Rookie Game Wrapup: Flyers 6 - Islanders 3
A pair of closely spaced two-goal outbursts, one in the first period and the other in the second, proved to be the difference in the 2018 Rookies Game as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Islanders, 6-3, on Wednesday at the Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, NY. On the Flyers side, most of the players whom they'd hoped would step up did just that.
The most experienced player on the Flyers Rookies roster, Oskar Lindblom, led the way with a hat trick (two power play goals, one even strength goal) and two assists. 2017 first round pick Morgan Frost had a power play goal, a power play primary assist, a power play secondary assist, won several important faceoffs and was denied on a five-on-five breakaway opportunity. Mikhail Vorobyev centered Lindblom and Carsen Twarynski on the top line, played a strong all-around game and generated a goal and two assists. Twarynski scored the other Flyers goal.
Carter Hart yielded three goals in the first period -- one through the five-hole, one upstairs and a power play deflection. The Islanders also hit the post several times during the game. Hart settled in during the second period and came up with multiple good saves. Amateur tryout goalie Liam Hughes played the third period and did not yield a goal.
The pivotal turning points of the game were a pair of quick back-to-back goals by the Flyers. Lindblom opened the scoring on a power play play set up by Frost. Moments after the ensuing center ice faceoff, Lindblom forced a turnover and Twarynski capitalized to establish a quick 2-0 lead for the Flyers.
The Islanders struck back for the next three goals to briefly take a 3-2 lead. However, with the Flyers on the power play in the waning seconds of the period, Frost scored on a deflection off an Islanders' defenseman to send the game to the first intermission tied at 3-3.
In the second period, Lindblom struck for another pair of quick back-to-back goals -- a power play deflection goal and then finishing off a play at the net on the ensuing 5-on-5 shift -- to build a 5-3 lead for the Flyers. Vorobyev finished off the scoring in the third period by hammering home an errant Islanders clearing attempt that served as an inadvertent setup pass to him.
The game was played at a fast pace early but slowed down considerably due to an overabundance of whistles and special teams play. The Flyers spent much of the game on the penalty kill. On what was an otherwise quiet evening for him, German Rubtsov stood out during an early third-period PK.
Apart from a sequence in which he tried to get a little too cute up ice and the Flyers yielded an odd-man rush from which they recovered, Philippe Myers had a solid all-around game. He also had a power play assist. Fellow Phantoms defenseman Mark Friedman played his usual aggressive style. Friedman did fine. He just did not stand out with the puck to the same degree as he did in last year's game at the Wells Fargo Center, where he stole the show from some of the more highly touted Flyers blueline prospects.
Isaac Ratcliffe did not especially stand out offensively in this year's game, either, but his performance showed some of the growth in his game. However, he generated a few notable plays during the game, including a penalty killing interception via his long reach and a five-on-five sequence in which two Islanders could not take him off the puck.
One Flyers prospect who seemed to struggle on Wednesday was Matthew Strome. The amateur tryout position players -- forwards Mitchell Balmas and Hunter Holmes as well as defensemen Egor Zamula and Bradley Lalonde -- did not stand out enough in Rookie Camp or the Rookie Game to the point in which any are likely to be offered entry-level contracts (which is the only way to keep them around, since they are undrafted and unsigned players). Goalie Hughes looked good on Monday and the third period of the Rookie Game but the Flyers are deep in goaltending prospects.
Zamula showed enough in camp to where he looked like someone who was worthy of some NHL team choosing him in the Draft; he shouldn't have gone unselected. He's just not advanced enough at age 18 to the point by which the Flyers would likely commit to tying up three years of 50-man roster reserve space on him after he'd slide to the Western League in 2018-19 and 2019-20. He is someone worthy of 2019 NHL Draft consideration if he has a strong junior season.
Balmas, an overager in the Quebec League, showed character in playing through a training injury sustained on Tuesday. He had a few decent shifts on Wednesday, but nothing that screamed "This organization needs to sign me right now." Balmas' extensive junior experience was evident at times on Monday and Wednesday but he looked overall like more like an AHL contract candidate at present than an NHL entry-level contract candidate. However, the Phantoms roster always has numerous rookie pros, so there probably isn't room in Lehigh Valley. He looked like he'd be a good player for Reading but he'd likely be better off playing his overage year in the Q (where he is poised to put up eye-catching numbers) and latching on elsewhere as a pro come next year.
