Phantoms Weekly
AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Phantoms Weekly

Published on November 25, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release


Allentown, PA - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-5-2) are ready to carve the turkey and then hopefully carve up a pair of first-place opponents in a big weekend taking on the best of the best. The Phantoms are coming off a 2-1-0 performance last week to solidify their hold on third place in the Atlantic Division. Next up for John Snowden's crew is an away game at rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (13-4-1) on Black Friday followed by the Phantoms welcoming the Laval Rocket (12-6-0) on Gritty Night at PPL Center including the annual return of Philadelphia's zany mascot.

The players can't afford to go too crazy on the triptofan as the Penguins are in first place in the Atlantic Division while the Laval Rocket are tops in the North Division. But both opponents are also well aware what they are up against as the Orange and Black have been one of the hottest teams in the AHL with points in eight of the last 10 games (7-2-1).

For Saturday's home game, Gritty will be available with meLVin for pregame photos at the stage and will perform at the game as well. Having now played 18 games, the Phantoms have officially reached the one-quarter mark of the 2025-26 season.

Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/

LAST WEEK

Wednesday, November 19 - Phantoms 4 - Rochester Americans 2

Friday, November 21 - Providence Bruins 3 - Phantoms 2

Saturday, November 22 - Phantoms 3 - Hartford Wolf Pack 2

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday, November 28 (7:05) - Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Saturday, November 29 (7:05) - Laval Rocket at Phantoms

WEEKLY RECAP

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Phantoms 4 - Rochester Americans 2

Denver Barkey struck at precisely the right time, only 61 seconds after Rochester had garnered early third-period momentum making it a one-goal game. Christian Kyrou's push up ice opened the opportunity for Barkey's pivotal goal in a 4-2 win at PPL Center. Kyrou also scored on a perfectly threaded drive from the point while Jacob Gaucher (2nd) on the power play and Zayde Wisdom (4th) with an empty netter also found the back of the net.

Friday, November 21, 2025

Providence Bruins 3 - Phantoms 2

Anthony Richard (5th) pulled the Phantoms to within a goal with just over two minutes to go but the Providence Bruins rode the goaltending strength of Simon Zajicek (30 saves) to barely hang on for a 3-2 win on Friday night at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Lehigh Valley racked up 16 shots in the third, half of their game total. Zajicek was simply too good. Karsen Dorwart (4th) also scored for the Phantoms on a snipe from the right dot on the power play while Alexis Gendron's assist on the play pushed his point streak to six games. Alex Bump was denied on a pair of breakaways while Carl Grundstrom and Ethan Samson were both robbed back-to-back right on top of Zajicek in the third. Former Philadelphia Flyer Patrick Brown (8th) scored on the power play in the first period for the Bruins who briefly took over first place in the Atlantic with their victory.

Saturday, November 22, 2025

Phantoms 3 - Hartford Wolf Pack 2

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms felt the comeback mojo in Hartford once again. For the third straight occasion, Lehigh Valley overcame a third-period deficit to win. This time it was Denver Barkey scoring the decisive strike in a 3-2 final. And Carl Grundstrom (5th) scored the third-period tying goal for a THIRD straight time in Hartford. All three games the Phantoms have played in Hartford, it was Grundstrom who found a way to pick up the equalizer. He also played a vital role in assisting on the Christian Kyrou (3rd) blast that got the Phantoms on the board to kick off the rally.

HE'S DOG GONE GOOD - Phantoms rookie Denver Barkey never stops working. And the points and goals have been piling up for the rookie forward. The 20-year-old from Newmarket, ONT scored a pair of game-winning goals last week coming through exactly when the Phantoms needed him most. He now leads the Phantoms with seven goals. Barkey scored a pivotal goal on Wednesday against Rochester right after the Americans had made it a one-goal game to gain momentum in the third period. His conversion in the slot on a setup by Christian Kyrou propelled the Phantoms to a 4-2 win. On Saturday, it was another third-period goal, this time to break a 2-2 tie at Hartford. With Alex Bump muscling his way up the right boards, Barkey drove to the net and knocked in the game-winner while being hauled down by a defender. The scrappy, undersized winger was a Round 3 selection of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2023 and was the leading scorer for the London Knights during last year's Memorial Cup championship run.

