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Wrapup: Flyers 6 - NYR 4; Frost Report; WCRE Charity Game

September 19, 2018, 11:51 PM ET [247 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrapup: Flyers 6 - Rangers 4

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Rangers, 6-4, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The Flyers held leads of 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 but the Rangers came back repeatedly without ever pulling even.

Highly touted goaltending prospect Carter Hart was spectacular in net for the Flyers over the final 40 minutes, stopping 25 of 27 shots including 17 of 18 in a third period that Philly largely spent killing penalties (including a 6-on-3 kill with Rangers relief goaltender Dustin Tokarski pulled for an extra attacker). Hart had no chance on a 5-on-3 goal by Pavel Buchnevich and it would have taken a 10-bell save to deny an upstairs shot in the third period by Filip Chytil after defenseman Christian Folin was beaten.

Overall, the Flyers went 7-for-9 on the penalty kill. They were 2-for-4 on the power play.

Offensively, the trio of Scott Laughton (three assists) centering Oskar Lindblom (two goals, one assist) and versatile Phantoms veteran Corban Knight (one goal, one assist) led the way. They provided three even-strength goals and were not out for any against. Lindblom was denied in the second period on a hat trick bid after tallying twice in the first period. On the first goal, he batted him his own aerial netfront rebound on the backhand. On the latter, he scored off the rush from the left circle.

The Flyers also received goals from Dale Weise (netfront power play deflection of a T.J. Brennan shot), German Rubtsov (power play, assisted by Jordan Weal and Carsen Twarynski) and Mikhail Vorobyev (rebound of a point-blank Weise shot after a Rangers' defensemen flubbed a pass from behind the net).

Overall, Wednesday's game was a better night for the Flyers forwards than defense. Much of the defense corps, including Folin, Robert Hägg, amateur tryout Yegor Zamula and Brennan had some issues in coverage and/or handling or clearing pucks when not under pressure. Radko Gudas saved a near-goal in the third period and Phil Myers had a good overall night in logging nearly 20 minutes of ice time.

Vorobyev, whom Flyers GM Ron Hextall described on Tuesday as having a good overall but somewhat inconsistent rookie year with the Phantoms last year, continued to make his case for an NHL job. He has worked hard on a day-in and day-out basis, and has been sound on both sides of the puck. Veteran forward Weal has also had a good camp, and pro rookie Twarynski has impressed with his tenacity, agitating presence, speed and heavy shot.

Slightly ahead of schedule, Flyers veteran goalie Brian Elliott made his first start of the preseason on Wednesday. He went the first 20 minutes, stopping 11 of 13 shots. He yielded goals to Matt Beleskey and Ryan Spooner (power play).

The Flyers have now completed their gauntlet of four games in four days/nights at four different venues (Nassau Coliseum, Wells Fargo Center, Barclays Center and MSG). Over that span, the Flyers featured four very different lineups. While preseason wins and losses are meaningless in the bigger picture, the 3-1-0 result was still a good first step in getting ready for the season.

After a lineup of Flyers young NHLers and prospects got overwhelmed on Sunday by the New York Islanders' regulars, the Flyers' regulars (Mon vs. NYI), Phantoms veterans (Tuesday @ NYI) and a hybrid lineup (Wed @ NYR) got the job done, and had more positives than negatives in doing so.

The Flyers have earned their total off-day on Thursday. On Friday, the Flyers will host the Islanders at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA. It will be the fourth preseason game and fourth different venue for playing the Islanders (fifth game and fifth venue if one also includes the Rookie Game last week at the Isles' training facility in East Meadow, NY).

Philadelphia is likely to announce a batch of roster cuts in upcoming days, including an imminent decision on whether to sign Zamula to an entry-level contract before re-assigning him to the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen or releasing him from his ATO to re-enter the NHL Draft in 2019.

Rules reminder: Even after AHL-eligible players are sent down to the Phantoms, they are still eligible to dress in NHL preseason games without a recall if the Flyers so choose. This causes confusion almost every year.

