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Quick Hits: Triple H Day, Phantoms Win Playoff Spot, Lose Stolarz & More |
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Quick Hits: April 13, 2017
1) Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, head coach Dave Hakstol and club president Paul Holmgren will address the media on Thursday at the Flyers' season-ending press conference at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. It starts at 11 a.m. EDT.
2) Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux have accepted invitations from Hextall to join Team Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Championships in France and Germany. It will be Simmonds second trip to the Worlds, having previously represented Canada at the 2013 tournament where he scored one goal in eight games. For Giroux, it will be his third time at the Worlds (2013, 2015). For his tournament career, he has 18 points in 18 games (six goals, 12 assists, plus-15 rating).
3) Congratulations go out to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for clinching the team's first playoff spot since the franchise's final year of playing at the old Spectrum as the Philadelphia Phantoms. On Wednesday, the Phantoms earned a 2-1 road shootout win over the league-leading Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. Stellar relief goaltending by Alex Lyon (33 of 34 saves in regulation and overtime, 3-for-3 in the shootout) keyed the victory. Taylor Leier's mid third period goal sent the game to OT after the Penguins' Dominik Simon had finally broken a scoreless deadlock with an early third period. Corban Knight scored the only successful shootout attempt for either team. The Phantoms, who have successfully killed off 21 penalties in a row, were 3-for-3 on the PK including a four-minute kill of a first-period Samuel Morin high sticking double minor.
4) The Phantoms' win was a costly one. Anthony Stolarz started the game in goal but lasted only 1:32 before suffering an apparent lower-body injury. He had to be assisted off the ice, putting no weight on his left leg. There was no update on his condition as if this writing, but Phantoms writer Tony Androckitis reported that Stolarz was on crutches after the game.
5) The Phantoms open the Calder Cup playoffs next week with a best-of-five series. If the season ended today, they would play the Providence Bruins. Lehigh Valley has two regular season games remaining. With one more victory, the Phantoms will clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the postseason.
6) Brynäs IF Gävle forced a seventh game in their SHL semifinal playoff series with Frölunda Gothenburg with a 6-0 blowout home win on Wednesday. Felix Sandström recorded a 32-save shutout, while Oskar Lindblom notched a pair of assists.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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