Preview: Phantoms at Bears, Game 2

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AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Preview: Phantoms at Bears, Game 2

May 2, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release


Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Game 2 in Best of 5 Series

GIANT Center, Hershey, PA

Friday, May 2, 2025 (7:00 p.m.)

TONIGHT - The Phantoms in the Playoffs, presented by PenTeleData, continues tonight at GIANT Center in Hershey with the Phantoms looking to even the series. Hershey took Game 1 on Wednesday with a 3-0 shutout which puts the Phantoms behind 1-0 in the Best of 5 Atlantic Division Semifinals.

For a second consecutive season, the Phantoms swept the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the first round. And for a second consecutive season, the Phantoms are facing the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears in the second round.

The series comes to PPL Center for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday, May 4 at 5:05 p.m. and Friday, May 9 at 7:05 p.m.

If the series goes the distance then Game 5 would be on Sunday, May 11 at Hershey.

The Phantoms went 5-4-1 against Hershey in the regular season including an impressive 3-2-0 record at GIANT Center. Seven out of the 10 games in the season series were decided by one goal and two games went to overtime.

Lehigh Valley entered the Calder Cup Playoffs as the 5-seed while the Hershey Bears again won the Atlantic Division and have won the last two Calder Cup Championships. Hershey received a bye in the first round and has not played since April 19 when the Phantoms delivered a 4-3 win against the Chocolate and White at GIANT Center in the regular season finale.

The winner of this series will face either the Charlotte Checkers or Providence Bruins in the Atlantic Division Final.

PLAYOFF SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1 - Wednesday, April 30 - Phantoms 0 at Hershey Bears 3

Game 2 - Friday, May 2 - Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Game 3 - Sunday, May 4 (5:05) - Hershey Bears at Phantoms

* Game 4 - Friday, May 9 - Hershey Bears at Phantoms

* Game 5 - Sunday, May 11 - Phantoms at Hershey Bears

(* - if necessary)

TV COVERAGE - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Service Electric Network are excited to announce that all games of the upcoming series against Hershey, home and away, can be seen on Service Electric Network, the exclusive home of Phantoms hockey all season long.

Home games at PPL Center on Service Electric Network feature veteran announcer Steve Degler and Phantoms' alum Steven Swavely on the call from the booth. Kristi Fulkerson reports from ice level and also from the Chickie's and Pete's studio with Dan Fremuth for pregame, intermission and postgame show analysis.

Away games for the series will be carried on Service Electric Network thanks to a cooperative agreement with the Hershey Bears and Fox-43 television in Harrisburg.

LAST TIME

Hershey 3 - Phantoms 0

Hunter Shepard racked up 26 saves in his return to championship form as Hershey took a 3-0 win in Game 1 of the Best of 5 series on Wednesday night in Chocolatetown. Chase Priskie scored a 6-on-5 goal in the first period on a delayed penalty call. Shepard repelled some terrific chances from Garrett Wilson, Olle Lycksell, Rhett Gardner, and Alex Bump along the way, among others. During a 1:19 stretch of 5-on-3 in the third period, the Phantoms thought they might have tied the game on back-to-back chances in tight for Bump on Shepard. But video review could not see the puck over the line and Spencer Smallman's top-shelf corner-pick on the same sequence of plays provided Hershey with a 2-0 advantage in the momentum-shifting moment. Bogdan Trineyev walked it into the empty net with over a minute left to seal the result. Parker Gahagen was strong, as usual, in a 24-save performance.

THEY SAID IT

Ian Laperriere: "We just need to play a little bit more like they do. They were calm. We weren't. We turned the puck over. They didn't. They waited for their chances. They're the champs for a reason so let's learn and move on."

Rhett Gardner: "I think 5-on-5 we created. I think we got to stay out of the box. We just got to work to get more zone time and I think that will come if we can get our forecheck going against them. I think we got a little stagnant in the neutral zone and they were bringing it right back down our throats. Credit to them. They're a really good transition team and we got to know that and not fuel it for them."

