|
Quick Hits: MacDonald, Morin, Weal, Phantoms, Prospects |
|
|
|
|
|
QUICK HITS: NOV. 26, 2017
1) Injured while blocking a shot during a crucial third-period penalty kill in the Flyers' 2-1 home win against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 21, Andrew MacDonald has missed the last 15 games.
He appears likely to return on Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
MacDonald's absence has not been the primary cause of the team's recent struggles. For a variety of reasons -- a stretch of virtually zero secondary scoring, a penalty killing nosedive in the latter portion of November, defensive breakdowns at crucial times -- a Flyers team that was 5-3-0 after eight games has gone 3-6-6 over the last 15. Even so, MacDonald has been missed in terms of balancing the defense pairings and for his shot-blocking ability.
2) At Sunday's practice, MacDonald was reunited with his usual defense partner, Ivan Provorov. Robert Hägg was back with Shayne Gostisbehere, restoring what had been a successful pairing early in the season. The third pairing was Travis Sanheim with veteran Brandon Manning.
Samuel Morin, who did not look out of place in his two games against the Islanders, is still with the team, at least for now. The Flyers will have to make a roster move to activate MacDonald from the injured reserve list.
Morin made multiple good stick-on-puck plays and used his size and reach effectively over his two starts. There were a few mistakes of execution or over-aggression -- a failed clearing opportunity on a penalty kill that ended up in an Islanders goal in Friday's game, a pair of minor penalties (a delay of game that put Philly down on a 5-on-3 in Wednesday's game and a third-period interference penalty), a couple of missed hit attempts that momentarily took Morin out of position -- but they were no cause for alarm. He played well overall.
3) According to the beat writers who covered Sunday's practice, it appears that Jordan Weal and Taylor Leier will be healthy scratches for Monday's game. If so, Dale Weise and Jori Lehterä will re-enter the lineup; something that is sure to be highly unpopular on social media and message boards. This appears to be a typical case of the coach of a team in a losing streak (0-3-4 over the last seven games) turning to veterans.
Weal (two goals, four assists, six points in 20 games) was moved down to the fourth line this past week, respectively playing 10:09, 8:00, and 9:44 in the last three games. It is unknown whether he is still bothered by the upper-body injury (possibly from an apparent elbow by Winnipeg's Dustin Byfuglien on an open-ice hit on Nov. 16).
Recently, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said that he has not been unhappy with Weal's play this season but also acknowledged that the shifty little forward is one of the players from whom the team needs more offensive output.
Weal played well early this season, although his point production did not necessarily reflect it. He was noticeably less effective after his return from a two-game absence (upper-body injury) in mid-October but had a few encouraging outings in November. Arguably, his best game of the month was one in Minnesota where he was moved from left wing back to his original position as a center.
Dating back to his initial return from injury, Weal has posted just two points (one goal, one assist) in his last 14 games. He has one point (an assist on Nov. 4 against Colorado) in 10 games in November. Whether there has been some underlying physical issue or not, Weal is capable of being a more productive player than that.
For the time being at least, it looks like Danick Martel will get a shot to run with the top-nine role originally carved out for Weal. As with everything in hockey, keep in mind that things have a way of changing quickly.
4) A precursor to Leier being scratched seemed to be when he taken off the penalty kill during the home-and-home with the Islanders. He scored his first goal of the season -- and 2nd in the NHL -- in Wednesday's game in Brooklyn.
5) Phantoms rookie defenseman Philippe Myers has been progressing rapidly when able to stay in the lineup but his season to date has been repeatedly interrupted by injury. On Saturday, he appeared to re-aggravate a lower-body injury that has bothered him off-and-on throughout the season to date. He finished a second period shift in discomfort and did not return for the third period.
In 14 games to date, Myers has chipped in seven points (two goals, five assists) and is plus-three. Early on, he was making some mistakes of overplays but quickly started to make adjustments. Now, the trick will be to keep the oft-injured 20-year-old healthy so he can continue his rapid adaptation to the pro game.
6) The Phantoms were outplayed in segments of Saturday's home game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers but found a way to pull out a 5-4 overtime win.
The blueline chipped in three goals. Veteran defenseman Will O'Neill notched a pair of goals, including the OT winner. Mark Alt contributed his fourth goal of the season. Veteran defenseman T.J. Brennan had a pair of assists and four shots on goal, earning second-star honors for the night.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel sniped a beautiful shot under the crossbar from the deep slot for his 5th goal of the season. Greg Carey (9th goal of the season) took a nice feed from Oskar Lindblom for a 2nd period power play goal that tied the game at 1-1 after the Phantoms were outplayed in the opening period.
Additionally, 2nd year pro Radel Fazleev recorded his first three-assist game in the AHL. Rookie center Mikhail Vorobyev collected an apple (7th of the season) on Alt's goal. Corban Knight set up O'Neill's OT winner and Phil Varone got the secondary assist (16th of the season) on the Carey power play goal. Mike Vecchione did not record a point. He had two shots on goal and was minus-one on the night.
Alex Lyon, who has been struggling for much of November, got the start in goal. He stopped 35 of 39 shots to earn the win.
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall and assistant GM Chris Pryor were at the game on Saturday. It was the Phantoms' first home game since a season-high six-game road trip that saw the club go 3-3-0. The Phantoms (12-6-2) return to action on Wednesday, hosting the Binghamton Devils (6-9-3).
7) Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost has been on fire offensively in November -- one of several Flyers prospects in various leagues about whom that could accurately be said this month. The 18-year-old Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds center recorded even strength and power play assists in his team's 8-3 home blowout win over the Peterborough Petes on Saturday night.
Over his last 12 games, Frost has racked up 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists). For the season, he's up to 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) in 25 games; a 1.44 points-per-game average.
8) Flyers 2017 fourth-round pick Matthew Strome had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick plus (two goals, one assist, one fight) in the Hamilton Bulldogs' 6-2 home win over the Ottawa 67's on Saturday. One of Strome's tallies was a "lacrosse style" goal.
Over his last 10 games, Strome has posted eight goals and nine assists for 17 points. For the season, he now averaging over a point-per-game (13 goals, 11 assists, 24 points in 23 games) after a slow start.
9) Tanner Laczynski played back-to-back stellar games for Ohio State as the team swept Friday and Saturday road games against Michigan. In the latter match, a 5-1 win for Ohio State, the versatile sophomore forward collected three points (one goal, two assists) and six shots on goal. After Michigan junior center Cooper Marody's streak of eight straight multipoint games ended in Friday's match as he was held pointless, Marody was contained to one assist in Saturday's game. Teammate Brendan Warren also assisted on a Joseph Cecconi goal that stood as the Wolverine's lone score on Saturday.
10) Through yesterday's games, there are three Flyers prospects among the top 25 scorers across the entire NCAA: Marody (14 GP, 4 goals, 17 assists, 21 points) is fourth, Western Michigan sophomore right wing Wade Allison (15 GP, 10 goals, 9 assists, 19 points) is tied for 15th in in points and tied for 5th in goals, and Laczynski (14 GP, 5 goals, 12 assists, 17 points) is tied for 22nd.
11) WHL: Flyers goaltending prospect Carter Hart stopped 22 of 24 shots to earn the win on Saturday night as the Everett Silvertips downed the visiting Vancouver Giants, 5-2. In 12 games this season to date, Hart has an 8-3-3 record, 1.63 GAA, .951 save percentage and three shutouts.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»