Quick Hits: February 3, 2023
1) The NHL All-Star Weekend Skills Competition at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, FL, is tonight. Coverage starts on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET. The Flyers' lone representative, Kevin Hayes, will participate in the accuracy shooting competition.
2) The All-Star Game series of mini-3-on-3 matches start on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcasted on ABC and streamed on ESPN+. After Team Central plays Team Pacific at 3 o'clock, Hayes and the rest of Team Metro will play Team Atlantic at 4 o'clock. The winning Eastern Conference divisional All-Star team will then play the winning Western Division side.
3) Phantoms Update: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-16-5) return to action on Friday night, hosting the Providence Bruins (25-9-9) at the PPL Center in Allentown. Game time is 7:05 p.m. ET. The game will be
streamed on AHL TV (paid subscription required). The radio stream is
available here for free.
With 30 games remaining in their regular season schedule, the Phantoms currently have a very tenuous hold on fourth place in the AHL's Atlantic Division. Ian Laperriere's team is tied in points with the Springfield Thunderbirds (21-16-5) but in sole possession of fourth place by virtue of having played one fewer game to date. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (20-17-5) and Bridgeport Islanders (19-17-7) each have 45 points.
As long as the Phantoms keep winning -- they are 6-3-1 in their past 10 games -- there is no need to look behind them in the standings. In terms of looking ahead, a Phantoms win on Friday paired with a road regulation loss by the third-place Charlotte Checkers (23-15-4) would move Lehigh Valley within one point of tying Charlotte for third place. The Phantoms are currently 12 points behind second-place Providence (25-9-9) and 14 points behind division leading Hershey (28-10-5).
On Saturday, the Phantoms will be in action for the third time in four nights, visiting the Bears at the Giant Center in Hershey. On Wednesday of this week, the Phantoms downed Hershey at the PPL Center, 5-2. Previously, the Phantoms were winless in seven tries this season head-to-head against Hershey.
Last Saturday, rather than having Samuel Ersson (12-9-1, 2.72 GAA, .909 SV%) start for the third time in four nights, Laperriere and goalie coach Brady Robinson opted to give 35-year-old veteran backup Pat Nagle (1-5-1, 3.60 GAA, .883 SV%) the start at home against Hershey. While it was far from entirely being his fault, Nagle was strafed for seven goals on 28 shots (including three first-period tallies) as the Phantoms were on the wrong end of a 7-3 blowout.
This weekend, Laperriere has the same decision to make about the goalie rotation: go 3-in-4 for Ersson or turn again for the one of the games either to Nagle or a recall of 21-year-old ECHL/AHL rookie Nolan Maier (2-0-1, 2.58 GAA, .882 SV% at the AHL level this season). Veteran AHL goalie Troy Grosenick, who was signed with the intention of splitting time with Ersson, has been out with an injury since Oct. 29.
Entering Friday's game, 23-year-old rookie Olle Lycksell leads the Phantoms in both total points (32 points in 31 games played) and assists (24). Twenty-one-year-old AHL All-Star Game selection Tyson Foerster paces the squad in goals (16 goals among his 29 points) and has tallied five goals and six points over the last six games. Twenty-year-old rookie forward Elliot Desnoyers is second on the team in goals (14) and third in overall scoring (25 points). Over the Phantoms' last five games, Desnoyers has notched one goal and three assists for four points with three points (1g, 2a) coming in the last two games against Hershey.
Rookie defensemen Ronnie Attard (7g, 10a in 41 games played this season) recently scored goals in back-to-back games. Shelved a couple of times this season by injury and somewhat underachieving overall when he's played relative to his AHL career norms, 26-year-old Cooper Marody is coming of a very strong game against Hershey this Wednesday that saw him collect a season-high three assists.
After a being a healthy scratch throughout the entire month of January, Isaac Ratcliffe finally returned to the Phantoms' lineup on Wednesday and Zayde Wisdom exited again. Meanwhile, veteran team captain Cal O'Reilly missed that game due to illness and veteran center Artem Anisimov set up Foerster's goal. Anisimov has slowed down considerably after a scorching hot start upon joining Lehigh Valley but has 21 points for the Phantoms (12 goals including four power play tallies) in 26 games.
The Phantoms have been a very good power play team for most of the season, clocking in at 23.0 percent efficiency (tied for 5th leaguewide by percentage). Conversely, the penalty kill was a massive trouble spot for several months. It's been better of late, but still comes into Friday's game ranked 31st among the AHL's 32 teams at 74.5 percent overall.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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