While last weekend saw the Phantoms kicking off their first season and facing their first few challenges right off the bat — a tight schedule, with an evening opener going right into a 3:00 matinee, while losing another defenseman when Emil Andrae was called up — this weekend brought another one for them to work with, as they hit the road for their first trip of the season, heading to Cleveland for a pair of games against the Monsters.
If there were any questions about how the Phantoms would respond to both the disappointing loss from last Saturday and the somewhat laborious trek out to the Midwest, they pretty quickly put those concerns to rest. Despite a bit of a slow start from both sides, a bit of a feeling out process established, the Phantoms were able to break things open late in the first period on a huge goal from Alex Bump, as he was able to pick up a pass on the rush from Karsen Dorwart, take a beat and show a bit of patience to move the puck to his backhand while still at speed, and chip it past a familiar face in Ivan Fedotov.
Alex Bump gets the Phantoms on the board and gets his first goal of the season. He's been noticeable so far, building on a couple of pretty good games last weekend. pic.twitter.com/ckdvpFHS0G
— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 17, 2025
If it looked like that line with Bump and Dorwart along with Devin Kaplan (who was elevated from last weekend’s fourth line role) was starting to gel early, this was only the beginning of what they were able to show across the whole of this game. As it would turn out, one highlight reel goal wasn’t enough for them in this game, and they continued to build up some nice momentum and leveled up still late in the second period, and this time reversing things up — with Bump this time leading the rush and pulling double coverage towards himself, he was able to slip the puck between his legs and over to a trailing Dorwart, who scored this one on his backhand while skating backwards.
Huge second goal for the Phantoms and huge second goal for this line. Bump and Kaplan with the setup, Dorwart with the finish pic.twitter.com/Y9HFjhTmjU
— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 18, 2025
Now, while this is a line that one could understand a coaching staff having some reservations about putting together right from the jump — last weekend’s lines seemed equally a first look at some possible combinations as well as an alignment to insulate some of the team’s rookies — but as the players got a little more of a taste of the league and the team was looking for a little more juice from their top-9, some shuffling seemed to be in order. And this line, though one that may have to be sheltered in their defensive matchups to a degree, has a lot of potential in this arrangement — Dorwart brings enough speed down the middle for this line to stand up as a real threat in transition, and the budding chemistry he and Bump have make both of them an anytime thread, while a player like Kaplan brings some finishing ability of his own, but can also put in some of the dirty work in the corners to help open up a bit more space for his linemates to create. It’s a mix that was clearly working for them last night, and it will be interesting to see if they get a little more runway to work, as the Phantoms also have to work around the rotation they’ve established to accommodate their surplus of wingers.
The flash that this line was able to bring was impossible to miss, but they were working well together across the whole of the game, combining for two other good chances on top of these, and building up some chemistry. It was some gutsy play, to be sure, and there’s no mistaking the big takeaway from this either — Alex Bump has his confidence all the way back. And, this, too, has felt like it’s been building over these first three games of the season. After a disappointing outcome up in NHL camp, there was plenty of opportunity for Bump to sulk or let his play spiral from any lingering disappointment about being sent down, but he’s managed nicely to metabolize that and keep the ball rolling. He didn’t see the scoring break open for him last weekend, and he still struggled at times with getting a bit of tunnel vision and having pucks taken off of him, but he still was trying to make things happen, and he’s looked, at the very least, a little better with each passing game, and last night saw him really reaping the rewards of sticking to his process, and hopefully this will be the dam officially breaking open for him, or so to speak.
It’s early goings, so it’s not exactly a large pool to choose from, but it feels safe to say that, while their offense popped off a bit more in the scoring department in last Saturday’s opener, this was the Phantoms’ most complete game played so far. The Phantoms were able to create a higher volume of chances, and did much better to get to the high danger areas for those chances — with 19 of their shots coming from the home plate area, and all three of their goals coming from the hashmarks or below in the slot — and a little more cohesiveness seemed to be building up amongst their forward lines, broadly. The discipline issue remained for them — they took 10 minor penalties and one five-minute call for fighting, and handed over eight opportunities on the power play for the Monsters — but their penalty kill stepped up huge again, and was perfect just as it was in the opener. And to top it all off, Aleksei Kolosov continued to polish up his form, and he looked completely dialed in last night for the Phantoms, tracking pucks much more sharply, using his athleticism to come up with some huge saves when the skaters in front were sagging a bit, and came away with his first shutout in the league as a reward for it all.
The turnaround isn’t quite as quick this weekend, but the Phantoms will be right back at it again tonight, and the next test of their ability to keep their momentum rolling is falling right back into their laps.