MEDIA MATERIALS - Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games at the following link: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT - Alex Bump has immediately impressed since joining the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after winning an NCAA Championship with Western Michigan on April 12. 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 then scored twice in Lehigh Valley's series-opening win at the Penguins. he confident, young winger has scored 3-2-5 in his four games since joining the Phantoms right before the final weekend of the regular season. Bump was a USA Today High School Hockey Player of the Year before leading Western Michigan to its first NCAA Championship eliminating the Denver and Boston University at the Frozen Four in St. Louis.

JETT SETTER - 18-year-old rookie forward Jett Luchanko is tied for the AHL postseason lead with four assists. What's more, Luchanko's helpers largely came on some very pretty plays including a drive around the net at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to circle over to the left wing before whipping it right across to Anthony Richard in the right circle for a big one-timer. Luchanko again connected with Richard on Friday night but this time he was flying up the left wing while securing a lead pass from Garrett Wilson before swatting a perfect backhander to an onrushing Richard up the middle who buried his quick breakaway.

The #13 overall selection in the 2024 draft became the youngest player in Philadelphia Flyers history when he debuted on October 12 at 18 years and one month. After spending the remainder of the season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL, Luchanko joined the Phantoms on March 29 for his AHL debut where he became the second-youngest in Phantoms' franchise history at 18 years and seven months. Only Zayde Wisdom suited up for the Phantoms at a younger age. Luchanko got into the last nine games of the regular season with Lehigh Valley notching three assists.

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)

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 almost-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 while enjoying his personal best season as well. Gahagen finished the regular season going 11-3-2, 1.92, .932 (Dec 28 through Apr 19).

Gahagen has gone 2-1, 2.02, .933 in the playoffs. And he is 13-4-2, 1.93, .932 since December 28 in the regular season and postseason combined. Overall this season, Gahagen was 12-4-3, 2.39, .916 on his way to winning the first annual Tony Voce Award, along with Olle Lycksell, as a co-MVP as voted on by the players.

Before joining the Phantoms last year, Gahagen had played just 12 career games in the AHL in his first five seasons of professional hockey and had not won in the AHL in over two years.

PHANTOMS PLAYOFFS PHAST PHACTS - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs for a second consecutive season and also for a third time in the team's history.

The deepest Lehigh Valley has made it was the team's 2018 run to the Conference Finals which included a 3-1 series win over the Providence Bruins and then a 4-1 series win over the Charlotte Checkers before falling just short of a bid to make it to the Calder Cup Finals in falling to the Toronto Marlies.

This is the third time Lehigh Valley has faced Hershey in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Hershey eliminated the Phantoms 3 games to 2 in 2017 and the Bears got the better of the Phantoms last year as well 3 games to 1.

The Phantoms are in the Playoffs for the 15th time in franchise history and are also appearing for the fifth time since the team arrived in Allentown in 2014. The Philadelphia Phantoms have twice won the Calder Cup in 1998 and 2005.

THAT'S BEARY INTERESTING! - Hershey (44-20-8) wrapped up the Atlantic Division crown and finished with the second-best record in the AHL (behind Laval). The Bears are seeking to become just the second team ever to win three consecutive Calder Cups (also Springfield Indians 1960-62). The Phantoms have other ideas. Lehigh Valley won the last two meetings of the regular season Hershey including a 5-1 thrashing at PPL Center on April 12 with four defensemen scoring against Clay Stevenson and a 4-3 decision on April 19 at GIANT Center in the season finale.

Lehigh Valley is 5-4-1 against Hershey. Veteran defenseman Ethan Bear (10-36-46) led the team in scoring and has racked up 2-7-9 against the Phantoms but was recalled to the Washington Capitals for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Penn State product Alex Limoges (17-27-44) is having another strong season and is now their active leading scorer. First-rounders Ivan Miroshnichenko (23-19-42) and Hendrix Lapierre (7-25-32) had stretches with Washington but have spent the second half of the campaign working on their abilities in the AHL. Top-line center Mike Sgarbossa returned to the lineup after a 21-game absence. The 32-year-old veteran of over 600 career AHL games is in his seventh season with the Chocolate and White.

