GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS WRAP ATLANTIC DIVISION ROAD TRIP AT PHANTOMS
Five things to know as Rochester seeks third straight win
Nov 18, 2025By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (10-6-0-0) can sweep their three-game road trip through the Atlantic Division with a win Wednesday night against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-4-1-1) at PPL Center.
Here are five things to know before the Amerks try for a third straight win.
CONNECTING IN CONNECTICUT
The Amerks have sat idle since pulling out a pair of wins over Hartford and Bridgeport on Friday and Saturday, respectively. It was a Rochester rally in Hartford as the team trailed 3-1 before a pair of Trevor Kuntar goals, including a late-game power-play conversion with under three minutes left, evened the score to set the stage for overtime.
During three-on-three play, the Wolf Pack had an odd-man rush ending in a stupendous save from Topias Leinonen that allowed the Amerks to break out the other way. Riley Fiddler-Schultz buried the game-winner 1:05 into overtime on a wrist shot from the right-wing circle to lift the Amerks to a 4-3 win.
A mere 24 hours later, it was Bridgeport erasing a 3-1 deficit, however, the Amerks dug into their reserves in the back half of the third period, with Konsta Helenius hammering a wrist shot through to put Rochester back on top. Anton Wahlberg followed with an empty-net goal for good measure, allowing the red, white, and blue to skate out winners of a 5-3 contest.
The pair of wins place Rochester in a tie for first place in the North Division with Laval, though the Rocket have a game in hand.
Lehigh Valley return to home ice having dropped their weekend scuffles with the Hershey Bears in a pair of one-goal defeats. Trailing 3-1 Friday, the Phantoms managed to even the score, only for Hershey to take the lead again with 13 seconds remaining. A night later, the Bears managed to tie it up in the third, then went ahead to take a 2-1 final in overtime.
Those losses snapped a five-game win streak for the Phantoms, who occupy third in the Atlantic Division.
FEEL THE RATH
Rochester’s scoring in Bridgeport started with a goal from the side of the net by defenseman Jack Rathbone, who registered his first of the season. Rathbone, a sixth-year pro, had never gone more than 12 games without a goal to start a professional season prior to this year. The Boston native has amassed 116 points (33+83) over 232 AHL outings.
Rathbone posted an assist the night prior in Hartford, ending a nine-game absence from the scoresheet. The veteran is in his second season with Rochester and first with a letter in the AHL, as Rathbone was named one of the team’s alternate captains for the 2025-26 campaign.
Before arriving in the Flower City, Rathbone spent a season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where he saw a lot of Lehigh Valley. Over the past two seasons, the veteran blueliner has faced the Phantoms 16 times, converting for seven points (2+5) when facing the Philadelphia Flyers’ AHL affiliate.
JAGGER WITH SWAGGER
After last scoring on Oct. 24, Amerks forward Jagger Joshua got back to it Saturday in Bridgeport, providing a net-front presence that resulted in tipping two goals past the Islanders for his second career multi-goal game. His prior two-goal outing came with the Penguins on March 13, 2024 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Joshua signed a one-year contract with the Amerks after first arriving via a trade between Pittsburgh and Buffalo last season. After posting five points through 24 games as an Amerk last season, the 26-year-old is already up to seven (4+3) in 16 games to start this campaign.
For his career, Joshua has scored more than two goals against only Bridgeport (5) and Lehigh Valley (3).
BUMP AND BRUISE
Phantoms’ forward Alex Bump not only leads his team, but also leads the AHL’s Eastern Conference in rookie scoring with 13 points (4+9). A day ahead of his 22nd birthday, the Amerks will face-off against Philadelphia’s top prospect, who prior to Sunday had posted two goals and eight points over a four-game span.
Bump was teammates with Amerks forward Matteo Costantini at Western Michigan University, where the duo won an NCAA Championship last spring. Bump led his collegiate team with 23 goals and 47 points over 42 games. He was named to the NCHC Conference’s First All-Star Team, along with being honored as the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Forward of the Year.
In April, the Flyers signed their 2022 fifth-round selection to a three-year, entry-level contract.
GETTING GHOSTED
Rochester seeks to earn points for a fourth straight game against the Phantoms dating back to Jan. 17, 2024, when the team blanked Lehigh Valley, 6-0. The Amerks have also obtained points in six of the previous nine meetings dating back to Feb. 21, 2020.
In their last meeting at Lehigh Valley on Jan. 18, the Amerks pulled out a 3-2 win thanks to a trio of power-play goals, including the late go-ahead marker scored by Isak Rosén.
The Amerks skate into PPL Center carrying the conference’s top power-play, currently operating at 25.3%, while Lehigh Valley has labored on its kill as they sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 78.1%. On home ice, however, the Phantoms are accruing the third-lowest penalty minutes (46) in the AHL.
Garrett Wilson enters his third season as captain in Lehigh Valley. The 34-year-old is in his 15th professional season and has racked up 1,313 PIM over 713 AHL games. Over the last quarter-century, no AHL player has amassed more PIM over the course of their career than Wilson.