PREVIEW: Phantoms at Hershey, Game 23
Chocolatetown the Scene for Sunday Matinee Rivalry
TONIGHT – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-7-3) are looking to continue the momentum following last night’s thrilling overtime win as they travel to Hershey for Round 5 of the season series against the rival Bears. The third-place Phantoms now lead Hershey (11-8-1) by four points in the Atlantic Division after the Bears slipped to fifth place with a home lost as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The 23rd game of the season is also Game 5 out of 10 in the rivalry series. Lehigh Valley is 1-1-2 against Hershey this season including 0-0-2 at Giant Center.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – Alex Bump buried the overtime winner just 58 seconds into the extra frame to lift the Lehigh Valley Phantoms past the Utica Comets 3–2 on a festive meLVin’s Holiday Party night and Oliver Bonk’s professional debut. Lane Pederson won a battle behind the Utica call to set up Bump’s big blast from the left slot for his first career overtime strike. Zayde Wisdom (5th) and Adam Ginning (1st) struck in the opening period to stake Lehigh Valley to an early 2-0 lead to add to the festive fun on meLVin’s Holiday Party with the Phantoms. But Utica rallied in the third and Kyle Criscuolo (2nd) forced overtime with his shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 with just 1:27 left. Carson Bjarnason (33/35 was outstanding in the win in one of his best performances of the season. Defenseman Oliver Bonk made his highly anticipated pro debut and contributed solid play on the blueline while starting a sequence that lead to Ginning’s goal.
MURCHISON GETS THE CALL – The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defenseman Ty Murchison from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Murchison, 22, has scored one goal with three assists while accumulating 30 penaltty minutes with the Phantoms this season in 21 games played. He also played in four games with the Phantoms at the end of last season scoring one goal with one assist. The Flyers’ fifth-round selection in the 2021 NHL Draft out of Arizona State grew up playing roller hockey in his hometown of Corona, Cal. before taking on ice hockey. Murchison is a 6’2″ left-handed shooter who has shown physicality and aggression in his debut professional season.
If he plays for Philadelphia then he would become the first Lehigh Valley Phantoms player to make his NHL debut and would become the 48th Lehigh Valley player all-time and also the first since Jacob Gaucher debuted for the Flyers on February 2, 2025. He also becomes the fourth player from this season’s Lehigh Valley team to receive a recall joining Aleksei Kolosov, Emil Andrae and Carl Grundstrom.
BONK ARRIVES – Oliver Bonk made his highly anticipated pro debut Saturday night against Utica. Bonk had been unavailable due to injury since Flyers’ Training Camp in September. The 20-year-old blueliner delivered steady, composed minutes throughout the evening and nearly opened his scoring account with a rising wrister in the first period that was turned aside by Nico Daws.
“Think it went pretty well. I’ve had a lot of practice time,” Bonk said. “(They) definitely eased me into it. It’s been good. I feel normal. Even after the game there’s no pain.”
The 6’2″ 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.
AHL CAREER LEADERS
Most goals since 2017-18 season (last 9 seasons)
Chris Terry (Bridgeport) – 182
Andrew Agozzino (Tucson) – 171
Anthony Richard (Lehigh Valley) – 165
Gerry Mayhew (Iowa) – 164
PHANTASTIC –
– Anthony Richard (8-10-18) had a 3-game goal streak and also has 4 goals in the last 6 games to take the team lead in scoring
– Alex Bump is second in the AHL with 75 shots and is first among all rookies.
– Bump (4-12-16) is fourth in AHL rookie assists
– Christian Kyrou (4-10-14) is 9th in AHL defensemen scoring and is 3rd in the Eastern Conference.
– Kyrou has 3 goals in the last 6 games
– The Phantoms are 7-0-1 when scoring 4 or more goals
– The Phantoms are 9-0-2 when scoring the first goal of the game
– The Phantoms are 11-2-1 when allowing 3 goals or fewer
IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE – Lehigh Valley is 12-1-2 when playing any team that is NOT in the Top 3 in the conference (any team that is NOT W-B/Scranton, Providence, Laval).
BRING ON THE BEARS – Hershey (11-8-1) started off with one win in its first five games but has been much stronger since then going 10-5-0 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.
The Bears were bested by the rival Penguins 4-1 on Saturday.
All four meetings between the Phantoms and Bears 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 fourth in goals among AHL rookies. Second-rounder Andrew Cristall (3-12-15) 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 (4-4-1, 3.01, .895) has gone 2-0-0 against the Phantoms.
SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Anthony Richard 8-10-18
Alex Bump 5-12-17
x – Carl Grundstrom 6-9-15
Denver Barkey 7-7-14
Lane Pederson 7-7-14
Christian Kyrou 4-10-14
Hershey Scoring Leaders
Ilya Protas 10-9-19
Andrew Cristall 3-12-15
Bogdan Trineyev 6-6-12
Louie Belpedio 1-10-11
Matt Strome 5-5-10
Special Teams PP / PK
LV 20.3%, 20th / 75.8%, 28th – PP vs. HER 3-14, 21.4%
HER 19.0%, 19th / 81.7%, 11th – PP vs. LV 4-14, 28.6%
SERIES LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
Tucker Robertson 1-3-4
Zayde Wisdom 2-1-3
Alexis Gendron 1-2-3
Helge Grans 1-2-3
Garrett Wilson 1-2-3
Aleksei Kolosov 1-0-1, 2.96, .909
Hershey
Matt Strome 3-2-5
Ilya Protas 2-3-5
Andrew Cristall 1-3-4
Bodan Trineyev 2-1-3
Garin Bjorkland 2-0-0, 2.88, .911
SEASON SERIES
Hershey Bears: (1-1-2)
10/24/25 Home W 5-4
10/25/25 Away SOL 3-4 (SO)
11/15/25 Home L 3-4
11/16/25 Away OTL 1-2 (OT)
12/7/25 Away
12/31/25 Home
1/24/26 Home
2/20/26 Away
2/21/26 Away
3/28/26 Home
LOOKING AHEAD – Next weekend, the road trip continues with a pair of Empire State contests at the Syracuse Crunch and Rochester Americans.
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.
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