Nine Is Fine in Big Blowout of Bridgeport
January 29, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release
Bridgeport, CT - The goals came quickly, early, and often, and then never let up for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms who racked up a franchise record nine goals in an away game entering the All-Star Break on a high following a 9-2 blowout at Bridgeport on Wednesday night.
Even without their All-Star, Olle Lycksell, the Phantoms' offense thrived.
Zayde Wisdom (4th, 5th, 6th) led the way with his first career hat trick as he also completed the scoring explosion for the Phantoms with the final goal in the wild evening.
Samu Tuomaala (9th, 10th) scored a pair of goals as he found the back of the net for the first time since November 27.
Louie Belpedio (4th) had a four-point performance with a goal and three assists while Massimo Rizzo (4th) enjoyed a three-point night including two helpers. Alexis Gendron (12th) and Brendan Furry (5th) also contributed their own markers.
Lehigh Valley scored the second-most goals in team history eclipsed only by their April 7, 2019 performance against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 10-6 win.
It was the sixth time for the Phantoms to score nine or more goals in a game but the first time it had happened on the road.
The game also equaled the largest margin of victory for the Phantoms franchise in an away game. The Phantoms had also won a game by seven goals last season in an 8-1 trouncing of the Belleville Senators.
As for the nine-goal performances for the Phantoms franchise, they've been few and far between. The Philadelphia Phantoms reached nine goals in a game on three occasions in the 1990s and the Adirondack Phantoms did it once in 2011 and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms scored 10 in 2019. But all of those big offensive nights were home games.
The Lehigh Valley record for most goals in an away game had previously been eight goals accomplished last season at the Belleville Senators in an 8-1 win on November 18, 2023 and also won an 8-2 road contest at the Springfield Thunderbirds on February 16, 2018.
Belpedio's point-shot was deflected upstairs at the net-front by Tuomaala at 3:12 for the first goal of the night after Rizzo won the puck back in the corner.
Jacob Gaucher stole the puck from starting goalie Hunter Miska and connected with an alert Belpedio who cruised into the slot to blast home the team's second goal of the night at 12:11.
Zayde Wisdom's first of his three was perhaps the most impressive when he stripped a Bridgeport forward of the puck between the circles in front of the Islanders' goal then maneuvered around to blast through a shorthanded goal powered off the glove of Miska at 15:34 to make it 3-0.
Lehigh Valley (21-17-6) kept it up with two more in the second period. Rizzo found Tuomaala to rocket home his second of the game at 2:27. Then J.R. Avon hustled behind the Islanders' goal to steal the puck from a defender and set up Rizzo out in front to make it 5-0 at 4:33. It was the third time Lehigh Valley's hustle on the pursuit and forecheck turned a steal into a quick goal.
Liam Foudy's goal dangling around a defenseman and in past Alexei Kolosov got the Islanders on the board at 5-1.
But Gendron took a lead from Ethan Samson and sped up the left wing and shot on the move to beat relief goaltender Henrik Tikkanen to make it 6-1 at 10:35. And just 24 seconds later it was Wisdom doing similar from the right side shooting on the rush with assists for Hunter McDonald and Belpedio to push the advantage to 7-1.
Chris Terry's power-play blast for the Islanders at 13:01 made it 7-2 at the second intermission.
There was still 20 minutes left to play. Furry got a tip of an Emil Andrae point-shot to make it 8-2 at 12:12.
Then it was Wisdom on the move rifling through his hat-trick goal five-hole on Tikkanen for the team's ninth of the night at 13:37 with Gaucher and Andrae connecting to set him up for the big moment.
Wisdom doubled his season-goal output on the night from three to six. His trifecta was the third of the season for the Phantoms joining Jacob Gacuher on November 2 at Springfield and Olle Lycksell on December 20 against Toronto when the Phantoms won 7-2, the previous season-high for the team until tonight.
The Phantoms are off for the AHL All-Star Break before returning to PPL Center for a pair of games on Friday, February 7 and Saturday, February 8. The weekend opener against the Cleveland Monsters including Berks $1 Hot Dogs and then the Saturday Night Hockey Live clash against the Hartford Wolf Pack features Postgame Autographs with the team presented by NJM Insurance.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st 3:12 - LV, S. Tuomaala (9) (L. Belpedio, M. Rizzo) (1-0)
1st 12:11 - LV, L. Belpedio (4) (J. Gaucher) (2-0)
1st 15:34 - LV, Z. Wisdom (Unasssted) (SH) (3-0)
2nd 2:27 - LV, S. Tuomaala (10) (M. Rizzo) (4-0)
2nd 4:33 - LV, M. Rizzo (4) (J. Avon) (5-0)
2nd 8:47 - BRI, L. Foudy (16) (G. Smith) (5-1)
2nd 10:35 - LV, A. Gendron (12) (E. Samson) (6-1)
2nd 10:59 - LV, Z. Wisdom (5) (H. McDonald, L. Belpedio) (7-1)
2nd 13:01 - BRI, C. Terry (13) (W. Dufour, G. Hutton) (PP) (7-2)
3rd 12:12 - LV, B. Furry (5) (E. Andrae, L. Belpedio) (8-2)
3rd 13:37 - LV, Z. Wisdom (6) (J. Gaucher, E. Andrae) (9-2)
Shots:
LV 28 - BRI 28
PP:
LV 0/1, BRI 1/4
Goaltenders:
LV - A. Kolosov (W) (2-5-1) (26/28)
BRI - H. Miska (L) (0-3-0) (6/11)
BRI - H. Tikkanan (ND) (13/17)
Records:
Lehigh Valley (21-17-6)
Bridgeport (10-28-4)
UPCOMING
Monday, February 2 - Tuesday, February 3 - All-Star Break. AHL All-Star Classic at Coachella Valley
Friday, February 7 (7:05) - Cleveland Monsters at Phantoms - Berks $1 Hot Dogs
Saturday, February 8 (7:05) - Hartford Wolf Pack at Phantoms - Postgame Autographs with Team presented by NJM Insurance
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