Lehigh Valley Phantoms (34-28-8) vs. Cleveland Monsters (35-24-11)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Friday, April 18, 2025 (7:05 p.m.) – Game #71
TONIGHT – This is it! It’s the last home game of the regular season as the Phantoms host the Cleveland Monsters, AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Phantoms are gearing up for the playoffs and are also welcoming two highly regarded new additions to the lineup with goaltender Carson Bjarnason and forward Alex Bump arriving this week.
Lehigh Valley (34-28-8) has officially CLINCHED and is now playing out the stretch in advance of the Calder Cup Playoffs beginning next week. The Phantoms are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and will take on either the Providence Bruins or the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the first-round Best of 3 series. We will not know the matchup and the dates of the first-round series until late Saturday night after the last games of the regular season are complete.
Cleveland (35-24-11) hasn’t clinched yet and is hanging on to fifth place in the North Division. The Monsters have a Magic Number of two points entering tonight, meaning that either a Cleveland win or a regulation loss by Belleville will result in the Monsters officially punching their ticket for the postseason.
The Phantoms wrap up the regular season tomorrow night at the Hershey Bears. Clinching the playoff spot in advance allows head coach Ian Laperriere the luxury of resting some of his top players to have them ready and energized for the postseason showdowns on the horizon.
LAST TIME – Lehigh Valley defensemen cranked it up for four of the team’s five goals in decisive triumph at PPL Center before an excited sellout crowd on Star Wars Night. The Force was with Ben Gleason (2nd), Ethan Samson (12th), Hunter McDonald (4th) and Helge Grans (8th) while the recently returned Rodrigo Abols (13th) was the only forward to strike back at Clay Stevenson. Cal Petersen produced 33 saves in repelling the dark forces while the Phantoms were outshot 34-24.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
YOUNG BLOOD: BUMP AND BJARNASON – Exciting rookies Alex Bump and Carson Bjarnason have joined the Phantoms this week and are eligible to make their pro debuts.
Bump, 21, is coming off an NCAA National Championship victory for Western Michigan on Saturday after he was NCHC Forward of the Year as a sophomore. The 2022 Round 5 selection scored 23-24-47 with the Broncos and was previously a USA Today High School Hockey Player of the Year when he captained Prior Lake High School to its first ever appearance at the Minnesota State Championships.
Bjarnason, 19, is a goaltender who was a Round 2 selection of the Flyers in 2023 and went 22-18-3, 2.93, .913 with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL this season. The 6’3″ product of Carman, Manitoba also represented Team Canada at the World Juniors Tournament and has previously played at PPL Center in the 2023 and 2024 NHL Rookie Series Flyers vs. Rangers games.
ON TO THE PLAYOFFS – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are headed to the playoffs presented by PenTeleData. This is Lehigh Valley’s third consecutive season in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Phantoms’ first-round matchup next week will be a Best-of-3 series against either the Providence Bruins or the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The first-round schedule will be announced immediately following Lehigh Valley’s game at Hershey on Saturday night. If the Phantoms advance then up next would be a Round 2 clash in a Best-of-5 against either the Hershey Bears or Charlotte Checkers.
Nine players have spent parts of the 2024-25 season playing for both the Phantoms and the Philadelphia Flyers including Emil Andrae, Rodrigo Abols, Aleksei Kolosov, Jacob Gaucher, Adam Ginning, Helge Grans, Jett Luchanko, Olle Lycksell and Anthony Richard.
This is the fifth time for Lehigh Valley to qualify for the playoffs and it is also the 15th time for the franchise which began as the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1996. Making it in for three consecutive seasons has not happened since the Philadelphia Phantoms qualified in each of their first six seasons from 1997 through 2002. The Philadelphia Phantoms twice won the Calder Cup in 1998 and exactly 20 years ago in 2005.
PARK IT! – Stopping pucks has been a walk in the park for 31-year-old Army Captain Parker Gahagen. In his second season with the Phantoms, the lifelong ECHL’er has more than found his stride at the AHL level and has become one of the best goaltenders in the league since the Holiday Break.
Since December 28, Gahagen has gone 10-3-2, 1.85, .934. Among goaltenders with five or more games played in that stretch, Gahagen rates third in the entire AHL in GAA trailing only Matt Murray of Toronto (1.62) and Trent Miner of Colorado (1.83).
MAN ON THE YEAR – Hunter McDonald has been selected as the IOA/American Specialty Man of the Year for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for his outstanding contributions to the Lehigh Valley community during the 2024-25 season. McDonald has established himself as an admirable presence in the local community. “It was great, I enjoyed all the events,” McDonald said. “It was cool to be able to give back to the community and just see kids going out to school or doing sled hockey, and even the hospital. So, it was fun to get with the guys and go out and try to make people’s day a little better.”
