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Flyers Gameday: 3/4/18 @ FLA; Flyers-TB Wrapup, Phantoms & Prospect Updates |
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GAME 66 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ PANTHERS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (34-20-11) finish a two-day trip through the Sunshine State with a Sunday matinee against Bob Boughner's Florida Panthers (31-25-6). Game time at the BB&T Center is 3:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
This is the third and final meeting between the teams this season, and the second in Sunrise. On Oct. 17 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers skated to a 5-1 win. On Dec. 23 at the BB&T Center, the Panthers prevailed by a 3-2 score.
Sunday's game is a big one for both teams.
The Metro Division leading Washington Capitals (5-2 winners in the Stadium Series game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday) and the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2 OT winners against the New York Islanders on Saturday) are both idle on Sunday. With a win in Sunrise on Sunday, the Flyers could not only get rid of the hollow feeling of Saturday's 7-6 shootout loss in Tampa Bay but they can also move back into a points tie with the Capitals (albeit in one more game played and with a ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) and three points ahead of the Penguins.
The Panthers, who have played an NHL-low 62 games to date and have three games in hand on every team they are pursuing in the wildcard chase, could potentially move into the lower wildcard spot by the end of Sunday. Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets have 69 points through 65 games. The Panthers have 68 points.
A Florida win by any means paired with any type of loss by both Carolina and Columbus would move the Panthers into playoff position either by one point or via tiebreaker. A Florida overtime or shootout loss, paired with regulation losses by the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets, would still put the Panthers into a playoff spot via tiebreaker. Carolina hosts the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, with the Blue Jackets visit the San Jose Sharks.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Sunday's game is the back end of a back-to-back for the Flyers and the last segment of a home-road-road set of three games in less than four nights. Under any circumstances, that is a dig-deep scenario for a team. The Panthers are also playing for the third time in less than four nights but have been home the entire time, and the off-day in the mix was on Saturday.
Philly brings a road record of 18-10-5 into this match. After rattling off six straight wins and points in 12 straight games overall, the Flyers have gotten the month of March off to a less-than-ideal start.
On Thursday at home, the Flyers got thumped by Carolina, 4-1, in a game that was lopsided for the first 40 minutes. On Saturday in Tampa, the Flyers pumped six goals past the NHL-leading Lightning and owned a pair of two-goal leads, including one within the third period, Nevertheless, Philly needed a late rally just to force overtime and then had to settle for one point from a 7-6 shootout loss (2-0).
The point was still a valuable one that temporarily moved the Flyers back into a points tie with Washington but ended up not being enough to hold serve after the Penguins and Capitals went on to win their respective Saturday games. See the game wrapup after Sunday's preview for more about Saturday's game in Tampa.
With the Flyers playing such a compacted schedule and with Petr Mrazek coming off a just-OK game against Carolina and a subpar performance against the Lightning, rookie Alex Lyon might be entrusted with starting duties in this game ahead of another series of brutally tough games ahead for Philadelphia.
Top line center Sean Couturier has routinely played an excellent two-way game and has continued to rack up assists with regularity, including the primary helper on Claude Giroux's late game-tying goal against Tampa. However, goals for Couturier have been hard to come by over the last month-and-a-half. He still needs one more tally to reach 30 goals for the first time in his NHL career. Dating back to Jan. 18, Couturier has only scored three times; most recently in overtime against Columbus on Feb. 16. He did score the shootout winner in Montreal on Monday of this past week.
After being scratched for Thursday's game against Carolina, Jordan Weal returned to the lineup in Tampa. Taylor Leier stayed in the lineup for Saturday's game, rendering Dale Weise a healthy scratch. Veteran forward Matt Read, recalled on Monday from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, has been scratched in both games since his return to Philadelphia.
Veteran defenseman Johnny Oduya, claimed off waivers from Ottawa on Monday, finally joined his new team for practice on Friday after a delay caused by working out his American visa. It is unclear whether Oduya will make his Flyers debut on Sunday. He was scratched in Tampa.
Power forward Wayne Simmonds remains out of the Flyers' lineup with an upper body injury. He practiced with the team on Friday. Simmonds may be ready to return by the mid-week when the Flyers play the Penguins at home on Wednesday and the Bruins on the road the next night.
When a team gives up six regulation goals but also scores a half-dozen in regulation as the Flyers did on Saturday, its team stats are going to be affected even in the latter stages of the campaign when percentages and rankings are less volatile. That's the case with the Flyers.
