Lehigh Valley Phantoms (36-28-8) at WBS Penguins (40-24-8)
Mohegan Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 (7:05 p.m.) – Game 1 in Best of 3
TONIGHT – For a second consecutive season, the Phantoms square off against their in-state rivals in the postseason as Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton play Game 1 in their Best of 3 series. The Opening Round matchup of the Calder Cup Playoffs comes to PPL Center for Game 2 on Friday.
Last year, the Phantoms swept the Penguins right out of the playoffs with a 2-0 series win capped by Jacob Gaucher winning goal at 2:11 into overtime against Joel Blomqvist on April 26, 2024.
Lehigh Valley (36-28-8) earned the 5-seed in the Atlantic Division after three straight wins to conclude the regular season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (40-24-8) landed in the 4-seed position to further fuel the fierce rivalry.
LAST TIME – Lehigh Valley made it a three-game win streak to finish the 2024-25 season. Sawyer Boulton and Alex Bump both scored their first career AHL goals while Brendan Furry (10th) drove in for his league-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season and defenseman Ben Gleason scored his second with the Phantoms in a 4-3 win. Parker Gahagen made 30 saves while the Phantoms’ penalty kill held Hershey to 0-for-8. Lehigh Valley finished with a record of 5-4-1 against the Chocolate and White setting the stage for a potential second-round matchup.
MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/
ON TO THE PLAYOFFS – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs for a third consecutive season. 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.
This is the sixth time for the Phantoms and Penguins to meet in the Calder Cup Playoffs as well as the second time for Lehigh Valley to take on the Penguins.
Lehigh Valley took down the Penguins 2 games to 0 in Round 1 last year with an exciting comeback win on April 26, 2024.Jacob Gaucher scored the winner barely over two minutes into overtime after Tanner Laczynski scored a pair of tying goals in the third period in the 5-4 thriller.
The Philadelphia Phantoms defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4 games to 1 in Round 2 of the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs on their way to an eventual Calder Cup Championship.
REINFORCEMENTS – The Phantoms have received several new and exciting players as well as reinforcements from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Energetic rookie Nikita Grebenkin arrived from Toronto via the Scott Laughton trade and the 21-year-old has very much impressed since making his Lehigh Valley debut on March 16 scoring 3-4-7 in 11 games with the Phantoms.
Jett Luchanko became the youngest player in Philadelphia Flyers history in October and then arrived to the Phantoms at the end of March after spending most of the season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL. The 18-year-old first-rounder was selected 13th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft and has three assists in 10 games with Lehigh Valley.
Alex Bump won an NCAA Championship with Western Michigan on April 12 and one week later was making his pro debut with the Phantoms on April 18. The 21-year-old from Prior Lake, Minnesota who was taken in the fifth-round of the 2022 NHL Draft scored his first pro goal in the season finale at Hershey on April 19 and has scored 1-2-3 in two games with the Phantoms.
Defenseman Ty Murchison out of Arizona State arrived two weeks ago and has shown smarts and poise and agility in his first four pro games. The Round 5 choice in 2021 scored his first pro goal in the home finale against Cleveland on April 18.
Some of the team’s top players have also returned from the Philadelphia Flyers including leading scorer Olle Lycksell (19-25-44 in 43 games), Rodrigo Abols (15-17-32) who played in 22 NHL games this year and defenseman Emil Andrae (3-13-16 in 25 games) who suited up in 42 games with the Flyers.
TEAM LEADERS
Goals: Alexis Gendron (20), Jacob Gaucher (20), Olle Lycksell (19)
Assists: Olle Lycksell (25), Louie Belpedio (23)
Points: Olle Lycksell (44), Jacob Gaucher (38), Anthony Richard (16)
Plus/Minus: Louie Belpedio (+15), Olle Lycksell (+12), Hunter McDonald (+12)
PIM: Garrett Wilson (134), Hunter McDonald (99)
PPG: Anthony Richard (6), Alexis Gendron (5)
SHG: Brendan Furry (5), Furry (2), Gaucher (2), Wilson (2), Wisdom (2)
Shots: Olle Lycksell (151), Ethan Samson (140)
ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR THE CAPTAIN – Garrett Wilson celebrated his 700th career AHL game with a pair of goals against the Cleveland Monsters in the home finale last Friday. Wilson already broke Greg Carey’s record for most games in Lehigh Valley history. The 34-year-old captain is in his fifth season with the Phantoms and also celebrated his 400th career pro point last month. It’s been quite a stretch for Wilson who also enjoyed the arrival of his second son in March!
