Quick Hits: December 3, 2018
1) Baby steps: With the Flyers coming off a 4-2 road win in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, the team will now aim to win back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 8-10 and to get back to the statistical .500 mark on the season.
By the time the Flyers take to the ice on Thursday to play the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers will have only played one game in a span of eight nights. That can actually have a detrimental effect on a team, especially one that has been prone to slow starts. It will be imperative on the club (currently 11-12-2) to come out ready to play a Blue Jackets team (15-9-2) that is currently one point behind Washington for first place in the Metro Division.
After taking an off-ice day on Sunday for the team's Community Day events, the Flyers will have three days of practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees before playing Columbus. The Blue Jackets are slated to arrive on Wednesday and will have one practice ahead of the game.
Following the game against the Blue Jackets, the Flyers' schedule turns busy and road-heavy. The team will embark upon a five-game road trip that will take them through Buffalo and then to play the gamut of Western Canada clubs (Winnipeg the night after Buffalo, then a two-night break before a three-in-four set against Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver).
2) Anthony Stolarz has now started more games this season for the Flyers (2) than he did for the Phantoms (1) and appeared in the same total number of games (3) as he did in the AHL due to Lehigh Valley's numbers game in goal. Stolarz has played quite well since he recall from Lehigh Valley. It will be interesting to see how the goalie rotation is handled in upcoming games, with Michal Neuvirth now activated off IR and Brian Elliott getting close to being ready for activation.
3) AHL update: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms just completed a grueling Canadian road trip of their own; a 3-in-3 weekend set against Laval, Belleville and the Toronto Marlies. It was a successful trip, too, with the Phantoms earning a 3-2 overtime win in Laval, a 4-2 victory in Belleville and then capping it off with a 5-2 triumph in Toronto over the defending Calder Cup champions.
Carter Hart played well on Friday and even better on Sunday (33 saves on 35 shots) to earn the wins in both games with an Alex Lyon win in between on Saturday. Phil Varone scored twice (10th and 11th goals of the season) for the Phantoms, while Nicolas Aube-Kubel (6th), Chris Conner (power play, 10th) and Taylor Leier (penalty shot, 4th) tallied once apiece.
On Sunday, the Phantoms went 1-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Phantoms rank 4th in the AHL on the power play (22-for-95, 23.2%) and tied for 3rd on the penalty kill (83-for-95, 87.4%) with four shorthanded goals scored. Five of the 12 opposing power play goals the Phantoms have allowed came in a single game (2-for-7 on the PK) against Springfield. Otherwise, the PK would be over 90 percent on the season.
4) The scorching hot Morgan Frost racked up an even strength goal (19th) and primary assists on shorthanded and power play goals by linemate Keeghan Howdeshell on Sunday. Their Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds team shrugged off a midgame 3-2 deficit against the lowly Flint Firebirds (who beat the Greyhounds the last time the teams played) to skate off with a 5-2 win.
Frost, the OHL's Player of the Week last week (2nd time in his career), has racked up 14 points in his last four games played. For the season, the Flyers' 2017 first-round pick leads the OHL in scoring with 55 points and in assists with 36 over 29 games played.
5) On Saturday, Flyers 2018 first-round pick Jay O'Brien, who has twice been set by injuries (shoulder and concussion) this season and who has had exceptionally bad puck luck in what has been a rough offensive freshman season so far for the Providence Friars, finally scored his first NCAA goal and point. He buried a breakaway opportunity to get off the schneid in his 9th regular season game. Fellow Flyers 2018 first-rounder Joel Farabee had one point on Friday night. Boston University has struggled mightily this season but Farabee has been an overall bright spot as a freshman with seven points (3G, 4A) through 13 games.
Great timing. Great finish.
— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) December 2, 2018
Congrats on your first, @jay_obrien19 pic.twitter.com/4tj4nCtTiQ
A very successful 1st day with the â¦@USAWarriorsâ© for many of the veterans it was their 1st time playing hockey! What a great group, thanks for all you did for us. â¦â¦@NHLFlyersâ© â¦@FlyersAlumniâ© â¦@FlyersCommunityâ© pic.twitter.com/cyjO9oqIes
— Brad Marsh (@BradMarshNHL) December 2, 2018