Entering Saturday's game, the Flyers had scored an average 2.94 goals per game (ranked 13th in the NHL) and have a team 2.77 GAA (tied for 11th). At 5-on-5, the Flyers had scored 116 goals (tied for 24th) and allowed 104 goals (4th fewest in the NHL).
As the team heads from Tampa to Sunrise, the season goal average has jumped up to 2.98 per game (12th) while the team GAA ballooned to 2.82 (19th). With five goals at 5-on-5 scored on Saturday to bring the season total to 121, the Flyers pushed up five spots in their league rankings to a tie for 19th. The five goals allowed at 5-on-5 on Sunday (now 109 overall) still leaves the Flyers ranked in a tie for the fourth-fewest in the NHL this season but Philly is now far behind the top two duo of the Boston Bruins (98) and Nashville Predators (99).
Entering Saturday, the Flyers brought 20.8 percent efficiency (44-for-211, 9th) on the power play and 75.4 percent (134-for-179, 28th) on the penalty kill. The Flyers went 1-for-5 on the power play, including a failed OT power play that came back to haunt them. The overall percentage of 20.8 (45-for-216) held steady but the team ranking dropped a spot to 10th. The Flyers almost serially shaky penalty kill went 0-for-1 to drop to 75.0 percent (134-for-180) but the team is still ranked 29th with only the Islanders (74.5 percent) and Edmonton Oilers (73.5 percent) below them.
The Flyers have allowed nine shorthanded goals this season. That is tied with three teams (the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres and Islanders) for the second-most in that dubious category. Only the Colorado Avalanche, who have yielded a dozen opposing SHGs, have allowed more.
Philly has scored two shorthanded goals this season: Scott Laughton in the home opener against Washington back on Oct. 14 and Wayne Simmonds on Jan. 18 at home against Toronto. Every team in the NHL has scored at least two shorties this season; the Flyers are one of four teams with a pair. Overall, 25 NHL teams have scored at least four this season. Nineteen clubs have scored five or more. Fifteen have six or more. A dozen have seven or more. Sunday's opponent, Florida, shares the league lead with nine scored.
It has been quite a long team -- nearly a full calendar year -- since the Flyers last scored a shorthanded goal in a road game. Read had the last one, scored in a road game against Winnipeg on March 21, 2017.
PANTHERS OUTLOOK
The Panthers were not playing particularly good hockey at the time the Flyers caught them in the first two meetings of the season. Now, however, Florida has taken over from the Flyers as arguably the hottest team in the NHL over the last few weeks. The club brings a five-game winning streak into Sunday afternoon's game and boasts a record of 8-2-0 in its last 10.
Florida enters this game with an 18-9-3 home record. Not only do the Panthers have multiple games in hand to make up down the stretch, but they have very little traveling to do until the latter part of March.
For the first 17 days of March, the Panthers won't even have to leave the Sunshine State. They play eight of nine games at home and the only road travel is a game in Tampa this coming Tuesday. As a matter of fact, the Panthers have been home since Feb. 22, and this game against the Flyers is their sixth in a row at home.
Regardless of the outcomes against the Flyers and Lightning, it would not be surprising if the Panthers continue to make a heavy push for the playoffs at least until the club (which is 13-16-3 in away games) heads back out on the road.
The current 3-in-4 stretch is the only one the Panthers face until the latter half of March. Also, on the other end of the road game in Tampa, the Panthers will play four of their next five games as the host team against clubs that are well out of playoff contention (with only a game against Boston looming, after two nights of rest, surrounding games against the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers).
The latter part of March will get much tougher travel-wise for the Panthers. From March 19 to 31, the Panthers face eight games -- seven on the road, with two separate road trips to Canada and a pair of three-in-four gauntlets -- in less than 13 nights. The high risk of late-stretch fatigue is the downside of having so many games in hand this late in the season and so many home games. Florida will remain the NHL's busiest team in early April, too. However, four of the team's five games between April 2 and April 8 are at home.
Another quirk of the Florida schedule is the fact that it is now March 4 and the Panthers have yet to play even one game against Boston; a fellow Atlantic Division team. Their entire four-game season series will be played in within a span of just over three weeks: March 15 in Florida, March 31 in Boston, April 5 in Florida, and April 8 (final day of the NHL regular season) in Boston.
