Toronto Takedown! Phantoms Romp 6-1

Oliver Bonk Scores First Pro Goal

January 4, 2026

Toronto, ON – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms pulled away with a four-goal outburst in the third period as they routed the Toronto Marlies 6-1 on Sunday evening to wrap up their Canadian weekend. Oliver Bonk was one of nine different goal scorers on the weekend as the rookie defenseman’s shorthanded strike was the first goal of his pro career. Aleksei Kolosov stole the show with 29 saves in one of his best performances with several big stops when the game was still close.

The Phantoms now have points in six straight (5-0-1) and also have a three-game win streak. Lehigh Valley (18-11-4) moved into sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division and also resoundingly snapped Toronto’s five-game win streak in the process.

Lane Pederson (12th) paced the attack with a goal and two assists. Cooper Marody (4th), Karsen Dorwart (5th), Alexis Gendron (6th), and Garrett Wilson (3rd) all found the back of the net for the Orange and Black as well.

Marody opened the scoring at 5:38 with a sharp-angle, top-shelf conversion off a nifty handoff from Phil Tomasino who secured his first point with his new team. Marody found just enough daylight past the left shoulder of goaltender Vyacheslav Peksa to give Lehigh Valley the initial 1-0 advantage.

Toronto countered on a drive from the right boards by Michael Pezzetta that appeared to hit off the leg or skate of Marc Johnstone on a fortuitous deflection past Kolosov to forge a 1-1 tie after one period.

The Marlies were buzzing in the second period and kept pressing. Pezzetta hit the post. Logan Shaw was denied point-blank by Kolosov and the loose puck was swatted out of there by Ty Murchison who went down to the ice to save the day. And Toronto had other glorious chances as well.

The Marlies continued to build momentum and secured a second consecutive power play opportunity with a chance to take the lead but Kolosov came up big on Logan Shaw again.

That eventually led to Lane Pederson rushing back the other way shorthanded where he found Bonk in the right circle to rip his first career pro goal to the upper-left corner on the stick side of Peksa to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead at 13:32 into the second period.

The third period was all Phantoms, equaling a season-high with four goals in a period. Dorwart made it 3-1 with his move to the net front after Tucker Robertson and Lane Pederson worked a nifty give-and-go up along the right wing boards. Dorwart’s backhand chip capped the sequence at 3:14.

The Phantoms had a pair of unassisted breakaway goals as the speedy forwards made sure to keep their feet moving after some interceptions. First was Alexis Gendron with his poke and steal. He ripped it past the blocker of Peksa from about the left dot at 8:35 to push the advantage to 4-1.

Kolosov made his best save of the game a couple minutes later when he dove to his right to deny Vinni Lettieri on a feed from Logan Shaw. His mindblowing acrobatics to somehow get a blocker or stick on that shot was one of the best denialks of his career.

And Pederson followed that up with yet another steal and breakaway goal, this time scoring past the goaltender’s glove at 11:02 to make it 5-1. Pederson leads the Phantoms with 12 goals.

Bonk’s second point of the night set up the captain’s goal to put the sherry on top. In his Toronto homecoming, Garrett Wilson moved to the net-front to get a piece of Bonk’s centering pass from the right circle with just 2:05 remaining to provide for the 6-1 final.

Lehigh Valley improved to 12-0-2 when scoring the first goal of the game. The Phantoms and Grand Rapids Griffins are the only teams undefeated in regulation when scoring the first goal of the contest.

Lehigh Valley equaled a season hith four goals in a period which was also accomplished in the third period on November 5 at Bridgeport.

The Phantoms had nine different goal-scorers over their Canadian weekend including a 3-1 win at Belleville on Saturday, featuring goals by Ty Murchison, Helge Grans and Jacob Gaucher, followed by the 6-1 win at Toronto on Sunday, including goals by Cooper Marody, Oliver Bonk, Karsen Dorwart, Alexis Gendron, Lane Pederson and Garrett Wilson.

The Phantoms scored six or more goals in a game for the third time this season including a 7-3 win over Springfield on November 14 and a 6-2 win at Bridgeport on November 5.

Lehigh Valley is back on the road next weekend on a New England trip including a game at the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday, January 10 at 6:00 p.m. followed by a contest at the first-place Providence Bruins on Sunday, January 11 at 3:00 p.m.

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