Hockey's Magic Moments: Phantom Skaters Dominate in Stunning Opening Night Victory!

It’s the home stretch in the American Hockey League (AHL) season, where the three-in-three is a staple every weekend. Teams are powering through them and hoping to make a push for the playoffs. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a different team as they battle through them, a team that was prospect-heavy a few months back and is now leaning on veterans to win games.

This team has played poorly in the past, struggling in the second game of a back-to-back or coming out of a three-in-three with two losses. The Phantoms started their latest three-in-three with consecutive wins over the Syracuse Crunch and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, two of the best teams in the AHL. You May Also Like: Luca Del Bel Belluz Details Development & Improvement in the AHL So, what’s working for the Phantoms, and is it sustainable as they prepare for the playoffs?

The team is in an odd spot since their previous wave of prospects (Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, and Emil Andrea) is now in the NHL, and their next wave (Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, and Jack Nesbitt) is coming in next month or when the playoffs begin. Yet, they’ve stepped up lately with this current group. Desperation Hockey From The Phantoms The Phantoms have 58 points, a two-point cushion on the sixth-place Bridgeport Islanders, and only eight points ahead of the last-place Hartford Wolf Pack.

Needless to say, they are in a fight at the bottom of the division for a playoff spot. The Phantoms were bailed out by skill when the season began, and they’ve learned that won’t be the case moving forward. “During the early parts of the season, it doesn’t have meaning to it but now every single point matters for us right now, so desperation is super high,” Phantoms head coach John Snowden mentioned in a conversation with The Hockey News .