After a long week of practice coming off of a tough last weekend, the Phantoms were back in action tonight and looking to take advantage of a worn down and beaten up Hershey Bears team. It was a spirited matchup between two teams with no love lost between them, but it was one that the Phantoms fared well in — their offense finally found some spark and they were able to cruise to a reasonably tidy 4-1 win.
The basics
First period: 10:08- Alex Bump (Kyrou, Tomasino)PPG, 10:41- Cooper Marody (Richard, Dorwart)
Second period: 4:28- Tucker Robertson (Pederson, Bonk), 10:02- Corey Schueneman (Leason, Cristall)PPG, 19:19- Phil Tomasino (Gaucher, Gendron)
Third period:
SOG: 29 (LHV) – 33 (HER)
Some takeaways
Not a great start… until it was!
The Phantoms, all in all, have not been great starters to games so far this season. It’s become a particular and troubling pattern to see them starting a little flat, digging themselves into a hole, and having to work extra hard to pull themselves out. It’s something they’ve been working to avoid continually slipping into, but this was a trap they very nearly fell into again tonight.
The Phantoms pretty immediately had to go on the defensive when Jacob Gaucher was whistled for a holding penalty not even two minutes into the game, and they would have to take on a reasonably productive Bears power play early. It wasn’t an easy task, as they were able to come up with a couple of good looks, but the Phantoms were able to bend without breaking, and pairing that with a couple of huge saves from Aleksei Kolosov, they were able to make it out of that one unscathed. It was a huge kill for them, and the momentum from pulling it off gave them a bit of a boost as they pressed on in that opening frame. The Phantoms got their legs under them quickly after that, and with that bit of jump (and a bit of luck on top of that), they were able to strike twice quickly in the middle of the period, and take over command of play pretty completely all the way through to the first intermission.
Bump picking up steam
Alex Bump was able to get back into the lineup last weekend, and while those first two games were pretty well understood to be the ramping up period for him, this weekend is when we could more reasonably expect to see him beginning to get rolling again. And get rolling again, he did. Bump came out with some good jump, and was able to bring a very quick bit of flash, putting away a second chance opportunity on the power play to get the Phantoms on the board.
Nice bit of puck movement on the power play, and Alex Bump puts away the rebound on Christian Kyrou’s initial shot, and the Phantoms are on the board! pic.twitter.com/PnAZ9GApAX
— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) February 21, 2026
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That bit of pop was certainly a nice highlight, but his play across the board in this one was notably quite solid. He was showing a nice patience with the puck in looking for chances, and particularly not afraid to take a bit of contact in pursuit of better plays being made. He was also bringing a good level of headsupedness, if you will — he had a good shot block late in the third and he used that to spring himself and his teammates for a 3-on-1 (it was not one that they converted on, but still a good bit of work, all the same) — and showed a high degree of engagement across the board. Now, his game wasn’t perfect, and there’s certainly another level of effectiveness to be tapped into, but this was still as positive of a step as we might have hoped to see from him.
Kolosov keeps rolling
A lot will be made, rightfully, of the offensive punch that the Phantoms were finally able to deliver in this game, but not to be overlooked is the work that Aleksei Kolosov put in to keep this game under control for the Phantoms. Despite the Phantoms being able to get the better of the scoring in this one, the Bears didn’t have a shortage of chances to work with, and they were testing Kolosov early and often (the Phantoms finding themselves outshot 7-1 early in the frame). It wasn’t an easy task before him, but Kolosov’s form was very solid right from the jump, his focus locked in and his positioning to the shots coming at him was right on. The Bears were able to put together a few really dangerous looking flurries, and Kolosov was able to hold up well against them. They were able to get one by him on a breakdown on the penalty kill for the Phantoms, but he was perfect beyond that.
All in all, it was a very solid performance, and a nice way to build on what was a good showing in the loss in his last time out.
Unlocking more of the cycle
The Phantoms have established themselves well so far this season as a team that can do a lot of damage on the rush. They’ve found a lot of success in this area so far this season, but they also know well that the key to unlocking a more complete and consistent offensive game will come with finding a way to wake up their cycle game. It’s been a bit of an uphill battle, but they made some major progress in this area tonight.
They were able to get some really positive sustained puck movement going in the offensive zone across the whole of this game, and while we saw it working well for them on the power play on Bump’s goal, this wasn’t the only instance of them getting rewarded for similar work — Marody’s goal came off of a bit of quick puck movement off of the initial entry into the offensive zone, and then Robertson’s (who’s kept his nice little heater rolling as well) goal came from a further bit of extended cycling low in the zone, wearing down the Hershey defenders before he could go for that nifty chance in front of the net. It was a good bit of work on the whole, and speaks to the team’s continued emphasis on playing hard and not just being one and done with their chances. It was a focused and hard-nosed game that they were able to bring, and it’s made for a pretty clear blueprint for what they’ll need to do in these tight games moving forward.
No stopping us tonight!! #LVvsHER | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/nsEO0IvkRF
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 21, 2026
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On the attack
There are a lot of positives that can be pulled from this one, but towards the top of the list is how the Phantoms were able to quickly overcome that shaky start, get themselves rolling, and most critically, keep themselves rolling from then on out.
What’s been perhaps most frustrating about this skid that the Phantoms have found themselves on over the last month or so is just how many games they’ve been right there in, but somehow managed to stop playing in for just a few minutes, and had things go so sideways on them that they get stuck with yet another loss. It’s been a pretty brutal pattern, but they were able to avoid it pretty completely tonight, keeping their foot on the gas, continuing to create chances, and avoiding any truly catastrophic breakdowns all the way through to the final buzzer.
Certainly, one good and complete game does not a complete fix make, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.
Setting the tone
It’s worth noting, before we close this thing out, that for as much as we saw the Phantoms able to do the right things in their approach to the game and in bringing their offense to life again, they also kept themselves engaged in a very physical matchup. We won’t overly wax poetic about a feisty meeting of divisional rivals, but we will leave it here — this game was undeniably a spirited one, and it will be particularly interesting to see if and how things will boil over when these two teams meet again tomorrow night.