Quick Hits: October 10, 2021
1) The Flyers will hold a noon practice today at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. Tomorrow is an off-day for the team but a big day leaguewide. The Flyers, as will all teams, must submit their opening-night roster including designations for injured players. It is believed that the Flyers will start the season with a 20-man active roster: 12 forwards, six defensemen and goaltenders Carter Hart and Martin Jones. The roster is currently at 13 forwards, eight defensemen and the goalies. The final likely cuts are one of Jackson Cates or Garrett Wilson plus defensemen Nate Seeler (waivers required) and Cam York (barring an injury within the top six).
2) If the Flyers choose to open the regular season with Wilson on the NHL roster, they will need to sign the player to an NHL contract. He is on an AHL deal with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and has been in camp with the Flyers on a professional try-out (PTO) basis. There is also the option of keeping Wilson around on his PTO but not putting him immediately on the active NHL roster. However, it should be noted that Wilson had the bulk of the fourth line reps and practice on Thursday and Saturday. Wilson also was in Friday's starting lineup against the Capitals while Cates was scratched.
3) Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen both took a maintenance day on Saturday after playing on Friday. This is likely why York and Seeler remained in camp: in order to roll three pairs at practice. Ristolainen was credited with seven hits in the game in Washington, although none were as heavy in impact as several checks he threw the previous Saturday against the Capitals. His pairing with Travis Sanheim did not have a good night from a puck possession standpoint when they were on the ice but they played OK overall. Friday's game was a rather uneven performance through most of the Flyers lineup. Normally a very reliable decision maker, Ellis had an ill-advised shot attempt blocked past him up ice during the third period. It went for a 2-on-1 counterattack and a game-winning goal by Washington's Anthony Mantha. Conor Sheary set it up with a beautiful saucer pass beyond Ivan Provorov despite the defender seemingly in good position to take away the pass and force a shot.
4) All four forward lines at practice on Saturday remained the same as they were in Friday's game. With Ellis and Ristolainen not on the ice, two of the three defense pairings were juggled when they ran lines.
5) There were three goalies on the ice at practice: Hart (returning after three off-ice days), Jones (who started in Washington) and Felix Sandström (who backed up Jones against the Capitals). Later in the day, the Flyers assigned Sandström to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
6) Apart from Hart practicing, the most encouraging sign of the day on Saturday was Kevin Hayes skating with the injury rehab group led by skills coach Angelo Ricci about two hours before practice. He was joined by Egor Zamula, Zayde Wisdom (who is now back to holding a stick in the sessions while rehabbing after shoulder surgery in early August) and Cooper Zech. None of the players' return-to-play timetables have changed but the rehab skates are a positive step for all. Wade Allison (right high ankle sprain) remains out indefinitely and is not yet able to skate.
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Phantoms Report: LV Wins Penalty-Filled Preseason Game
In a game that saw a combined 18 power plays (nine apiece), the Lehigh Valley Phantoms rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to skate to a 4-3 overtime victory against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday evening at the PPL Center on Saturday evening. The Phantoms are back in preseason action on Sunday, visiting the Hershey Bears.
The best player on the ice for either team was Phantoms goaltender Samuel Ersson. In his preseason AHL debut, the Swedish rookie was under siege during three separate 5-on-3 penalty kills for the Phantoms, helping his team emerge unscathed in two of them. Ersson made 32 saves in all. The only pucks that got past him were the Pierre-Olivier Joseph 5-on-3 goal, a Kasper Björkqvist rebound tally and a shorthanded breakaway goal by Nathan Legare in the second period. Ersson stopped 14 of 16 shots in the first period with the Phantoms shorthanded for much of the frame and a dozen saves in the second period.
However, all eyes on this night were on Phantoms center Morgan Frost in his first Lehigh Valley preseason game since being cut from the Flyers' training camp roster. Centering a line with 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster and high-energy forward Max Willman, Frost figured in three of the four Phantoms goals (2g, 1a) including scoring the game-tying and game-winning tallies for his side.
The Phantoms opened the scoring at 8:31 of the first period as Willman took a pass from Frost and sniped a shot past Pens goalie Louis Domingue. Defenseman Linus Högberg, who played a strong all-around game for Lehigh Valley on this night, got the secondary assist. The next three goals belonged to the Pens, with the shothanded breakaway goal by Legare after a turnover by the Phantoms' second power play unit being a potential backbreaker.
Flyers 2021 second-round pick Samu Tuomaala stood out more in the 2-1 opening preseason road loss to the Pens on Wednesday than he did in the first 35 minutes or so of this tilt. That all changed at 16:38 of the second period. With the Phantoms on the power play, Tuomaala got the puck and turned on the jets to beat the defense and solo off the rush to score an unassisted goal. The tally gave life to the Phantoms when they seemed to be in trouble and getting frustrated by not doing much on their first four power plays of the game.
In the third period, Ersson got the Phantoms through their third two-man disadvantage of the game to keep the deficit at one goal. Then the Phantoms had a 5-on-3 power play of their own but were unable to capitalize. Finally, on a delayed penalty on WB/S, the Phantoms struck on a 6-on-5 sequence. Frost finished off a tic-tac-toe sequence started by Tuomaala. The 18-year-old Finn passed to Isaac Ratcliffe, who found Frost. The Flyers' 2017 first-round pick got rid of the shot quickly. Domigue had no chance of stopping it,
The Phantoms then had three more successive power plays, but could not take the lead. Then Lehigh Valley had to stage one final PK of their own before the game went to overtime.
