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Quick Hits: Sunday Showdown Awaits, Phantoms, Prospects and More

March 24, 2018, 7:43 AM ET [109 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
QUICK HITS: MARCH 24, 2018

1) Thanks-for-nothing department: The New Jersey Devils did the Philadelphia Flyers no favors on Friday night by blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins and then going on to win in overtime. The outcome advanced Pittsburgh's lead to two points over the Flyers (due to tiebreaker's tiebreaker advantage, the Penguins will remain ahead of the Flyers in the standings even if the Flyers win over Pittsburgh in regulation on Sunday). Meanwhile, the Devils closed to within four points of the Flyers and also narrowed their ROW tiebreaker disadvantage to 36-33. The Devils, who have one game in hand on the Flyers, host Eastern Conference leading Tampa Bay on Saturday. It will be the final game of a brutally tough seven-game stretch for the Devils, who are 4-2-0 through the first six games of it.

2) On Saturday night, the Flyers will be pulling for the St. Louis Blues (winners of four straight games and seven of their last 10) to go into Columbus and find a way to beat the scorching hot Blue Jackets (winners of 10 in a row, eight in regulation and two in OT). A Blues regulation win would be ideal, keeping the Flyers just one point (with a 36-36 ROW deadlock) behind the Blue Jackets before Philly plays the Penguins on Sunday.

3) The Lehigh Valley Phantoms sustained a 5-4 shootout road loss to the Providence Bruins on Friday night but it was still good enough for the Phantoms to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Phantoms spent much of the game playing catch-up, erasing deficits of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 but never pulling ahead to take a lead. Phil Varone's goal with 2:28 remaining in regulation forced OT and nailed down a playoff spot for the Phantoms.

Friday's tilt was an odd game in general, starting out very tight checking (a combined three shots through nearly half the first period before either team got going) and then getting wide open with goals galore in the seesaw second period. Danick Martel (23rd), Corban Knight (14th), Greg Carey (power play, 28th) and Varone (21st) scored for the Phantoms. Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 of 34 shots in a losing cause. Unavailable for the Phantoms: Samuel Morin (injury), Mike Vecchione (injury) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (suspension).

Next milestone on the horizon for the Phantoms: Clinch the Atlantic Division.

Lehigh Valley currently holds a 10-point lead on Providence and an 11-point cushion over the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins as it vies for its first division title since back in 2003-04 when the Phantoms franchise was still based in Philadelphia. The Phantoms have nine regular season games remaining, while the Bruins have 11 and the Pens have 12. The Phantoms and Bruins rematch on Saturday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence. Game time is 7:05 p.m. EDT.

4) WHL playoffs: Carter Hart stopped 25 of 26 shots as the Everett Silvertips claimed a 4-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night in Game One of their first-round playoff series. Game Two is in Everett on Saturday night (10:05 p.m. EDT).

5) WHL playoffs: After getting blown out on home ice in Game One of their series on Thursday night, Carsen Twarynski's Kelowna Rockets will look to knot their series against the Tri-City Americans on Saturday (10:05 p.m. EDT). The Rockets got shut out, 5-0, in Game One.

6) OHL playoffs: Morgan Frost had a nifty assist on what proved to be the game-winning goal of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' 5-2 home win over the Saginaw Spirit in Game One of their first-round playoff series. Tied 1-1 late in the second period, the Greyhounds struck twice for goals by their top line. Taylor Raddysh scored on a 2-on-1 with Frost (puck carrier Raddysh elected to shoot, and scored) to make it a 2-1 game. Frost did not get a point on the play. Two shifts later, Frost made a gorgeous pass to Raddysh for his second goal of the period. The Hounds went on dominate the third period and pull away before a meaningless late goal by the Spirit narrowed the final deficit to 3 goals.



Frost finished the game with just the one point but was in the middle of several other scoring chances after a relatively quiet start to the game for him and his line. Frost had two shots on goal, was plus-two and 8-for-14 on faceoffs. Game Two is in Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday (3:05 p.m. EDT).

7) OHL playoffs: A four goal-explosion by the Kitchener Rangers within the first five minutes of the game and a 5-0 score by the first intermission rendered the rest of the game a formality as Kitchener throttled the Guelph Storm, 7-2, in Game One of their playoff series. Isaac Ratcliffe scored a third-period power play goal for Guelph. Connor Bunnaman did not record a point for Kitchener. Game Two is on Sunday in Kitchener (7:05 p.m. EDT).

8) OHL playoffs: The underdog Windsor Spitfires upended the Sarnia Sting, 6-2, in Game One of their playoff series on Friday night. Anthony Salinitri scored in a losing cause for the Sting. Game Two is on Saturday in Sarnia (7:05 p.m. EDT).

9) OHL playoffs: Looking to build a two games to zero lead in their first-round series, Maksim Sushko's Owen Sound Attack host the London Knights in Game Two of the series on Saturday night (7:05 p.m. EDT). Sushko scored the game-winner in Thursday's 5-4 outcome after the Knights had rallied back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game heading into the third period.

10) OHL playoffs: The Hamilton Bulldogs will look to take a two games to zero series lead over the Ottawa 67's on Sunday night (7:35 p.m. EDT). The Bulldogs claimed a 6-3 win on home ice in Game One on Thursday. Matthew Strome figured in three of the goals for Hamilton, scoring once and assisting on two others.

11) QMJHL playoffs: The Acadie-Bathurst Titan grabbed a 3-1 home win over Chicoutimi on Friday night in Game One of their first-round series. Playing against his former team, German Rubtsov had a power play assist and four shots on goal. Game two is in Saturday (6:05 p.m. EDT).

12) QMJHL playoffs: Pascal Laberge and the Quebec Remparts host the Charlottetown Islanders in Game One of their series on Saturday afternoon (3:05 p.m. EDT).

13) NCAA Regionals: Flyers prospect Terrance Amorosa, a senior, played the final game of his collegiate hockey career as Clarkson fell, 1-0, to Providence as an early first-period power play goal by Kasper Björkqvist held up the rest of the way.

14) NCAA Regionals: Tanner Laczynski and the Ohio State Buckeyes are in Midwest Regional semi-final action against Princeton on Saturday (3:30 p.m. EDT) at the PPL Center in Allentown. At 4:30 p.m. EDT in Worcester, Flyers prospect Brendan Warren, now-former Flyers prospect Cooper Marody and the rest of the Michigan Wolverines take on Northeastern in the East Regional semis.
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