Holmes is very raw. There are some tools for developing into a better 2019 Draft candidate after he got some late-round consideration this year (with the Flyers obviously being one of the organizations who considered him, since he was at Rookie Camp with Philly).
With only 11 available forwards and seven defensemen, Lalonde saw time on a wing. He has offensive skills but, from my limited observations of him in Rookie Camp and the Rookie Game, does not have the all-around game of pro defenseman who would immediately play regularly at the AHL level. The 21-year-old has aged out of junior hockey and will play at the Canadian university level this season.
In fairness to all players on both teams, Rookie Games are notoriously sloppy and scrambling affairs. There isn't much prep time to come together as a team, so there's no systems or structure. The experience levels and skillset development levels of the participants are extremely uneven. Lastly, many of these players have never played against each other before and there are no pre-scouts or video by which they get at least a little bit familiarized with the players they are up against.
What tends to happen is that the more experienced and/or naturally skilled players dominate these affairs and the guys who are presently a notch below them in their development look two notches below in comparison. The 2018 game held true to those expectations on both sides.
On the Islanders side, Joshua Ho-Sang and Kieffer Bellows were the expected standouts, and they showed why during the game. Ho-Sang in particular was a step ahead of the Flyers pretty much all game. The question with him has never been his puck skill level or creativity, though, which are the things that usually stand out in games like these. By those measures, he should have been an NHL regular two years ago. With him, it is all about being a team player and emotional maturity. Nor is the question mark about Bellows whether he can give goalies fits with his shooting ability. It's his all-around game that's a work in progress.
2017 New York first round pick Noah Dobson had an assist and settled in to some degree as the game went along. He had a rough first period, though.
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Quick Hits: September 13, 2018
1) The Flyers Rookie Game primary line combinations and defense pairings were as follows:
Oskar Lindblom - Mikhail Vorobyev - Carsen Twarynski Maksim Sushko - Morgan Frost - Isaac Ratcliffe Connor Bunnaman-German Rubtsov-Matthew Strome Mitchell Balmas-Hunter Holmes- [Bradley Lalonde]
James de Haas - Philippe Myers David Drake-Mark Friedman Egor Zamula-Wyatte Wylie [Bradley Lalonde]
Carter Hart / Liam Hughes
2) Thursday is Media Day for the Flyers players in training camp. Every player in camp will have have a new headshot and full-uniform photographs taken, as well as having video filmed. Those video shots that you see of players on TV broadcasts during the season-- example: they have their back to the camera and then turn around and look into the camera -- are shot on Media Day each year.
3) On Friday, full training camp starts. Here is the schedule over the next six days before an off-day on Sept. 20.
FRI Sept 14: 9:15 AM (Group 1), 12:15 PM (Group 2)
SAT Sept 15: 9:15 AM (Group 1), 12:15 PM (Group 2)
SUN Sept 16: Scrimmage for game non-participants (8:30 AM, Voorhees), preseason game @ NYI (1 PM, Nassau Coliseum)
MON Sept 17: Morning skate for game participants (10 AM, Voorhees), Practice for game non-participants (noon, Voorhees), preseason game vs. NYI (7 PM, Wells Fargo Center).
TUE Sept 18: Morning skate for game participants (10 AM, Voorhees), Practice for game non-participants (noon, Voorhees), preseason game @ NYI (7 PM, Barclays Center).
Wed Sept 19: Practice for game non-participants (11 AM, Voorhees), preseason game @ NYR (7 PM, Madison Square Garden).
4) Later this month, the Flyers Alumni Team kicks off its annual schedule of charity fundraising games across the Delaware Valley. Here's the upcoming schedule:
On Sept. 22 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees at 5 p.m., several Flyers Alumni will participate in the 3rd Annual WCRE Game, raising money for multiple local charities and charitable organizations, including the Flyers Alumni Association.
The 5th Annual Athletes Helping Athletes (AHA) showcase will be held in October, with the main event being the Flyers Alumni Team playing Team AHA at Revolution Ice Gardens (1621 Mearns Rd, Warminster, PA) on Oct. 12 at 7:35 p.m. ET.
The Sixth Annual Faceoff Against Cancer, with proceeds directly benefiting selected local cancer patients, will be at Hatfield Ice (350 County Line Road, Colmar, PA) on Oct. 13.