8-4, 2.54, .904) is the top goaltender on the team. Jack Devine (14-19-33) represented the Checkers at the AHL All-Star Classic and is 10th in AHL rookie scoring. Nolan Foote had an overtime winner in Allentown on December 29 but was recalled to the Florida Panthers on Monday along with defenseman Michael Benning. Ben Steeves (19-17-36) leads the club. The Phantoms are 0-2-2 against the Checkers with Charlotte racking up 21 goals in the season series.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 21-21-42
Anthony Richard 16-25-41
Christian Kyrou 8-24-32
Jacob Gaucher 16-14-30
x – Alex Bump 11-15-26
Tucker Robertson 12-13-25

Atlantic Division Standings:
x – 1. Providence 45-12-1 = 91
2. W-B/Scranton 37-15-8 = 82
3. Charlotte 35-18-5 = 75
4. Hershey 27-25-8 = 62
5. Lehigh Valley 26-27-6 = 58
6. Bridgeport 24-27-8 = 56
6. Springfield 24-27-8 = 56
8. Hartford 22-30-6 = 50

LOOKING AHEAD – Next up for the Phantoms is a Wednesday night showdown against the first-place Providence Bruins at PPL Center. The Phantoms travel to Charlotte, NC next week for a two-game series against the Checkers on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
The Phantoms return home next weekend on Friday, March 27 against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Hockey is for Everyone Night, and Saturday, March 28 in a rivalry showdown against the Hershey Bears.

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