Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Quick Hits: Line Combo Juggling, Farabee, Phantoms

December 4, 2021, 8:16 AM ET [183 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: December 4, 2021

1) The Flyers have an 11:30 a.m. practice on Saturday at the FTC in Voorhees. There were a few anxious moments at Friday's intensive practice. Three defensemen appeared to get a bit shaken up, but all turned out to be OK and finished the session without a problem. Ivan Provorov briefly exited the practice although he returned. Travis Sanheim had blood in his mouth after appearing to take a puck to the face. Near the end of practice, Keith Yandle briefly had the wind knocked out of him.

The Flyers also juggled line combinations again. Most notably, Morgan Frost has at least temporarily shifted from center to left wing and practiced on Kevin Hayes' line. There was a combo switch on the blueline, with Rasmus Ristolainen being paired with Ivan Provorov.

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Cam Atkinson
48 Morgan Frost - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 17 Zack MacEwen
23 Oskar Lindblom - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 71 Max Willman

9 Ivan Provorov - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler

79 Carter Hart
[35 Martin Jones]

2) Per Alain Vigneault, winger Joel Farabee (21 GP, seven goals, three assists) is sidelined on a week-to-week basis with the upper-body injury he suffered crashing into the boards in the first period of Wednesday's game against the Rangers. From how the play appeared, it seemed that Farabee injured his shoulder or collarbone after he lost his footing and crashed into the lower part of the boards. He returned to the bench, briefly stepped out on the ice to test the injury and then exited the game.

3) Patrick Brown (IR, thumb injury) was originally slated to participate in the first half of Friday's session but remained on the ice for the entirety. He is not quite ready to return to play but is getting close. Additionally, Derick Brassard and Samuel Morin did a rehab session on Friday with skills coach Angelo Ricci.

4) The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-11-5) dropped a 5-3 decision on Friday to the Charlotte Checkers (9-9-2) at the PPL Center on Friday evening. The Phantoms played a strong first period, eventually righted the ship after a very rough start to the middle frame, and briefly tied the game at 3-3 in the third. Unfortunately, the Checkers struck right back after the Phantoms' Garrett Wilson (4th goal of the season) got the game knotted, and later added an empty netter to seal the outcome.

Adam Clendening (2nd) opened the scoring in the final minute of a first period largely dominated by the Phantoms. The tide turned in the second period, with the Phantoms getting blitzed from the outset. Felix Sandström was under siege right off the bat. The opening shift of the period, he was finally beaten by Logan Hutsko after making back-to-back saves. The Phantoms clung by a thread to a 1-1 score, leaving Sandström to largely fend for himself until, finally, Henry Bowlby put the Checkers in the lead, 2-1, at 9:21.

Two shifts later, the Phantoms took advantage of a Charlotte turnover and Nick Lappin recorded his first goal as a Phantom to tie the game at 2-2. Isaac Ratcliffe and Matthew Strome got the assists. The rest of the period was fairly even to slightly in the Phantoms' favor. Second period shots were 16-11 Charlotte, and the game went to the third period tied.

The Phantoms were in "win a period, win the game" territory but mustered only four shots on goal in the third period (while holding Charlotte to six). Cale Fleury restored a lead for the Checkers at 4:36. Wilson re-tied the game at 3-3 on a bank shot from behind the Charlotte net that bounced in behind goalie Evan Fitzpatrick. At 14:44, Cole Schwindt put the Checkers ahead to stay. Zac Dalpe added an empty net goal in the final minute.

Sandström stopped 24 of 28 shots in a losing effort. German Rubtsov, who had missed several games due to injury, returned to the Lehigh Valley lineup. Wade Allison (high ankle sprain) was not quite ready to return from his preseason high ankle sprain. Cam York (COVID-19 protocol) remained unavailable but might be OK to return to practice in a few days.

The Phantoms' road game on Saturday against the COVID-riddled Hershey Bears has been postponed by the American Hockey League. It is the third cancelation of a scheduled game with Hershey (two road, one home) over the past week. The Phantoms return to action on Fri Dec 10, when they are on the road to play the Hartford Wolf Pack.

5) Flyers prospect Connor McClennon scored his 20th goal of the season (38 points) last night as Winnipeg beat Saskatoon, 4-3. McClennon now has a 13-game point streak (11g, 12a, 23 pts). The powerhouse Ice club improved their season record to 22-1-1.
Join the Discussion: » 183 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Bill Meltzer
» Quick Hits: Flyers-Habs Wrap, Fedotov, Phantoms
» Flyers Gameday: 3/28/24 @ MTL
» Wrap: Flyers Lose 6-5 OT Game to Rangers
» Flyers Gameday: 3/26/24 @ NYR
» Quick Hits: Flyers-FLA Wrap, Flyers Daily, Phantoms, Bigger than Hockey