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The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a weekend to remember — but also one to forget — this past Saturday and Sunday (October 24-25). John Snowden’s club, understandably, is in “hang in there” mode right now. The NHL parent team, the Philadelphia Flyers, are riddled with injuries.
Consequently, Lehigh Valley’s depth has been sorely tested by NHL recalls. Among others, Cole Knuble, Hunter McDonald, Alex Bump and Jacob Gaucher are with Philly. Meanwhile, Oliver Bonk has been with the NHL squad for several weeks .
What happens when your farm team’s nucleus gets torn apart by a wave of recalls? You get Jekyll-and-Hyde performances like the last two games.
On Saturday, the Phantoms found themselves on the business end of a buzzsaw. Zayde Wisdom generated an early goal. Thereafter, the Syracuse Crunch skated to a lopsided 7-2 blowout win at PPL Center. Former Flyers forward Jakob Gauthier compiled a hat trick. Frustration and embarrassment mounted. By the end of the night, the Phantoms set a new one-game team record for penalty minutes.
Less than 24 hours later, the Phantoms rebounded well. They held the Belleville Senators to a mere five shots on goal through two periods. By the end of the night, Lehigh Valley earned a 2-0 shutout victory. It was the Phantoms’ first home win of the season.
Saturday: Throwback Night Chaos
Saturday’s outcome was a foregone conclusion by the second intermission. The Phantoms needed an emotional spark to help them put the ugly loss aside as soon as possible. Six Phantoms players received misconducts. So did head coach Snowden. Lehigh Valley finished with 98 penalty minutes; a franchise record that surpassed the 72 minutes the team accumulated on December 21, 2024, at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
By the end of Throwback Night at PPL Center, it wasn’t just the uniforms that had a retro look. The game itself took on rough-and-tumble look of vintage Philadelphia Phantoms tilts at the Spectrum. All that was missing was Frank “the Animal” Bialowas, Dave MacIssac or Andre Payette getting escorted off the ice by the officials.
After the match, Snowden focused on poor decision-making and competitiveness before the score got out of hand.
Sunday: Kolosov Completes the Shutout
Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov hardly broke a sweat in the first two periods of Sunday’s game. However, he was very busy in the final 20 minutes. Kolosov finished with 16 saves for the third shutout of his North American professional career. It was a pointed bounce-back after the previous night’s debacle. Lehigh Valley improved to 4-3-1. They pulled even with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Offensively, veteran checking forward Zach Aston-Reese broke through just over eight minutes into the game. Aston-Reese scored his first goal as a Phantom after Russian rookie Ilya Pautov sent the puck around the boards in the offensive zone. The second period was scoreless. However, Lehigh Valley outshot Belleville by an 8-2 margin.
In the third period, the Phantoms got some insurance. Recently returned from Philadelphia, Jack Studnicka made it 2-0. Playing in his 400th professional game, Studnicka pounced on a turnover in the Senators’ end for his second goal of the season. Pautov once again provided the setup. Playing for the third time in three days, Belleville, dug deep to make a final push (11 shots in the third period). Kolosov turned all of them aside.
Most notably, the Belarusian netminder made three stops during a late Belleville power play. The late saves capped a 4-for-4 PK performance.
Phantoms Roster Notes
- The Flyers loaned veteran Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson, 35, to Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Wilson holds the Lehigh Valley franchise records for games played (343) and penalty minutes (791).
- Defenseman Helge Grans played his 300th career AHL game over the weekend.
- Forward Jacob Gaucher rejoined the team for Sunday’s win. However, he was recalled by the Flyers again on Tuesday.
What’s Next
The Phantoms visit the Rochester Americans on Friday, October 30, then return to PPL Center on Sunday, November 1, for the Haunted on Hamilton game against the Providence Bruins. A three-game Canadian road trip follows, with stops at Laval on November 4, Belleville on November 6 and Hamilton on November 7.
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Tagged: AHL, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, nhl, philadelphia-flyers