In 700 career AHL games, Wilson has scored 152 goals with 185 assists for 337 points with San Antonio, Portland, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Toronto and Lehigh Valley. Wilson also has 84 games of NHL experience with Florida and Pittsburgh including 10 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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 11-3-2, 1.92, .932. Among goaltenders with six or more games played in that stretch, Gahagen rates third in the entire AHL in GAA trailing only Matt Murray of Toronto (1.65) and Ken Appleby of Charlotte (1.80).
PENGUINS PREVIEW – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (40-24-8) finished in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and, like the Phantoms, received some recent reinforcements from their NHL parent club. But the Baby Pens are not entirely tip-top entering this series with recent injuries to first-rounder Rutger McGroaty and veteran sniper Emil Bemstrom (23-25-48) already leaving noticeable absences. Ville Koivunen (21-35-56) made the AHL All-Rookie squad and finished third among AHL rookies in points including first in the Eastern Conference. He also scored 0-7-7 in eight games with Pittsburgh. Boris Katchouk (21-28-49) has also been a leader and brings 178 NHL games of experience to the team. Second-rounder Tristan Broz (19-18-37) out of the University of Denver has scored EIGHT goals against the Phantoms this season including an overtime winner in November. Joel Blomqvist (8-7-3, 2.84, .914) is back after a sensational first year in 2023-24 culminating in AHL All-Rookie Team honors. Blomqvist spent more time with Pittsburgh than Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but only played in 15 NHL games posting disappointing numbers (4-9-1, 3.81, .885). The Penguins are hoping he returns to his rookie-season form when he went 25-12-6, 2.16, .921 but even after a dominating season he was unable to stop the Phantoms in the playoffs who swept Blomqvist and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to the curb in the first round via Jacob Gaucher’s overtime goal at PPL Center on April 26, 2024.
Lehigh Valley was 4-7-1 against the Penguins this year which is identical to the team’s mark against them last season before the Phantoms took control in the postseason with the 2-0 series win. The Phantoms went 0-5-1 at Mohegan Arena but won the last appearance there on J.R. Avon’s shootout winner on February 16. Blomqvist went 2-0-1, 2.28, .924 in the season series. The injured Emil Bemstrom (6-5-11) is the top scorer in the season series while Boris Katchouk (5-5-10) and Tristan Broz (8-0-8) have also had success.
Ethan Samson (4-2-6) was the top Lehigh Valley scorer in the season series while Alexis Gendron (4-0-4) and Olle Lycksell (1-5-6) have also succeeded.
The scrappy season-series has pretty much seen a little bit of everything and has quickly developed into one of the best rivalries in the AHL.
Scoring Leaders
Phantoms
Olle Lycksell 19-25-44
Jacob Gaucher 20-18-38
Anthony Richard 17-19-36
Rodrigo Abols 15-17-32
Zayde Wisdom 13-19-32
Samu Tuomaala 11-21-32
Alexis Gendron 20-8-28
Penguins
Ville Koivunen 21-35-56
Boris Katchouk 21-28-49
Emil Bemstrom 23-25-48
Sam Poulin 19-24-43
Avery Hayes 23-19-42
Vasily Ponomarev 15-26-41
Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 17.3%, 26th / PK 81.8%, 18th / PP vs. WBS, 9 for 40
W-B/Scranton – PP 21.3%, 4th / PK 83.1%, 12th / PP vs. LV, 12 for 49
SEASON SERIES (4-7-1)
10/18/24 Away L 3-4
10/19/24 Home L 0-3
11/6/24 Away OTL 1-2 (OT)
11/8/24 Home W 5-3
11/13/24 Home W 4-3 (OT)
12/21/24 Away L 2-7
12/27/24 Away L 2-3
1/26/25 Away L 1-5
2/14/25 Away W 3-2 (SO)
2/16/25 Home L 3-4
3/14/25 Home W 3-1
3/16/25 Home L 3-5
SERIES LEADERS
Lehigh Valley:
Ethan Samson 4-2-6
Olle Lycksell 1-5-6
Samu Tuomaala 1-5-6
Garrett Wilson 2-3-5
Zayde Wisdom 1-4-5
Alexis Gendron 4-0-4
Parker Gahagen 1-2-0, 4.26, .857
W-B/Scranton:
Emil Bemstrom 6-5-11
Boris Katchouk 5-5-10
Sam Poulin 3-6-9
Tristan Broz 8-0-8
Avery Hayes 4-3-7
Jonna Koppanen 3-4-7
Joel Blomqvist 2-0-1, 2.28, .924
COMING UP – We’re back in the Valley on Friday night for Game 2 of the Best of 3 Series. It’s an “Orange Out” at PPL Center with fans encouraged to wear orange to the game.
UPCOMING
Calder Cup Playoffs
Game 1 – Wednesday, April 23 – Lehigh Valley at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Game 2 – Friday, April 25 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Lehigh Valley
Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, April 27 (6:05) – Lehigh Valley at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
