The Cleveland Monsters had a rough first period but were the better team on Saturday night, defeating the host Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-2 in the return of Phantoms winger Alex Bump from injury.
The basics
First period: 0:53- Will Butcher (Justin Pearson, Mikael Pyyhtia), 8:34- Oscar Eklind (Zayde Wisdom, Garrett Wilson), 18:25- Tucker Robertson (Unassisted)
Second period: 6:36- Mikael Pyyhtia (Luca Del Bel Belluz, Luca Marrelli) (PPG), 7:19- Hunter McKown (Unassisted), 12:45- Justin Pearson (Corson Ceulemans) (SHG)
Third period: 19:52- Brendan Gaunce (unassisted) (EN)
SOG: 35 (LHV) – 28 (CLE)
Some takeaways
Bump returns
Phantoms winger Alex Bump returned to the lineup, playing on the top line and not simply sliding him back into action gradually. Bump, who hadn’t played in 17 of the last 18 games for Lehigh Valley, found his footing in the first, having a great shift midway through the first alongside Phil Tomasino. Bump, who was on the ice for Cleveland’s opening goal, got a good wrister off but Fedotov made the save. In a subsequent shift a wrister on Fedotov’s stick side just missed the mark.
Bump took an elbowing penalty in the second while trying to move the puck. As the game went along, Bump seemed to be a step off, still obviously getting some of the rust off while trying to help the Phantoms get back in the game. In the end Bump was held off the scoresheet, getting two shots on goal to go with two minutes in penalties.
Rough night for Kyrou
Although he was the Phantoms’ All-Star representative, defenseman Christian Kyrou had a game he would probably like to forget. While he had some shifts that showed his offensive skills, he was on the wrong side of the puck more often than not on this evening. Kyrou had no shots on goal and was a -3 35 minutes into the game.
Ginning still going good
Adam Ginning might not have a lot of flash to his game, but he sometimes has a shift that makes you realize he’s got a good toolbox. Midway through the first, Ginning started up ice but didn’t see what he liked. Part of it was a line change, but the other part was that he didn’t see anything other than a high-risk, low-percentage play. So, he simply turned backed and reset, something a lot of defenders might not have the patience to do. Again, not a huge game-changing play, but just a subtle but smart play from a blueliner who could find himself back up in Philadelphia should they get hit with some injuries on the back end. Ginning had three of the Phantoms’ 15 shots through 20 minutes.
Monster game for Fedotov?
Former Flyers backup Ivan Fedotov was shipped off to Columbus prior to the season getting underway. Now he finds himself in Cleveland, the farm club for the Blue Jackets. But he wasn’t on the wrong end of a bad goal to start the game. Lehigh Valley starter Carson Bjarnason let in a rather soft goal when Cleveland defenseman Will Butcher took a shot from a very low danger area and somehow beat him high and clean. Definitely not a good way to begin the weekend.
Fedotov was fine in the first but the Phantoms kept coming. Finally, with under two minutes in the first, Phantoms winger Tucker Robertson made a fabulous play, roofing the puck over the lanky Fedotov to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead. It took a few seconds to realize the goal was scored as it was lodged in the twine just under the bar.
Tucker, that was NASTYYYY#LVvsCLE | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/ubf2j1OadS
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 15, 2026
Fedotov looked like he was going to have to make between 35 to 40 stops given how dominating Lehigh Valley was in the first. However, the following 25 minutes the Phantoms had just six shots on goal.
Slow start for Phantoms
The Monsters took it to the Phantoms early and often, resulting in a bit of a shooting gallery in the Lehigh Valley zone. Some of the shots went wide, some were blocked, but Bjarnason had to come up with a few stops to prevent Lehigh Valley digging themselves an early hole. Fortunately, the Phantoms tied things up roughly nine minutes into the first when Oscar Eklind got the rebound and buried it by Fedotov to make it a 1-1 contest. It wasn’t a work of art. But by getting to the dirty areas, the Phantoms were rewarded for some hard work and winning puck battles.
Eklind on the REBOUND! #LVvsCLE | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/CIdqwOaE44
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 15, 2026
The goal also seemed to settle down Lehigh Valley (sporting orange jerseys with jersey numbers you could probably see from Philadelphia) as they were outshooting the Monsters 10-4 in the latter stages of the opening frame.
Special teams
The first power play of the game was early in the second when Lehigh Valley’s Helge Grans took a cross-checking minor. The Phantoms moved from the box to diamond and bent a bit but didn’t break. Bjarnason’s best save was on Luca Del Bell Belluz who took a wrist shot from the point. The keeper didn’t handle the rebound cleanly but got it out of harm’s way. While killing the minor, the Phantoms looked to be on their heels early in the second as Cleveland took the first five shots of the period.
Minutes later, the Monsters got their second man advantage and again seemed to be working well as a unit, not getting out of position but not allowing many seam passes. However they couldn’t keep the unit tight, resulting in Cleveland’s Mikael Pyyhtia having a rather easy one-timer to tie the game 2-2. And seconds later, Cleveland took the lead on a horrible giveaway from Grans. Hunter McKown grabbed the puck and beat Bjarnason clean for a 3-2 lead.
The Phantoms got their first power play when Hunter McDonald was tripped up going back for a puck in his own zone. The much-needed advantage — particularly for a team still looking for its first shot of the period — had a fine set play off the bat. Christian Kyrou started some pretty passing but it didn’t materialize into a goal. Unfortunately, seconds later Bjarnason made a bad read on a clearing attempt. And it bit him big time. Cleveland scored a momentum-changing goal short-handed courtesy of Justin Pearson, giving themselves a bit of leeway with a two-goal lead.
Late in the second, the Phantoms got another power play. Anthony Richard made a great individual effort but couldn’t cut the two-goal deficit in half before the buzzer sounded.
Shut down third
The final period was pretty much a clinic from Cleveland who shut down Lehigh Valley most of the period. Phil Tomasino had the best chance of the period but Fedotov was there to make the stop when required. The Phantoms showed some urgency in the final minutes of the third. But by then it was too little too late. With under four minutes to go, Lehigh Valley pulled Bjarnason for an extra attacker. They threw a lot of rubber on Fedotov in a flurry, but couldn’t get anything by him.