The three-on-three overtime ended just 16 seconds after it started. Frost won the center ice faceoff back to Adam Clendening and the Phantoms organized a rush. Known primarily as a sniper but also and underrated passer, Foerster fed Frost. Known primarily as a playmaker but also an underrated wrist shooter, Frost buried the game-winner high glove over Domingue to end the game.
It is notable that Frost played in all game situations for new Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere in this game, including during the 5-on-3 penalty kills as well as 5-on-4 PKs. With all the special teams play in this game, Frost logged a slew of ice time. Unfortunately, the Phantoms players who aren't on either of the special teams units spent most of the night watching from the bench because there was so little 5-on-5 play the entire game.
Frost didn't have a perfect game. He turned over 2-3 pucks including one in a dangerous area in the neutral zone. But if he is going to do what he does best -- handle the puck a lot and try to make plays -- periodic turnovers such as those are going to be a biproduct. He also had a couple of excellent puckhandling sequences and stole two pucks, including one on a penalty kill. It's better to live with a few turnovers than for Frost to play overly cautious, defensively safe but offensively uncreative and uninvolved hockey with few touches the way he did during the NHL preseason. He can strike a risk-taking balance where he's still reasonable reliable defensively while being assertive offensively. It wasn't flawless on Saturday but was way more in line with the way he'll need to play to eventually stick in the NHL.
Foerster, who had two good looks at the net on the power play and one at even strength along with a sharp angle shot that nearly fooled Domingue, had kind of a frustrating game as he could not get one past the goalie on four shots on net. But things ended well for the 19-year-old as he set up the overtime game winner.
It was almost a shame for the Phantoms that Saturday's game was a preseason tilt and not a regular season match. None of it will count. It is, however, something off which to build. The Phantoms can get a little more from some of their proven AHL veterans than they did on Saturday. Cal O'Reilly didn't have his best of games, for instance. Additionally, third-year pro Maksim Sushko is still shaking off some rust and recovering timing.
Sunday's game in Hershey will start at 5 p.m. ET. There will be multiple lineup changes. Look for Sandström to be in goal. German Rubtsov will be in the lineup as well.
Phantoms lines on Saturday:
20 Max Willman - 23 Morgan Frost - 71 Tyson Foerster
15 Maksim Sushko - 9 Cal O'Reilly - 26 Gerry Mayhew
19 Isaac Ratcliffe - 16 Matthew Strome - 27 Samu Tuomaala
24 Brennan Saulnier - 25 Connor Bunnaman - 21 Linus Sandin
6 Linus Högberg - 5 Adam Clendening
8 Mason Millman - 29 Wyatte Wylie
43 Jackson van de Leest - 22 Logan Day
30 Samuel Ersson
[72 Kirill Ustimeko]
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Prospect Highlights: Oct. 10, 2021
* WHL: The Winnipeg Ice are off to a torrid start to the 2021-22 season, scoring 29 goals while allowing just five through the first four games of the season. Flyers 2020 sixth-round pick Connor McClennon has prominently gotten in on the early onslaught, with five goals and seven points. On Saturday, he notched a hat trick in an 8-0 pummeling of the Prince Albert Raiders. McLennon's line with 17-year-old Matt Savoie and Owen Pederson was dominant in Saturday's tilt. For game statistics and highlights,
click here.
* WHL: Defenesman Ethan Samson, drafted by the Flyers in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft, notched a goal and an assist on Saturday night but his Prince George Cougars fell to 0-3-0 on the season after being on the wrong end of an 8-3 score against the Kamloops Blazers. Samson finished -3 on the night. For stats and highlights,
click here.
* NCAA: It was a bit of a frustrating opening weekend for Jay O'Brien, although Boston University split its two games with UConn. In a 5-1 loss on Sunday, O'Brien had five shots on goal but did not record a point for the second straight game.
* NCAA: Denver (Bobby Brink) swept its weekend back-to-back with Arizona State (Ty Murchison). Coming off a three-point showing (1g, 2a) in the opener on Friday, Brink scored a goal in Saturday's 4-3 victory. The junior has attempted a staggering 23 shots in two games. Murchison, a freshman defenseman, was minus-two on the night. For a box score and statistics,
click here.
* SHL: Olle Lycksell chipped in an assist in the Växjö Lakers' 3-2 road loss to Luleå on Saturday. The 22-year-old has six points (2g, 4a) through nine games.
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Today in Flyers History: October 10
On Oct. 10, 1984, on the same day he was to be announced as the Flyers' new captain, Darryl Sittler was traded to the Detroit Red Wings by brand new general manager Bob Clarke. In return, the Flyers received promising young forward Murray Craven along with forward Joe Paterson. The 20-year-old Craven went on to have a 26-goal, 61-point season in his first year with the Flyers.
From a hockey standpoint, the trade worked out. Hockey Hall of Famer Sittler declined in the late stages of his stellar career while Craven was a versatile, skilled and brainy player. Even at that tender age, Craven could stand out on either side of the puck and comfortably switch from wing to center as called upon. From a PR standpoint, however, the deal was poorly handled. Sittler was blindsided by the deal and devastated. Even hard-nosed new Flyers head coach Mike Keenan felt sympathy for Sittler, who had believed he'd finish his career in Philadelphia.
Oct. 10 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Chris Pronger (1974), Ron Flockhart (1960), Alexei Zhitnik (1972).
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