Phantoms Fall in Mini-Reunion at Syracuse
Published on December 12, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release
Syracuse, NY - There were plenty of Hellos and handshakes from former teammates before the game. But when the puck dropped it was all business as the Syracuse Crunch held off the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-1 on Friday night.
The Phantoms almost pulled it off. Trying to shake off a sluggish start, Lehigh Valley racked up 11 shots in the third and Jacob Gaucher (4th) broke through late with a 6-on-4 goal to break Kevin Mandolese's bid for a shutout. But it wasn't enough and Syracuse held on.
Roman Schmidt made his Phantoms' debut and did it against his former team. The hulking 6'5 ¬Â³ defenseman was aquired via trade on Monday for Ethan Samson who also got to see his ex-teammates.
Brendan Furry and Jakob Pelletier of the Syracuse Crunch also have former Phantoms and Flyers ties.
Suffice to say, this wasn't the best start for Lehigh Valley. A 15-1 shots advantage in the first (that should have been 15-2 but a shot on goal wasn't recorded) had Aleksei Kolosov scrambling in his own end. But he was solid and turned aside all 15 Syracuse offerings.
Hunter McDonald dropped the gloves with Lucas Mercuri late in the period in efforts to spark the team.
Dylan Duke (8th) scored in the opening seconds of the second period on a deflection of a Conor Geekie power-play shot to put the Crunch ahead. And Pelletier (13th) showed why he's one of highest scoring players in the league when the former Flyer stuffed a shorthanded breakaway try around the left pad of Kolosov on a pretty backhand move to make it 2-0.
The Phantoms had only four shots on goal after 40 minutes in a game that had seen some tilted ice to that point. But the resilient Phantoms weren't going to fold.
Lehigh Valley (12-9-3) got it going in the third beginning with back-to-back chances at the net front by Lane Pederson.
Consecutive penalties in the third thwarted the momentum but the Phantoms came up with big kills and then a 6-on-5 became a late 6-on-4 when Syracuse (14-9-1) was tagged with a penalty of its own.
Off a Pederson face-off win and Alex Bump contributing, Gaucher buried the 6-on-4 chance to get the Phantoms on the board. He would go on to have another quality chance down low on a similar play but Kevin Mandolese fought it off and a late empty-netter for Geekie from 200 feet away in the corner capped the night.
The Phantoms are back in action Saturday night at the Rochester Americans with a 5:00 p.m. start time.
The Phantoms have a big six-game homestand coming up from December 17 through December 31 including the annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Big Woody's on Saturday, December 20 against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Other exciting promos in the upcoming homestand include the Service Electric Warm-Up Drive on December 19 and Postgame Autographs on December 28.
American Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2025
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- Hutson Scores as Condors Get Point in Tucson - Bakersfield Condors
- Ontario Rallies For 3-2 Victory Over Eagles - Colorado Eagles
- Manitoba Opens Weekend Series with 6-1 Defeat of Iowa - Iowa Wild
- Comeback Comes up Short in Rockford - Milwaukee Admirals
- Stars' Comeback Falls Short In Homecoming Against Barracuda - Texas Stars
- Phantoms Fall in Mini-Reunion at Syracuse - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- P-Bruins Power Past Bears - Providence Bruins
- Bears Drop Second Straight to Bruins, 4-1 - Hershey Bears
- Comets Drop Close Game to Wolf Pack, 2-1 - Utica Comets
- Syracuse Crunch Spook Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-1 - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolf Pack Strike Twice Shorthanded, Down Comets 2-1 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Senators' Hodgson Suspended for Three Games - AHL
- Syracuse Crunch Recall Defenseman Chris Harpur from Orlando Solar Bears - Syracuse Crunch
- Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Forward Jack Finley to Syracuse Crunch on Conditioning Stint - Syracuse Crunch
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- St. Louis Blues Recall Assign F Aleksanteri Kaskimaki to T-Birds - Springfield Thunderbirds
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- Hurricanes Relieve Cam Abbott of Duties as Head Coach of Wolves - Chicago Wolves
- Griffins Release Dustin Tokarski from PTO - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Game Preview: Bears vs. Bruins, 7 p.m. - Hershey Bears
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- Bears Sign Jalen Luypen to PTO - Hershey Bears
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