It is imperative for the Panthers to make their move right now. Gaining points against the Flyers and Lightning would have the team well set up to do just with a relatively light schedule upcoming ahead of the whirlwind final few weeks of the season.
On Thursday night, the Panthers opened the March portion of their schedule with a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Florida winning streak grew to five in a row on Friday with a 4-1 triumph over the Eastern Conference cellar-dwelling Sabres.
In Friday's game, Florida took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission and then pulled away in the second period. Mike Matheson (9th goal of the season), Aaron Ekblad (13th), Aleksander Barkov (24th) and Colton Sceviour (8th) tallied for the Panthers. The Panthers did a masterful job of closing out the game with authority, outshooting the Sabres by a 10-5 margin in a chippy final stanza. James Reimer earned the win in goal, stopping 24 of 25 shots overall.
Entering Sunday's game, the Panthers have scored an average 2.95 goals per game (13th) and bring in a team 3.15 GAA (25th). At 5-on-5, Florida has scored 117 goals (tied for 24th) and given up 131 (tied for 19th).
The Panthers power play checks in at 19.1 percent efficiency (37-for-194, 19th) with four opposing shorthanded goals allowed. The penalty kill comes in at 79.0 percent success (147-for-186, 22nd) but Florida shares the NHL lead with nine shorthanded goals scored: five by Barkov (who also has four power play goals), two by Vincent Trocheck and one apiece by ex-Dallas players Sceviour and Derek MacKenzie.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (will be updated)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
15 Jori Lehterä - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 40 Jordan Weal
20 Taylor Leier - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
29 Johnny Oduya - 8 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
34 Petr Mrazek
[39 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: 22 Dale Weise (healthy), 24 Matt Read (healthy), 47 Andrew MacDonald (day-to-day, upper body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, core muscle surgery), 30 Michal Neuvirth (lower body, out 4-6 weeks from Feb. 18), 17 Wayne Simmonds (upper-body, could return March 7-8).
PANTHERS
63 Evgeny Dadonov- 16 Aleksander Barkov - 27 Nick Bjugstad
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 71 Radim Vrbata
88 Jamie McGinn - 90 Jared McCann - 78 Maxim Mamin
18 Micheal Haley - 17 Derek MacKenzie - 7 Colton Sceviour
3 Keith Yandle - 5 Aaron Ekblad
19 Michael Matheson - 13 Mark Pysyk
52 MacKenzie Weegar - 6 Alex Petrovic
1 Roberto Luongo
[34 James Reimer]
Scratches: 12 Ian McCoshen (healthy), 23 Connor Brickley (healthy), 62 Denis Malgin (sprained MCL), 72 Frank Vatrano (IR, high ankle sprain).
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WRAP: SIX GOALS VS. TAMPA EQUALS ONE POINT
In one of the more aggravating outcomes the Philadelphia Flyers have had since the All-Star break, the team had a golden opportunity to earn a road win against the NHL leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon but had to settle for a single point from a 7-6 shootout loss. There are not many games where a team holds a pair of two goal leads (3-1 after the first period, 5-3 by early in the third period) and yet has to rally late just to get the game to overtime, but that's exactly what the Flyers managed to do.
On the bright side, the Flyers were resilient and opportunistic on a rare subpar day for star Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. They peppered his net with 43 shots in regulation and overtime, finding the mark six times. A couple of the goals were leaky ones or fat rebounds, but
the bottom line is that the Flyers scored a half-dozen times against the NHL's top team and a goalie whom they typically have a tough time solving.
Also on the bright side: the point the Flyers earned from the game temporarily tied them in points with the Metro Division leading Washington Capitals. Even with the Capitals downing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday evening, Philly remained only two points behind. The Pittsburgh Penguins inched from two points behind the Flyers to within one point, but it could have been worse had the Flyers come away from Tampa completely empty handed.
On the downside, the Flyers were awful in their puck management and own zone play, lacking composure under pressure from the NHL's highest-scoring team. There were failed clearing opportunities galore, and the ice was especially tilted against Philly whenever they'd go up a couple goals.