Last year's Bastien Memorial Award winner as top goaltender in the league, Hunter Shepard (23-11-4, 2.80, .891), has been returned from the Caps but certainly did not perform as well as he did a season ago when the University of Minnesota-Duluth product went 27-4-3, 1.76, .929. Elliot Desnoyers (1-5-6), Helge Grans (3-2-5), Olle Lycksell (2-3-5) and Jacob Gaucher (3-1-4) are among Lehigh Valley's scoring leaders in the season series while Cal Petersen (4-3-1, 2.19, .918) has been especially strong against our I-78 rivals.

YOU AGAIN? - The Hershey Bears' roster includes five former Phantoms players, the most of any AHL team.

32-year-old veteran Mike Vecchione is in his fourth season with the team. He began as a rookie with Lehigh Valley in 2017-18 where he played for two seasons.

Matt Strome (9-13-22) set a career-high for goals in his third season with the Bears. Last year's Calder Cup Championship hero with a Game 6 overtime winner had previously played parts of four seasons with Lehigh Valley.

31-year-old feisty agitator Brennan Saunier is in his first season with Hershey following two years with Belleville. He racked up 129 penalty minutes with Lehigh Valley in two seasons from 2020-21 through 2021-22.

32-year-old Dalton Smith just signed on for another season with Hershey. The son of Derrick Smith, who played six seasons for the Flyers, briefly appeared for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms nine years ago suiting up in 11 games.

And 37-year-old Garrett Roe is in the twilight of his career in his second season with the Bears. Roe played for the former Adirondack Phantoms, before the team moved to Allentown, suiting up for the Orange and Black in 129 games from 2011-13.

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

Bears

Ethan Bear 10-36-46

Alex Limoges 17-27-44

Ivan Miroshnichenko 23-19-42

Pierrick Dube 19-21-40

Mike Vecchione 19-20-39

Chase Priskie 12-23-35

Henrik Rybinski 10-25-35

Special Teams:

Lehigh Valley - PP 17.3%, 26th / PK 81.8%, 18th

PP vs. HER, 3-29, 10.3% / Playoffs PP 1-10

Hershey-PP 17.7%, 19th / PK 83.6%, 8th

PP vs. LV, 3-37, 8.1% / Playoffs PP 0-4

SEASON SERIES (5-4-1)

10/30/24 Away - Win - 2-1

11/16/24 Home - Loss - 3-6

11/29/24 Home - OT Win - 2-1 (OT)

12/7/24 Home - OT Loss - 2-3 (OT)

12/8/24 Away - Loss - 4-5

1/7/25 Away - Win - 5-4

3/2/25 Away - Loss - 0-4

4/4/25 Home - Loss - 1-2

4/12/25 Home - Win - 5-1

4/19/25 Away - Win - 4-3

SERIES LEADERS

Lehigh Valley:

Elliot Desnoyers 1-5-6

Helge Grans 3-2-5

Olle Lycksell 2-3-5

J. R. Avon 1-4-5

Jacob Gaucher 3-1-4

Rodrigo Abols 2-2-4

Cal Petersen 4-3-1, 2.19, .919

Hershey:

Ethan Bear 2-7-9

Mike Sgarbossa 2-4-6

Henrik Rybinski 1-5-6

Ivan Miroshnichenko 3-2-5

Pierrick Dube 1-4-5

Spencer Smallman 1-4-5

Hunter Shepard 3-2-0, 3.03, .884

COMING UP - The Phantoms get home-ice advantage on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. for Game 3 when the series heads to PPL Center with another raucous and electric crowd in Allentown.

Calder Cup Playoffs - Atlantic Division Semifinals

Best of 5 Series

Game 1 - Wednesday, April 30 - Phantoms 0 at Hershey Bears 3

Game 2 - Friday, May 2 (7:00) - Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Game 3 - Sunday, May 4 (5:05) - Hershey Bears at Phantoms

* Game 4 - Friday, May 9 (7:05) - Hershey Bears at Phantoms

* Game 5 - Sunday, May 11 (5:00) - Phantoms at Hershey Bears

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