In just the last eight games since November 5, Barkey has six goals and four assists for 10 points.

BUMP IT UP - Alex Bump has been thriving at the professional level and has been keeping the momentum going off his National Championship season with Western Michigan University last year. The 21-year-old from Prior Lake, Minn. leads the Phantoms with 15 points (4-11-15) and is tied for fourth among AHL rookies. He also rates second among AHL rookies in helpers and is also first among rookies with 57 shots on goal. His last point was an impressive rush up the right wing while pushing through a hip check on the half-boards to ultimately setup linemate Denver Barkey for the game-winning goal in the third period at Hartford. Bump has scored 3-10-13 in the last 10 games since October 31.

PHANTASTIC

- The Phantoms are 7-0 when scoring four or more goals

- The Phantoms are 8-0-2 when scoring the first goal of the game

- Garrett Wilson played in his milestone 900th pro game on Friday

- Lane Pederson played in his 400th pro game on Saturday

- Adam Ginning is currently with Lehigh Valley on a conditioning loan and is projected to play in his 200th game with the Phantoms this Saturday

UPCOMING -

Friday, November 28, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)

Mohegan Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (13-4-1) raced out of the gate with a 7-0-0 record but has slowed down a little bit since the torrid start. But amidst all the roster fluctuations with injury-plagued Pittsburgh, the Baby Pens still occupy the top spot in the Atlantic Division and are 2-0 against the Phantoms in the rivalry series thus far. Gone to Pittsburgh are Sergei Murashov and his 1.73 GAA and Phantoms-killer Tristan Broz (8-5-13) as well as Ville Koivunen (4-7-11) along with NHL veterans Danton Heinen and Ryan Graves. But Sam Poulin (7-8-15) is back from the big club as is former Winnipeg first-rounder Rutger McGroaty (2-0-2 in two games) along with 2024 All-Star representative Joel Blomqvist (2-0-0, 0.50, .980) who has dominated and had a 1-0 win wioth 27 saves at Providence last Saturday to knock the Bruins out of the top spot. Valtteri Puustinen (2-9-11) and Atley Calvert (6-4-10) are especially dangerous as well. The Phantoms have dropped a pair of 4-1 decisions to the Penguins on October 12 at PPL Center and also on October 22 in Wilkes-Barre. This is Game 3 out of 12 in the season series. The Orange and Black return to NEPA the following Friday as well.

Saturday, November 29 (7:05 p.m.)

PPL Center, Allentown, PA

Phantoms vs. Laval Rocket

The Phantoms take on a first-place team for a second consecutive evening when the North Division frontrunning Laval Rocket (12-6-0) pay a visit to PPL Center. The AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens bested the Phantoms 3-0 on October 29 via a 17-save shutout from third-rounder Jacob Fowler (7-4-0, 2.10, .918) for one of his league-leading three shutouts this season. The Rocket swept Belleville last week 4-3 (OT) and 7-2. Veteran Laurent Dauphin (9-12-21) had 26 goals in his return to Laval last year. Alex Belzile (4-8-12) is one of the most popular players in franchise history and is back with Laval as well following a two-year stint in Hartford. Third-rounder Adam Engstrom (5-9-14) is getting it going. And Austria product David Reinbacher is drawing a lot of attention from Montreal fans as the #5 overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft has joined the Rocket following an injury in the preseason. 21-year-old Slovakian Filip Mesar (3-6-9) is another Montreal first-rounder as the #26 overall selection in 2022. Head coach Pascal Vincent won the Louie A.R. Pieri award as AHL Coach of the Year after leading Laval to a regular season crown and Kilpatrick Trophy with a dominating 48-19-5 performance.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders

Alex Bump 4-11-15

Carl Grundstrom 5-9-14

Denver Barkey 7-6-13

Lane Pederson 6-7-13

Anthony Richard 5-8-13

Christian Kyrou 3-9-12

LOOKING AHEAD - The Phantoms are at the Penguins this Friday and then host the Laval Rocket on Gritty Night this Saturday.

Next week, the Phantoms head back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to open December with a Friday showdown.

The Phantoms are at home on Saturday, December 6 against the Utica Comets on meLVin's Holiday Party featuring Winter Youth Knit Caps from Reilly Children's Hospital at LVHN and Jefferson Health.

Check out the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Statistics

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