PHANTASTIC – Lehigh Valley is 21-1-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game. The Phantoms are 23-2-3 when holding their opponents to two goals or fewer.
– The Phantoms are 25-8-4 when scoring the first goal and are 20-5-1 when leading at the first intermission.
– Second-year pro Ethan Samson is the first Phantoms defenseman to score 10 or more goals in a season since and is just the third Lehigh Valley blueliner to score 12 goals in a season.
– It’s down to the wire for the team goal-scoring title. Alexis Gendron and Jacob Gaucher are tied at 20 goals apiece.
– Ty Murchison made his pro debut on Friday at Syracuse and then made his home debut the following night against Hershey. The 22-year-old from Corona, California signed his entry-level contract with the Flyers on March 26, 2025 and the fifth-rounder in 2022 joins the Phantoms following four seasons at Arizona State.
Lehigh Valley Record Book:
Goals by Rookie
Elliot Desnoyers – 23 (2022-23)
Danick Martel – 22 (2016-17)
Alexis Gendron – 20 (2024-25)
Single Season, Goals by Defenseman
T.J. Brennan – 21 (2016-17)
T.J. Brennan – 14 (2017-18)
Ronnie Attard – 12 (2022-23)
Ethan Samson – 12 (2024-25)
THE MONSTER MASH –
Cleveland (35-24-11) is on the verge of clinching but there is still work to be done. The Monsters enter tonight with a Magic Number of two points to punch their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs. Last year, the Monsters advanced to the Conference Finals before Garrett Roe of Hershey ended their postseason run with an overtime goal in Game 7. Monsters franchise leading scorer Trey Fix-Wolansky (26-34-60) drives the offense and has scored 112-147-269 in his career with Cleveland. Rocco Grimaldi (17-41-58) is a 31-year-old veteran of 497 career AHL games scoring 192-236-428 in his career while also appearing in over 200 NHL games with Florida, Colorado and Nashville. 21-year-old Luca Del Bel Balluz (25-25-50) is a second-rounder who is thriving in his second pro season. Jet Grevaes (21-11-6, 2.62, .920) has returned from Columbus after he shut out the Flyers on Tuesday to keep the surprising Blue Jackets in the playoff race for as long as possible. The Phantoms are 2-1-0 against Cleveland including a 3-2 overtime win at Cleveland on December 14 on Louie Belpedio’s winning strike and a February 7 shootout win at PPL Center on goals by Olle Lycksell and Massimo Rizzo and then a winning shootout goal for J-R Avon.
Scoring Leaders
Phantoms
Olle Lycksell 17-24-41
Jacob Gaucher 20-17-37
Anthony Richard 17-19-36
Samu Tuomaala 11-21-32
Zayde Wisdom 13-17-30
Rodrigo Abols 13-16-29
Alexis Gendron 20-8-28
Monsters
Trey Fix-Wolansky 26-34-60
Rocco Grimaldi 17-41-58
Luca Del Bel Belluz 26-25-51
Hunter McKown 13-18-31
Owen Sillinger 11-18-29
Roman Ahcan 18-10-28
Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 16.5%, 26th / PK 81.0%, 21st / PP vs. CLE, 0 for 6
Cleveland—PP 18.3%, 17th / PK 80.4%, 22nd / PP vs. LV, 1 for 9
SEASON SERIES (2-1-0)
12/12/24 Away L 2-3
12/14/24 Away W 3-2 (OT)
2/7/25 Home W 3-2 (SO)
4/18/25 Home
SERIES LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
Jacob Gaucher 1-2-3
Zayde Wisdom 1-1-2
Xavier Bernard 0-2-2
Alexis Gendron 0-2-2
Cal Petersen 1-1-0, 2.48, .917
Cleveland
Trey Fix-Wolansky 2-1-3
Stanislav Svozil 1-2-3
Luca Del Bel Belluz 0-3-3
Roman Ahcan 2-0-2
Zach Sawchenko 1-0-2, 2.25, .905
COMING UP – The Phantoms wrap it up tomorrow night at the Hershey Bears in Game #72 of the 2024-25 campaign. After that game, we will officially learn the schedule for Round 1 of the Calder Cup Playoffs against either the Providence Bruins or Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
UPCOMING
Friday, April 18 (7:05 pm) – Cleveland Monsters at Phantoms. Regular Season Home Finale
Saturday, April 19 (7:00 pm) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hershey Bears. End of Regular Season
Calder Cup Playoffs – Round 1, Best of 3 Series – Dates and Opponent TBD
