Hockey Day In Allentown: “Let’s Do It Again” 3/16/2025

“Must have been a dream
I don’t believe where I’ve been
Come on, let’s do it again”

-Peter Frampton, Do You Feel Like We Do, 1973

The Phantoms got their 30th win of the season Friday night at the PPL Center over the visiting Penguins affiliate in front of 7187 fans in a game that started at 7:18PM.  In the pre-game column we noted that the top-flight special teams of the Wilkes-Barre team could be the difference in the game, and that the Phantoms would need to be ready to counter.  Sure enough, the Penguins goal came in a short-handed situation, and the game-winner for the Phantoms came on the power play.

The first turning point in the game came when the Phantoms squandered a 4-minute power play–in fact that’s when they gave up the shorty.  However, they righted the ship and were able to kill a 5-on-3 later on, which became the second turning point of the game.  The Phantoms played with good energy, like a team who was off all week and happy to be home for a while.  Oh, and Alexei Kolosov might not like Allentown, but Allentown likes him.  He made some top-flight saves in the game and you could maybe nit-pick his positioning and such on a couple of them, but he flashed the leather when he needed to and played tough between the pipes.  It was his best game as a Phantom.

This afternoon, the rematch.  The Phantoms typically play poorly on Sundays.  Let’s see how this goes.

Records:

Overall: 30-22-5-2 (5th Place in Division)

Current First Round Opponent:  A Week In Charlotte

Regulation Wins: 19

Home: 16-9-2-1

Away: 14-13-3-1

White Jerseys: 15-9-1-1

White-Out Jerseys: 1-1

Orange Jerseys: 8-7-1

Black Alternate Jerseys: 3-2-2-1

Black-Out Jerseys: 1-1-1

Black on Steel Gray Jerseys: 1-2

Fridays: 9-5-2-1

Saturdays: 11-7-2

Sundays:  1-5-0-1

Wednesdays: 7-1-1

Tuesday/Thursday:  1-4

Sunday 3/3:  0-4-0-1

Post-Game Player Event Day:  2-1

October: 2-3-1-1

November: 7-3-2

December: 4-7-1

January:  8-4-1

February: 5-3-0-1

March: 3-2

Team and Roster

Before the game, at least some clarity on injuries:  F Samu Tuomaala, who hasn’t played in two weeks, has a “lower body” that is “week-to-week” with a typical 6-8 week recovery time.  I suppose he could be available in the playoffs at some point.

D Ben Gleason hasn’t played in a while either.  We didn’t get an update but I’m not expecting him back but it would be a nice addition to the blue-line room.

G Eetu Makiniemi, also out long-term with a lower body and also not updated.  It would be great if he could make his way back, but I’ll be looking for a hot hand headed into the playoffs and I’m fine riding with some combination of Kolosov, Peterson, Gahagen.

F Massimo Rizzo is also injured, but more “day to day” and should be available again soon.

F Givani Smith made his Phantoms debut last night. I thought he played well and was really strong on the puck.  Good energy and toughness knocking Penguins about.  He might not add a ton of scoring, but the veteran of 168 NHL games should be an asset in the playoffs, and going forward could be a contributor on the Flyers if they need a tough bottom-6 guy.

F Nikita Grebenkin, the big prospect who came in the Laughton trade, still hasn’t joined the team.  Reports have been that he’s stuck in Toronto awaiting a US work visa for his new US-based employer (Flyers).  He should be a real asset in the playoffs and I’d love to see him in the lineup ASAP to prepare for that.

In case you missed it, F Olle Lycksell, F Rodrigo Ābols and D Emil Andrae are up with the Flyers right now, but will be eligible to re-join the Phantoms for the playoffs.

Miller and Sedley back to Reading.

Lines Friday versus Penguins:

16 Avon 56 Gaucher 74 Wisdom

43 Eklind 13 Furry 72 Gendron

17 Wilson 22 Gardner 90 Richard

54 Smith 91 Desnoyers 36 Boulton

19 McDonald 7 Belpedio

37 Ginning 3 Grans

55 Bernard 5 Samson

35 Kolosov  (40 Petersen)

GAME DAY!