A look at the afternoon's real-time turnover statistics -- albeit a subjective one and one in which the reliability varies widely from building to building to around the league -- gives in this case a vivid depiction of where the Flyers went wrong. Philly had 10 charged giveaways (Tampa was charged with six) and Lightning players were credited with a dozen takeaways (Philly was credited with just three, including two by ex-Bolt Valtteri Filppula). Turning the puck over that many times, whether unforced or being stripped of the puck -- the ratio of how many Philly turnovers were forced versus unforced could be debated, but the bottom line is the same.
It did not help matters that Petr Mrazek, who was excellent in his first three Flyers starts and then average against Carolina, had his first real clunker of a game against Tampa. The Bolts came in with a strategy -- as they often employ -- of blasting shots from every possible angle and getting teammates in front for rebounds and screens. Mrazek had some puck tracking and rebound control issues in this game and, like Vasilevskiy, let a couple stoppable pucks get by him or created his own monster on several occasions. In particular, the Flyers really could have used a better third period out of him.
Lastly, while the Flyers can be happy that they managed to score five goals at five-on-five and had multiple other near-miss chances in which Vasilevskiy stepped up to make key saves, Philly (1-for-5 on the power play) needed to capitalize on an overtime 4-on-3 power play. They failed and the team then went on to lose the shootout, 2-0, as they tend to do unless their goalie steps up repeatedly before a Flyer finally scores in the skills competition. There was nothing doing in the shootout for Philly.
Offensively, of course, the game was a statistical feeding frenzy in regulation. The Flyers, who failed on their lone penalty killing situation of the game, yielded five goals at five-on-five. That's never a good feeling even when your team matches it.
Lightning star Steven Stamkos led the scoring bonanza with a career-high five-point game (power play and even strength goals, and three assists). Victor Hedman, who routinely terrorizes the Flyers, scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, while adding his 37th and 38th assists. Also getting into the scoring act for Tampa was defensive defenseman Dan Girardi (4th goal of the season, 1st of his career against the Flyers) and recently acquired forward J.T. Miller (14th).
Returning to the lineup from a two-game absence, Art Ross Trophy race leader Nikita Kucherov collected his 50th and 51st apples of the season. Chipping in one assist apiece were Yanni Gourde (28th), Brayden Point (30th) and Alex Killorn (27th). Point was credited with the winning goal in the shootout as well.
On the Flyers side, Claude Giroux scored the late third period goal (23rd) that forced overtime and also collected his 54th assist of the campaign. Ivan Provorov scored his 12th goal of the season and added his 19th and 20th assists to complete a three-point game. The Flyers also got a power play goal (10th) plus an even strength assist (10th) by Nolan Patrick and a power play assist (57th) and even strength goal (14th) from linemate Jakub Voracek.
For the second time in the last four games, Flyers rookie defenseman Robert Hägg scored a goal; this time on a shot from the deep middle slot. It was his third goal overall. The Flyers also got an unexpected goal from Jori Lehterä (2nd) on a shot from the right circle. Both of these goals were seemingly stoppable for Vasilievskiy but they all count the same on the score sheet.
Filppula assisted on the Lehterä and Provorov goals, bring his season assist total to 19 and his season point total to 29. Returning to the lineup from one game on the scratch sheet, Jordan Weal chipped in the primary assist (his 10th helper of the season) on the Lehterä goal. Top-line center Sean Couturier got the primary assist (34th overall) on Giroux's loose puck put-in of the game-tying goal at 17:07 of the third period.
Somehow, high-scoring Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (10 shot attempts, eight on goal and two blocked) finished without a point in 26:42 of ice time despite being in the thick of several scoring chances. Highly regarded rookie left wing Oskar Lindblom (two shots on goal on three attempts) is still looking for his first NHL point after six games despite playing well overall; reminiscent of how he started the regular season with the Phantoms.
The Flyers won 40 of 67 faceoffs (60 percent) in Saturday's game. Couturier went 12-for-16 overall and 8-for-8 in the third period. Giroux was 14-for-22 for the game.
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PHANTOMS BLANK BINGHAMTON, 4-0
Already leading the Atlantic Division, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms moved to the top the Eastern Conference with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Binghamton Devils at the PPL Center on Saturday night. The Phantoms are 10-1-1 over their last 12 games and 37-15-7 overall (81 points) for the season. The team improved to 20-5-5 at home with Saturday's victory.
The Phantoms received balanced scoring against Binghamton. Ten different players recorded at least one point.
