Phantoms Weekly
AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Phantoms Weekly

Published on December 3, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release


Allentown, PA - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-6-3) head into the December portion of the schedule with a busy three-game weekend coming up. The Phantoms host the Utica Comets (2-12-3) for Saturday's home contest on meLVin's Holiday Party with Winter Youth Knit Caps for the kids from Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital.

Lehigh Valley is in third place in the Atlantic Division and both of the upcoming Pennsylvania foes on the road this weekend are directly above and behind the Phantoms in the standings. Friday at second place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (15-5-1) will find the Orange and Black in search of their first win in the rivalry series. Sunday afternoon's game is at the Hershey Bears (11-7-1) who are just two points behind the Phantoms.

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

LAST WEEK

Friday, November 28 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4 - Phantoms 1

Saturday, November 29 - Laval Rocket 5 - Phantoms 4 (SO)

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday, December 5 (7:05) - Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Saturday, December 6 (7:05) - Utica Comets at Phantoms, meLVin's Holiday Party! Youth Winter Knit Caps

Sunday, December 7 (3:00) - Phantoms at Hershey Bears

WEEKLY RECAP

Friday, November 28, 2025

W-B/Scranton Penguins 4 - Phantoms 1

Anthony Richard broke through in the third to end Sergei Murashov's shutout bid but Lehigh Valley's frenetic comeback efforts could go no further as the Penguins held on in yet another 4-1 decision in the rivalry series. Rafael Harvey-Pinard (4th, 5th) scored a pair of goals including an empty-netter to finish it while first-rounder Rutger McGroaty (4th) stayed red-hot in his return to action following a preseason injury. The Baby Pens improved to 3-0 against Lehigh Valley

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Laval Rocket 5 - Phantoms 4 (SO)

It was another massively entertaining game at PPL Center that saw the Phantoms rally from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead only to see the first-place Laval Rocket equalize late on their way to taking the 5-4 shootout victory. Alex Bump came inches away from winning it with just one second left in overtime. After the early deficit, Christian Kyrou (4th) scored with just 0.1 seconds left in the second period to ignite the comeback. Anthony Richard (7th) and Lane Pederson (7th) put the Phantoms in the drivers' seat with their goals in the third period. But Sammy Blais tied it with his second goal of the night in his first game back in the AHL and then Blais went on to score the shootout winner beating Carson Bjarnason. Laval's Jacob Fowler picked up the W in this battle of highly touted rookie goaltenders who were both drafted early in the 2023 NHL Draft.

TRANSACTIONS -

12/1/25 Del Carter Berger (D) - Loaned Reading

12/1/25 Add Adam Ginning (D) - Assigned to LV by PHI

12/1/25 Add Oliver Bonk (D) - Loaned to LV by PHI (activated IR)

12/2/25 Add Sawyer Boulton (F) - Recalled by LV from Reading

12/2/25 Del Carl Grundstrom (F) - Recalled to PHI

BONK ARRIVES - The Philadelphia Flyers have activated defenseman Oliver Bonk from injured reserve and have assigned him to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Bonk, 20, has been unavailable due to injury since Flyers' Training Camp in September. The 6'2 ‚¬Â³ righty shot from Ottawa was selected in the first round, #22 overall, in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. With the London Knights of the OHL last season, he scored 11-29-40 in 52 games and eventually went on to win the Memorial Cup along with teammate Denver Barkey. Bonk also twice represented Canada at the World Juniors Championships where he was teammates with Carson Bjarnason, Jett Luchanko and 2025 round 1 selection Porter Martone. Oliver Bonk is the son of Radek Bonk, former first-round selection of Ottawa (#3 overall) from Czechia, who played in 969 NHL games scoring 194-303-497 with Ottawa, Montreal and Nashville.

CALLING ON CARL - Carl Grundström has been recalled to the Philadelphia Flyers for a second time this season. Grundström, 28, has been one of Lehigh Valley's most consistent players and has scored 6-9-15 in 19 games with Lehigh Valley this year to rate third on the team in points. He also played in one game with the Flyers this season on November 8 vs. Ottawa. The veteran of 293 NHL games with Los Angeles, San Jose and Philadelphia has scored 43-33-76 in his career. The 6'0 ‚¬Â³ lefty shot was acquired from the San Jose Sharks on October 5 along with Artem Guryev in exchange for Ryan Ellis. This season has represented his first extended stay in the AHL following six years in the NHL.

PHANTASTIC

- Alex Bump is second in the AHL with 70 shots and is first among all rookies. Bump has 6 or more shots in 3 of the last 4 games

- Alex Bump (4-12-16) is third in AHL rookie assists

- Christian Kyrou (4-10-14) is 7th in AHL defensemen scoring. He has 3 goals in the last 5 games

- The Phantoms are 7-0-1 when scoring 4 or more goals

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

- The Phantoms are 10-2-1 when allowing 3 goals or fewer

- Adam Ginning played in his 200th game with the Phantoms on Saturday. Ginning's conditioning loan has expired but he has since been assigned to remain with the Phantoms.

