TODAY'S FLYERS-RELATED WEBCASTS (ALL START TIMES IN EDT)
* 11:45 AM:
Danny Briere and
Claude Giroux will look continue their run of DEL dominance for Eisbären Berlin when the club hosts the Iserlohn Roosters. The game will be
webcasted here (Servus Hockey Night broadcast).
* 6:05 PM:
Scott Laughton,
Colin Suellentrop and Oshawa Generals host the Plymouth Whalers. A free
radio stream is available or you can
purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
* 7:00 PM:
Nick Cousins and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds host the Guelph Storm. A free
radio stream is available or you can
purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
**********
PHANTOMS COME BACK TO BEAT ICECAPS
The Adirondack Phantoms gained a measure of revenge for their hard-fought Friday night loss in St. John’s by defeating the IceCaps, 4-3, in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. The Phantoms trailed 2-0 before they exploded for four goals and ended two-plus games worth of frustration.
After being kept off the scoresheet the previous two games,
Brayden Schenn scored what proved to be the game-winner for Adirondack in the third period. He and also assisted on the
Brandon Manning second period power play goal that got the ball rolling for the Phantoms.
Shane Harper tied the game just 27 seconds after the Manning goal.
Finally,
Zac Rinaldo gave Adirondack a 3-2 lead midway through third period, and Schenn provided some insurance that proved to be much-needed when St. John’s drew back within one goal with a late power play tally.
Starting for the second consecutive night,
Scott Munroe stopped 31 of 34 shots to earn the victory. Adirondack generated 32 shots, as losing goaltender Eddie Pasquale stopped 28. With the win, the Phantoms improved their record on the young season to 2-2-0.
Sean Couturier was held pointless for the third straight game, but did produce five shots on goal one night after the IceCaps held him without a shot. He was minus-one on the night. Couturier has one goal and one assist (both on opening night) in the four games played thus far. In the last two games,
Terry Murray has largely separated Couturier onto a different line than Schenn, who now has three goals and two assists on the season.
Apart from Couturier, the Phantoms would like to see top-pairing defenseman
Erik Gustafsson break free from what has been a slow start for him. The offensive-minded blueliner is a minus-five through the first four games. Gustafsson has a pair of assists (both on opening night) to date.
Gustafsson’s partner,
Marc-Andre Bourdon, did not make the trip with the club due to an undisclosed injury, and remained out of the Adirondack lineup. Other Adirondack players who were missing from the lineup on Saturday included both
Matt Ford and
Tyler Brown.
Both teams were 1-for-4 on the power play in this game. The Phantoms entered the night 2-for-20 on the man advantage for the season. Finally, at 9:22 of the second period, Manning’s right point slapshot went in cleanly through traffic for a power play marker and Adirondack’s first goal of the game.
Just 27 seconds after the Manning goal, Harper knotted the score at 1-1. A healthy scratch in each of the first three games, Harper attempted to make his case for staying in the lineup. He buried the long rebound of a deflected
Eric Wellwood pass that went in on goal and was left out in a dangerous area by Pasquale.
At 12:01 of the third period, Rinaldo broke loose on a two-on-one rush with
Harry Zolnierczyk. Rinaldo froze the goalie with a little head fake and elected to shoot, ripping the puck into the long side top corner for his first goal of the season.
Rob Bordson, who sprung the rush, earned the lone assist on the play.
Less than a minute after the Rinaldo goal, Schenn scored from a flat angle. He released the shot quickly but it was something of a soft goal. Even so, they all look the same in the boxscore, and this goal proved to be critical. St. John's cashed in on a late power play opportunity with Gustafsson in the box for interference. There were a few late nervous moments in protecting the one-goal lead, but Munroe and the Phantoms held on for the win.
The Phantoms are now off until Friday, when they pay a visit to the Albany Devils. The Devils, who beat Adirondack twice in the preseason, are 1-2-0 in the regular season thus far.