Phil Varone (power play, 18th), Chris Conner (power play, 15th), Corban Knight (12th) and Mikhail Vorobyev (6th) scored for the Phantoms. Vorobyev (13th assist), T.J. Brennan (27th), Greg Carey (20th), Mike Vecchione (20th), Cole Bardreau (14th), Colin McDonald (9th) and Radel Fazleev (13th) chipped in one assist apiece.
Dustin Tokarski was flawless in goal. He stopped all 29 shots he faced and helped the Phantoms get through four penalty kills along the way.
As a team, the Phantoms have assembled a streak of 23 consecutive successful penalty kills; this despite a 7-6 comeback win over Hershey on Friday night that saw the Phantoms trail 5-1 at the first intermission.
Saturday's game was scoreless after the first period. The Phantoms got on the board at 5:52 of the middle stanza, and never looked back. On the power play, Vorobyev put the puck at the net, where Varone tipped it home from the top of the blue paint. Brennan got the secondary assist.
The game stayed 1-0 until 18:28 of the second period, when the Phantoms cashed in on a 5-on-3 power play chance. From the deep slot, Carey ripped a shot at the net and Conner deflected it home to be credited with the goal. Vecchione drew the secondary assist.
In the third period, the Phantoms put a 3-0 stranglehold on the game at 3:54. Knight went to the net, received a pass from Bardreau, and stashed home Lehigh Valley's first of two even strength goals on the evening. McDonald received the secondary assist.
At 15:56 of the third period, the lead expanded to a four-goal mark. A patient Radel Fazleev waited out the Devils and then found Vorobyev in point-blank range for an easy goal that closed out the scoring with just over four minutes left to play.
The Phantoms return to action on Sunday for the third time in three nights. This time, the Phantoms are on the road to play Hershey at the Giant Center. Game time is 5 p.m. ET. The tilt will close out the regular season series between the Phantoms and their longtime arch-rivals.
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PROSPECT UPDATES: CHL, NCAA, USHL and EUROPE
* OHL: Isaac Ratcliffe's Guelph Storm got the better of Maksim Sushko's Owen Sound Attack on Saturday, earning an 8-3 road blowout win. Ratcliffe, coming off a hat trick on Friday, took second-star honors in Saturday's tilt (one goal, one assist, six shots on goal). He now has 36 goals (tied for 7th in the OHL) and 60 points in 60 games. Sushko had three shots on goal but did not record a point and was minus-three for the game. For the season, Sushko has 28 goals and 52 points in 53 games along with a plus-10 rating.
* OHL: The Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the visiting Oshawa Generals, 4-1. Flyers prospect Matthew Strome did not record a point but registered four shots on goal. For the season, he has 35 goals (tied for 10th in the NHL) and 65 points in 61 games played.
* OHL: Morgan Frost and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (who have already clinched the top record in the league for the regular season) were idle on Saturday. However, there was some Frost-related news in the Ontario League as Barrie Colts forward Aaron Luchuk racked up a four-point game (one goal, three assists) in an 8-3 blowout win over the Kingston Frontenacs. As a result, Luchuk took over the OHL scoring lead with 105 points. Frost, who has 100 points, is 3rd in the league. Sarnia forward Jordan Kyrou is second with 102 points.
It should be noted that Frost is still just 18 years (he doesn't turn 19 until May 14), while Ottawa prospect Luchuk is 20 years old (turns 21 on April 5) and St. Louis prospect Kyrou is 19 (turns 20 on May 5). There are seven games remaining in the Greyhounds regular season, including a home game on Sunday against the Windsor Spitfires. Sarnia, who host Owen Sound on Sunday, has six games left. Idle on Sunday, Barrie also has six games left.
* WHL: Carter Hart went long stretches without seeing a puck but stopped 17 of 18 shots as the Everett Silvertips (46 shots) went on the earn a 2-1 home overtime win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday. It was a relatively normal opening 40 minutes, as the Silvertips had an 8-7 shot edge in the first period and 11-10 in the second frame. Hart stopped 16 of 17 shots in that span, yielding only a Noah Philp goal in the middle stages of the game. From the third period (20-1 shot disparity) into overtime (7-0 shot disparity), virtually the entire game was spent in the Seattle end of the ice. Finally Connor Dewar scored a power play goal at 2:57 of OT to end the game. Hart improved to 28-4-4 on the season, with a 1.53 GAA and .950 save percentage. Everett is on the road on Sunday, facing the Vancouver Giants. With Hart having played on both Friday and Saturday, there is a good chance that young backup Dustin Wolf will get the starting nod.