It’s takeover day for the kiddos so expect plenty of participation from the younger set when it comes to announcing, entertainment, and such.  Also, if you’re up town early, drop by the DaVinci Science Center next door, before the game, and show your game ticket for $7 off admission!

Show time is 3:05PM, expect hockey around 3:15PM.  All entrances will open at 2:00PM, Season Ticket Premier Members can access special entrances at Air Products Gate and WFMZ Gate at 1:45PM with your Premier Member card and season ticket.

Street parking in Allentown is free on Sundays, but there could be special rules within the arena zone so use caution.  Certainly, you’ll have to pay the event parking if you use the decks and lots near the arena.  Check your favorite pre- and post-game restaurants and bars.  It’s an early game and not all are open on Sunday.

I trust Rascal Flats was able to park their truck this time.  Hats off to the arena crew for the changeovers.

Good seats are still available for this game.  However, relatively fewer deals to be had on the secondary market.  Shop around but this might be one to buy from the arena.

It’s the same Pens team that we saw Friday night.  They were off last night as well, so there’s no rest advantage.

MEDIA KIT

Pens Sunday

OFFICIALS

Referee Harrison O’Pray (#82)

Referee Mason Riley (#79)

Linesperson Josh Cleary (#45)

Linesperson Bill Lyons (#27)

Scouting the Referees:  O’Pray is a hold-over from Friday.  It was our first time with him in Allentown.  I thought the game Friday was generally called very well, letting them play and calling the obvious stuff.  My notes for Riley are “unremarkable” and “inconsistent” for two recent games. 

What To Watch

• It will be interesting to see who they put in net this afternoon.  When Kolosov was here before they worked him hard, starting everything that wasn’t a back-to-back.  So, it could be a repeat of that.  Peterson alternated last weekend and was backup on Friday, so he would be the natural next man up.  And, Gahagen is still on the team for a reason, and getting him some work wouldn’t be a horrible idea.
• Watch who the Penguins affiliate starts in net.  Larsson played Friday night, and while he had previously played well against the Phantoms, they likely look elsewhere for today.  Murashov was the back-up on Friday.  He’s 8-0, 2.34 GAA, .925 SvPct since joining Wilkes-Barre following 26 games with ECHL Wheeling. Joel Blomqvist is also on the team; his last AHL game was beating the Phantoms on 2/16, meLVin’s birthday party game.
• Watch special teams.  Like Friday, the game is likely to be decided there when one team or the other has the advantage.
• Watch for a tougher Penguins opponent:  They get Aho and Nieto back from Pittsburgh
• Watch the standings.  In the records section above I’ll let you know before each home game whether we’re in danger of missing home games in the first round because of the silly rule with Charlotte. Charlotte lost to Toronto yesterday and has a rematch today.  The best plan:  Just win all our games and overtake Charlotte in the standings so that we get all the home games.  Yeah, that’s the plan!
• Watch for the team to start selling “playoff strips.”  Count how many times you hear the word “strips.”  It’s one of those terms that will probably never go away.  Kinda like how I “watch tape” of games sometimes.

Up Next

Game three of our five-game home stand is right back here at the PPL Center on Wednesday for our final regular-season happy hour of this campaign.  The Milwaukee Admirals will be making their first appearance at 7th and Hamilton that evening.

Then, next weekend home for Syracuse and Providence on Friday and Saturday respectively.

To close out March, the team will head to Canada for two games (hey, could Grebenkin get in a game even if he hasn’t cleared his work visa?) before grabbing a game in Bridgeport on the way home to open April.

The weekend that the Phantoms are in Canada is also opening weekend for the IronPigs across the river there at Coca Cola Park.  At the same time, there will be hockey at the arena as the NCAA regional playoffs come to Allentown once again with Penn State as the host team.

Then, we get into baseball conflicts around here at ‘Hockey Night.”  Apologies if there’s no column sometimes–it likely depends on the weather.

See you at the arena,

@Kram207

PS:  Super thankful for the photos I get from Jack.  The ones above are from Friday.  Below, find the rest of his camera roll from Friday as the hockey coverage starts to slow down around here a little bit we’ll tip our caps to Jack for all the good shots all season: