Phantoms Fall Flat Again Despite Strong Effort from Kolosov
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms wrapped up a tough weekend with a 3-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday afternoon, dropping both games in the back-to-back set. While the scoreboard wasn’t kind, goaltender Aleksei Kolosov gave the Phantoms every chance to stay in it - and his performance was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise frustrating outing.
A Weekend to Forget, A Goalie Worth Remembering
Let’s start with the obvious: this was not the offensive showing the Phantoms needed. After a deflating loss to Cleveland on Saturday, Sunday offered a shot at redemption. Instead, the team came out flat, struggled to generate chances, and found themselves chasing the game early.
But if there’s one player who didn’t get the memo about the slump, it was Kolosov. The young netminder was sharp from the opening puck drop, turning away 29 of 31 shots and keeping the game within reach even as the Crunch dictated pace and possession for long stretches. He bailed out a slow-starting Phantoms squad with a strong first period, including a key stop on Mitchell Chafee’s early wrister that could’ve tilted the game even sooner.
Kolosov did have one shaky moment - a miscue on a routine puck cover that nearly gifted Brendan Furry a goal - but overall, this was one of his more composed outings in recent weeks. It’s the kind of game that deserved more support in front of him.
Snowden Sounds Off, But Message Doesn’t Land
After Saturday’s loss, head coach John Snowden didn’t hold back. He called out his team’s lack of urgency, especially in the second period, and made it clear he was looking for someone - anyone - to step up and spark a response.
But if Snowden’s postgame comments were meant to light a fire, the opening 20 minutes on Sunday didn’t show it. Syracuse came out flying, outshooting the Phantoms 13-2 in the first period and controlling the tempo with ease. Lehigh Valley, meanwhile, looked stuck in neutral - slow to pucks, disconnected in transition, and unable to generate any meaningful pressure on Crunch goalie Ryan Fanti.
There was a brief flicker of life in the second period. The Phantoms came out with jump, and Zayde Wisdom nearly got them on the board with a good look that Fanti managed to get a piece of.
Alex Bump also led a promising rush, showing some of the spark that’s been missing from his game lately. But even with more energy, the Phantoms couldn’t sustain it.
By the midway point of regulation, they had just six shots on goal.
And then came the backbreaker - a goal from Brendan Furry that doubled the Crunch’s lead to 2-0. For a team struggling to score, a two-goal deficit felt like a mountain.
Lineup Shuffles and Power Play Woes
In an effort to shake things up, Snowden made a couple of changes to the lineup. Christian Kyrou and Alexis Gendron were healthy scratches, with Sawyer Boulton and Roman Schmidt drawing in. Whether it was a message or just a move to change the energy, the results were mixed.
Lehigh Valley did get the game’s first power play, but it was a missed opportunity. The unit took nearly a minute to get set up and failed to register a shot on goal. That lack of execution hurt even more when Syracuse capitalized on their own man advantage, with Ethan Gauthier finishing off a crisp passing sequence to make it 1-0.
The Crunch nearly struck again on their next power play, but the Phantoms managed to kill it off. Adam Ginning, who had a rough stretch with back-to-back penalties, took a big hit later in the second but stayed in the game. Still, the special teams battle clearly tilted in Syracuse’s favor.
One Last Push, But Not Enough
By the third period, the Phantoms looked like a team running out of gas - whether from playing the second half of a back-to-back or just the weight of another uphill battle. The offense lacked creativity, relying heavily on dump-and-chase plays that Syracuse handled with little trouble.
But with under three minutes to play, Tucker Robertson gave the home crowd a jolt of hope with a short-handed goal that cut the deficit to 2-1. It was a moment of life in an otherwise quiet offensive night.
Snowden pulled Kolosov for the extra attacker with just over two minutes left, but the gamble didn’t pay off. Mitchell Chafee iced it with an empty-net goal, assisted by former Flyer Jakob Pelletier - a little salt in the wound to close out the night.
Bump Still Searching for His Game
Alex Bump returned to the lineup Saturday but hasn’t quite found his rhythm. He had a golden chance late in the second period, but Fanti shut the door.
In the third, Bump got into a brief tussle with Lucas Mercuri - more frustration than fireworks - and the Phantoms ended up with a power play. But the highlight of that sequence came at the other end, where Kolosov made a clutch stop on a Gabriel Szturc breakaway to keep the game close.
Final Thoughts
This was a game where the scoreboard didn’t fully reflect the effort of the guy between the pipes. Aleksei Kolosov gave the Phantoms every chance to claw their way back, but the rest of the lineup couldn’t match his level. The offense continues to sputter, the power play isn’t clicking, and the urgency that Snowden demanded still seems to be missing.
The Phantoms have talent. They’ve shown flashes. But right now, they’re a team searching for answers - and they’re running out of time to find them.