* WHL: Carsen Twarynski took third star honors in the Kelowna Rockets' 4-2 home loss on Saturday to the Spokane Chiefs. The 20-year-old overager scored his 40th goal (tied for 10th in the Western League) and 66th point (ranked 42nd in the league) in 63 games this season.
* QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov scored a third period goal and had two shots on goal in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan's 5-3 road win on Saturday against the Moncton Wildcats. He has 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 32 games since being acquired by the Titan in a trade with Chicoutimi (three goals, 11 points in 11 games).
* NCAA Big 10 Quarterfinals: Ohio State skated to a 4-3 overtime win over Michigan State on Friday. After a big night on Friday, Tanner Laczynski was held off the scoresheet in this game but had five shots on goal. Ohio State will play Michigan next Saturday in the Big 10 Semifinals.
* NCAA Big 10 Quarterfinals: Michigan dispatched Wisconsin by a 7-4 score in a game involving three Flyers prospects. On the Wolverines side, second line left wing Brendan Warren scored a goal, was plus-two and had two shots on goal. Top line center Cooper Marody did not record a point but was plus-one with one shot. On the Badgers side, defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk was minus-four with three shots on goal. He did not record a point.
* USHL: Noah Cates saw his five-game point streak and four-game goal streak come to an end in the Omaha Lancers' 7-2 spanking at the hands of the US National Team Development Program squad on Saturday. Coates had four shots on goal but was minus-four in the game without a point. For the season, he is tied for 11th in the league with 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) in 46 games and is plus-13 overall. Cates needed time this season to adjust to full-time play against a tougher grade of competition after dominating Minnesota high school hockey. He started the season out with five points (two goals, three assists) in his first 13 games but started to click by late November. In his last 33 games, he has 14 goals, 22 assists and 36 points. Come next season, he will be a freshman at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Cates turned 19 on Feb. 5.
* USHL: Matej Tomek stopped 23 of 24 shots in relief to earn the win in the Waterloo Blackhawks' 4-3 win over the Sioux City Musketeers on Saturday. For the season, the 20-year-old Tomek is 12-8-4 with a 2.50 GAA, .905 save percentage and one shutout.
* SHL: Lowly Mora IK surprised 2nd place Djurgården with a 3-2 shootout road win on Saturday. Flyers prospect David Kase had an eventual day, scoring (9th goal of the season) the tying goal late in regulation. He was unsuccessful on a penalty shot opportunity in overtime. However, Kase scored in the shootout to end the game. Former Phantoms forward Andrew Rowe scored a goal for Mora and set up Kase's game-tying goal. Despite missing eight games due to injury, the 21-year-old Kase leads his team in scoring with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 41 games played. Flyers defense prospect David Bernhardt skated on the third pairing for Djurgården, going minus-one in 10:08 of ice time. For the season, the 20-year-old Bernhardt has chipped in 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in 48 games along with a plus-12 rating. Former Flyers prospect Joacim Eriksson took the loss in goal, stopping 17 of 19 shots in regulation and overtime, including the Kase penalty shot.
* SHL: Flyers defense prospect Linus Högberg skated 16:19 of ice time and had one shot on goal in the first-place Växjö Lakers' 2-0 home shutout win over ninth-place Linköpings HC on Saturday. For the season, the 19-year-old Högberg has five points (one goal, four assists) and a plus-six rating in 38 games while averaging 14:14 of ice time. The mobile blueliner has blocked 19 shots and been credited with four hits.
* SHL: Back in SHL action following surgery for a hiatal hernia, a loan to an Allsvenskan team to get back in game shape and a transfer from Brynäs to HV71, Felix Sandström was in goal for a 5-4 OT win on Saturday. It was his second win of the week, also prevailing in a 3-1 decision over Skellefteå AIK on Thursday.
* MHL: Flyers 2017 draftee Kirill Ustimenko was given the day off as his JHC Dynamo St. Petersburg team earned a 4-0 shutout win over Chaika on Saturday. For the season, Ustimenko has posted a 35-11-5 record, 1.85 GAA, .929 save percentage and 10 shutouts. Although he plays for a dominant team and the league as a whole is low-scoring, Ustimenko is widely regarded as the top junior-aged goalie in Russia. He turned 19 on Jan. 29.
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