Phantoms Set for First Round of AHL Playoffs vs. Charlotte

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who are the Philadelphia Flyers’ top farm team, will meet Charlotte in the opening round of the AHL playoffs.

The best-of-three series looks like an even matchup.

The Phantoms (37-29-6) and Checkers (39-25-8) each won four games against each other in the regular season. Lehigh Valley finished sixth in the Atlantic Division with 81 points, Charlotte finished third (86).

All three first-round games will be in Charlotte, starting Tuesday night and continuing Thursday and, if necessary, Friday.

Elliot Desnoyers (23 goals), Tyson Foerster (20 goals, 48 points), Artem Anisimov (19 goals), Adam Ginning (plus-24), Olle Lycksell (31 assists), and Sam Ersson (2.84 GAA, .900 SP)  are among the Phantoms’ leaders.

If the Phantoms get past Charlotte, they would meet first-place Providence in a best-of-five, second-round series.

The last time the Phantoms and Checkers met in the Calder Cup playoffs was in 2018, when Lehigh won, four games to one, in the divisional finals. In Game 4, Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon made 94 saves — 94! — in the longest contest in AHL history. The game lasted five overtimes and ended at 1:09 a.m., six hours and six minutes after it started.

Lyon is now starring for the Florida Panthers. Florida faces powerful Boston in the opening-round of the playoffs Monday.

The Philadelphia Flyers, meanwhile, are out of the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Flyers Believe They Have Taken First Step Toward Relevance