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Prospect Update: Morgan Frost

One night after being returned to the Ontario Hockey league's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Tuesday, Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost was in the starting lineup (and sporting an alternate's "A" on his sweater) for opening night of the OHL regular season.

The Greyhounds suffered an ugly 5-2 road loss to the Saginaw Spirit. Playing his 200th OHL game, Frost finished with one assist, two shots on goal, even in plus-minus (+1, -1) and 11-for-21 on faceoffs.

No one on the Greyhounds had an A-level night, including Frost, particularly in an ugly second period that saw the Soo outshot by a whopping 20-4 margin. The Greyhounds' lone highlight of the frame was a tic-tac-toe goal by highly regarded 16-year-old rookie defenseman Ryan O'Rourke (a 2018 OHL Draft first-round pick). Frost earned the primary assist on the play.

The Greyhounds had perhaps eight medium to high-quality chances for the entire game before a meaningless late goal cut a four-goal gap to a three-goal loss. While Frost went long stretches in which he was unnoticeable, he was either on the setup or shooting (twice) end of roughly five or six of the Hounds' better chances.

Frost set up O'Rourke twice on the Greyhounds' first power play. Later he had linemate Ryan Roth (an occasional linemate last year, too) set up in the slot but the puck either bounced at the last moment or Roth simply whiffed. Frost nearly scored right after play resumed following the O'Rourke goal that made it 2-1 -- which may have changed the complexion of the game -- and later had a good look at the next exiting the penalty box after serving a too-many men on the ice penalty but he shot over the net trying to go upstairs on Saginaw goalie Cameron Lamour.

The Greyhounds were unlucky not to score on their first power play -- Lamour made a great save on O'Rourke and then another one. Their other two power plays were not good at all, though. On the PK, Frost got outworked a bit in a couple of situations. He was on the ice for the mid-second period PPGA that put Saginaw ahead 2-1 (the Hounds never caught up thereafter).

Right now, the Greyhounds are in a transitional phase after dominating the league last year during the regular season but falling two wins short of the OHL championship. They have lost 2/3 of their top line from the second half, two of their top defensemen from last year, a couple of key long-tenured veteran leaders plus there has been a change of head coach. Additionally, Barrett Hayton has not yet rejoined the team from the Arizona Coyotes' camp. The Hounds have added some good talent, but they are inexperienced players at the OHL level.

As a result, Saginaw spent all night keying on checking Frost as tightly as possible -- something he's going to have to handle effectively with more consistency to create space for himself as need be, according to Flyers GM Ron Hextall -- and daring other Greyhounds to beat them if and when Frost can get the puck to them. It didn't happen on this night.

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WCRE CELEBRITY HOCKEY GAME

The 3rd Annual WCRE Celebrity Charity Hockey Game will take place on Sat. Sept. 22 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees at 5 p.m. A buffet after-party and auction event follows from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Victory Bar and Grill on Rte. 73 in West Berlin. Tickets cost $15 for the game and $40 ($20 for children 12 and under) for a combination ticket to the game plus the after-party.

For the game, Brian Propp, who works for WCRE (Wolf Commercial Real Estate) as its director of strategic relationships, will be joined on the ice by fellow Flyers Alumni Kjell Samuelsson, Brad Marsh, Todd Fedoruk, Doug Crossman, and Andre Faust.

Other participants include iconic Flyers public address announcer Lou Nolan as the emcee, longtime NHL referee and South Jersey resident Kerry Fraser officiating, as well as more than 30 local business leaders, and 85 sponsors.

All proceeds from the event will benefit seven local organizations: the Flyers Alumni Association (specifically, going toward the Alumni's pledge to build a new local rink for the kids of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation), the Rowan Medicine CARES Institute, the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, The Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter, the American Cancer Society, The Susan G. Komen Foundation of Philadelphia and the Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice.
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