The Springfield Thunderbirds–significantly, tonight’s opponent–have encountered a late-season swoon here in the AHL Atlantic, and it has allowed the Phantoms to climb into the last playoff spot. Entering tonight’s game, the Phantom cling to a one-point lead over those very Thunderchickens on the back of Springfield’s 3-7 last 10, and the Phantoms returning from five games on the road with a 3-1-0-1 record–points in four out of five.
Take a peak at the Playoff Primer from the AHL, to keep up with all the movement ahead of playoff time. Here’s the thing, though. With the Phantoms current position, they would line up to face Scranton in the first round–and that mediocre Penguins affiliate doesn’t scare me at all. What does scare me is not only the tenuous 1-pt margin for the sixth seed, but also Scranton’s one-point margin for the three seed (one and two get byes, if I recall) over Charlotte. It’s not that Charlotte scares me either, really, it’s that the exact same scenario from last year would re-appear. Away games in North Carolina and no playoff hockey for the Allentown faithful. Playoffs could happen again, but no one would be able to see them. And if they beat Charlotte? Great, come home to get killed by a well-rested Bear Machine.
Hartford is probably not within reach for the fifth seed, but we can put some margin on Springfield tonight. Keep reading for roster updates and a preview of tonight’s game.
Photo: Jack Mitroka
Reviewing The Roadie
- 4-2 Phantoms Win at Wilkes: All Star goalie Blomqvist falls asleep in the third period and the Phantoms explode for four goals to come from behind. Wilson takes a match-penalty for a check to the head–and a subsequent suspension.
- 4-3 Phantoms Win at Bridgeport: Rhett Gardner continues his recent strong play with a 3-point night. Ginning returns to the lineup. Phantoms continue to commit too many penalties.
- 0-3 Loss to Penguins: Blomqvist recovers from his recent slumber. Tanner Laczynski returns from injury. Wilson serving suspension. Andrae abuses the officials. Mete leaves with injury.
- 3-4 Shootout Loss in Providence: Laczynski hitting his stride. Wilson still suspended. Mete out. Better showing on the penalty sheet. Lycksell returns to the lineup.
- 5-2 Phantoms Win at Providence: Laczynski Hattie! Brooks 5-pt night. Wilson grabs a fighting penalty early and a misconduct later in his return. Ginning abuses the officials at the end.
Flyers And The Roster
The return of Ginning, Lycksell and Laczynski certainly had a positive effect on the road trip results. But the Flyers giveth and the Flyers taketh away. Ginning and Lycksell returned to the Flyers on Monday and played in Tuesday night’s win versus Toronto. Attard and Brink remain with the NHL club.
New Faces: There is the possibility that we’ll see some new faces with the Phantoms–if not tonight then in the coming weeks.
#18 Tyler Gratton: Joins on a PTO. Signed AHL deal for next season. Pottstown native was a captain at Arizona State this past season, 12-6-18 in 36 games. Listed as a forward he’s a left-shot who plays primarily on the right wing. Played in 123 games for Penn State before heading West.
#39 Jacques Bouquot: Also joins on PTO and ’24-’25 AHL deal. Left-shot center posted 12-15-27 this past season for Penn State. He previously played 109 games with Vermont where he was a captain before joining Penn State as a graduate student.
#92 Ryan Johansen: The veteran center came over from Colorado in the Sean Walker trade as a sort of salary equalizer for the Avalanche. He was not traded again, and passed through waivers. While he’s listed on the Phantoms roster, it was determined that he has an injury. He now will remain with the Flyers for rehabilitation.
Blueliners #21 Darren Brady and #8 Mason Millman have joined the Phantoms from ECHL Reading.
Injuries: Information, as always, very difficult to come by. D Victor Mete may miss some time following a recent illness. Cooper Marody left the latest Providence win, and may need a little time.
Downtown Update
For those who pre-game downtown prior to the games, some quick updates you might already know:
- RIP Bell Hall. New ownership took over during the pandemic and they were never able to fully recover. They are now permanently closed. Rumor has it, a replacement eatery will take over the front of the house, while a local brewery will use the back of the space for production and support the eatery with beverages. But nothing has been announced.
- The Dime Restaurant now has some significant Thai and Vietnamese influence on their regular menu. They have also smartly instituted an “Even Menu” for PPL Center event nights. It has less of the Asian influence. Check with them on hockey nights to see which menu is in effect.
- Blended is no longer associated with Bru Daddy. It’s been a year now, but the menu is fully different at this stage and Bru Daddy beers are not featured as prominently.
- Downtown Allentown Market is changing to a breakfast/lunch concept starting April 1. They were just not able to draw enough traffic for the dinner crowd most nights, and found that their core business was downtown office workers. While they’ll close at 3PM week days, I would suggest they consider keeping some outlets open until 5 or 6 for downtown folks who want to grab some takeout after work.
- There are some other small fast-casual outlets opening downtown. I’ll update as I become more familiar with them.
GAME DAY!
Springfield is in town for a key game in the race for the final playoff spot. It’s a Happy Hour Wednesday with $2 drafts and $1 pretzels at some locations on the concourse. Flyers great Joe Watson will be signing copies of his book “Thundermouth” prior to the game.
Lehigh Valley is 2-2-1 versus this Springfield team this season, most recently losing a game at the PPL Center in December. The team features AHL leading goal scorer Adam Gaudette, and former Hershey star Jakub Vrana. However, their captain, Matthew Peca has been out with injury and their top goalie Malcolm Subban was traded to Cleveland. They also lost their head coach who took over as interim in St. Louis.
The Springfield power play is #26 while their penalty kill is #21 in the AHL. As a road club, their power play gets worse, while their penalty kill gets better. The Phantoms currently sit at #8 and #19 respectively.
Good seats still remain for tonight’s game, as low as $7 on the secondary market as of this writing. You can also watch on Service Electric TV-2 or listen via the Phantom 365 app.
MEDIA KIT
OFFICIALS
Referee Cody Beach (#45)
Referee Morgan MacPhee (#43)
Linesperson Robert Peterkin (#51)
Linesperson J.P. Waleski (#14)
What To Watch Tonight
- Gahagen and Peterson have both been passable in the net in recent games, and have been mostly alternating. That would put Peterson in the cage for tonight’s game.
- Watch to see if Marody can return from his injury suffered in the last game. He’s an important piece with Lycksell recalled.
- Watch to see how Laczynski looks. His stats look great from those road games–it’s good to have him back.
- Watch to see if any of the new faces appear in the game. They usually take a week or two to settle in, but given the urgency around here perhaps one of the 24yo college veterans gets skates for tonight.
- Watch to see if the team shows a sense of urgency. I’m not expecting a “playoff atmosphere” in the stands for a mid-week March game, but if the team knows what’s at stake, this is indeed a playoff game–a ‘Play In” game, as it were.
- Wilson has been kinda testy lately. Firing up his team? Enforcing? Watch to see if the Captain steps up tonight and if he has to drop the gloves.
Up Next
Tonight is the start of three in a row at home this week. We’re off on Friday, and back here on Saturday for Margaritaville Night, Saturday Night Hockey Live featuring Jimmy and the Parrots at the second intermission.
The Sunday game is at 3:05PM versus the hated Penguins. It’s ‘Kids Takeover’ game as the youth will take part in many parts of the game presentation. Stick around after the game for a post-game autograph session!
See you at the arena,
@Kram207