UPCOMING -

Friday, December 5, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)

Mohegan Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (15-5-1) has had the Phantoms' number so far this season. The Baby Pens have dispatched Lehigh Valley on three occasions by identical 4-1 scores each time. Last Friday, it was Rutger McGroaty (4th) and Rafael Harvey-Pinard (4th, 5th) leading the way while Anthony Richard broke up Sergei Murashov's shutout bid. The Penguins lost 6-2 at Hershey on Saturday to slip behind Providence for first place in the Atlantic. Sergei Murashov (6-2-0, 1.70, .934) is second-best in the AHL in GAA and save percentage trailing only Sebastian Cossa of Grand Rapids. Phantoms-killer Tristan Broz (8-5-13) is back from Pittsburgh as is veteran Danton Heinen (5-9-14). Rutger McGroaty (4-1-5) has been recalled to Pittsburgh after dominating in the AHL following a preseason injury. This is Game 4 out of 12 in the season series. The Phantoms have just one win in their last 10 regular-season visits to Wilkes but have swept the Penguins in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Saturday, December 6 (7:05 p.m.)

PPL Center, Allentown, PA

Phantoms vs. Utica Comets

The Utica Comets (2-12-3) dropped their first seven to begin the season and have barely improved since then. The AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils are dead last in the league with only two wins and are currently in an eight-game winless skid including a pair of 5-3 losses against Syracuse last week. Last year, Utica racked up 13 straight setbacks before finally tasting victory. The Comets are scoring a paltry 1.88 goals per game, second-worst in the AHL. Fourth-year Comet Xavier Parent (5-5-10) and former Belleville Senator Angus Crookshank (5-2-7) are among the team's leaders. Rookie winger Lenni Hameenaho (3-1-4) was a Round 2 selection of New Jersey in 2023. 33-year-old veteran and one-time Phantom Kyle Criscuolo recently joined after scoring 19 goals with Charlotte last year. German product and third-rounder Nico Daws (2-7-2, 2.99, .885) has done the best he can to keep his team in games. Head coach Ryan Parent had been an assist coach for the Devils farm clubs in Binghamton and Utica for seven seasons before becoming interim head coach last year. Parent played 74 games for the Philadelphia Phantoms and 102 games for the Flyers from 2006 through 2010.

Sunday, December 7 (3:00 p.m.)

Giant Center, Hershey, PA

Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Hershey (11-7-1) started off winless in its first four games but have been much stronger since then including a 3-1-0 record against the Phantoms in the season series while the Phantoms have gone 1-1-2 against the Chocolate and White.

All four games have been barn-burners and one-goal decisions with last-second deciding tallies. October 24 at PPL Center it was Zayde Wisdom with the winning strike for the Phantoms with just 43.6 seconds left in the third in a 5-4 victory. November 15 at PPL Center ended in heartbreak after the Phantoms rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a pair of goals in the last nine minutes to tie it at 3-3 only to watch former Phantom Matt Strome bury the winning strike with just 12.6 seconds left in the third in a wild 4-3 decision. November 16 at Giant Center saw Aleksei Kolosov come within seven minutes of a 1-0 shutout win before Ilya Protas scored the tying goal ahead of a 2-1 shootout win for the Bears. 19-year-old Ilya Protas (10-9-19) is second in goals among AHL rookies. Second-rounder Andrew Cristall (3-11-14) is also having a strong debut professional campaign. Former Phantoms Louie Belpedio (1-10-11) and Matt Strome (5-5-10) provide veteran leadership. Strome has scored 3-2-5 in the season series. Rookie goaltender Garin Bjorkland (4-3-1, 2.89, .899) has gone 2-0-0 against the Phantoms.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders

Anthony Richard 7-10-17

Alex Bump 4-12-16

x - Carl Grundstrom 6-9-15

Denver Barkey 7-7-14

Lane Pederson 7-7-14

Christian Kyrou 4-10-14

Atlantic Division Standings:

1. Providence 16-4-0 = 32

2. W-B/Scranton 15-5-1 = 31

3. Lehigh Valley 11-6-3 = 25

4. Hershey 11-7-1 = 23

5. Charlotte 10-5-2 = 22

6. Hartford 7-9-4 = 18

7. Bridgeport 7-10-2 = 16

8. Springfield 5-10-4 = 14

LOOKING AHEAD - The Phantoms head to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday for another rivlary showdown and then 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.

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.

Check out the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Statistics

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