TITANS SUFFER FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON
The Trenton Titans fell to 4-1-0 on the ECHL regular season after dropping a 6-4 decision on Saturday to the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Titans spent much of the night chasing the game and, unlike the Phantoms in St. John’s, were unable to pull ahead of Cincinnati at any point.
A Cincinnati goal allowed in the final half-minute of the first period was especially costly, as the Titans went to intermission trailing, 2-1, rather than tied. The problem was compounded when the Cyclones scored again just 1:04 into the middle stanza. From there, it was an uphill climb the rest of the night for Trenton, and they never really threatened to pull off a successful comeback.
Rookie forward
Marcel Noebels (2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points, +2, 6 penalty minutes) has tallied at least one point in each of Trenton’s first five games of the regular season. The German forward kept his early-season streak intact with a late second period power play goal. Trenton also got a goal from
Blake Kessel (2nd of the season), assisted by
Jason Akeson and
Tyler Hostetter. Kessel drew an assist on the Noebels goal.
The other two Titans goals were by non-Flyers/Phantoms affiliated players: Bryan Haczyk and defenseman Eric Baier. With rookie goalie
Niko Hovinen still sidelined by a deep bruise near his left clavicle, New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood got his third straight start in goal. He stopped 29 of 35 shots.
Trenton is now off until Friday when they host the Toledo Walleye. Toledo is 2-1-0 on the year to date.
BUNDESLIGA: SIMMONDS TO LEAVE CRIMMITSCHAU ON MONDAY
The Eispiraten Crimmitschau team posted a
press release on their official site announcing that Flyers winger
Wayne Simmonds and St. Louis Blues winger Chris Stewart would be leaving the club on Monday. The two NHL players reportedly are heading to play for an as-yet unidentified Czech Extraliga team.
Simmonds and Stewart are on 30-day contracts with Eispiraten. The players wanted to play together on the same club, which is why they accepted the arrangement with the minor-league German club. The contracts, signed on Sept. 24, will expire later this week. However, after a game tomorrow, the team does not play again until Friday.
According to the team’s press release, the club attempted to convince Simmonds and Stewart to prolong their stint with the team but the two players said they’d like to travel to play elsewhere in Europe. The team said that having the two NHL players on hand is an “absolute highlight” of its club history, and praised both players for their work ethic and skill.
Simmonds, who scored two goals in the team’s last game, has three goals, 10 points and 35 penalty minutes in eight games with the Ice Pirates. Stewart has four goals and 10 points in that span.
Eispiraten is on the road on Sunday to play Star Bulls Rosenheim. Game time is noon eastern U.S./Canada time. A boxscore will be
posted here shortly after the completion of the game.
EIHL: SESTITO, FIGHTS AGAIN
At the UK Elite Ice Hockey League level, Flyers tough guy
Tom Sestito is a bonafide power forward rather than simply an enforcer/agitator. On Saturday, he scored his third goal in four games with the Sheffield Steelers in a 3-0 shootout victory over the Coventry Blaze. Sestito (3 goals, 2 assists, 24 penalty minutes) has points in all four games he’s played to date for Sheffield.
Sestito also had his second fight of the season on Saturday, dropping the gloves with Coventry defenseman Benn Olson; a former AHL and ECHL defenseman with whom Sestito has tangled at least once in North America. Olson drew an added instigation penalty on the fight.
On Sunday, the Steelers host the Hull Stingrays. Game time is 1 p.m. eastern U.S./Canada time. A live boxscore will be
available here.
SATURDAY PROSPECT REPORT
There were seven games on Saturday involving Flyers prospects in major junior, collegiate and European junior hockey. Here’s the rundown:
*
Scott Laughton scored what proved to be game-winning goal for the Oshawa Generals midway through the second period in a 2-1 victory against the Owen Sound Attack. Teammate
Colin Suellentrop did not register a point and served a roughing minor.
*
Taylor Leier was not in the lineup for the Portland in their home game on Saturday against the Seattle Thunderbirds. No word as of yet whether Leier, who missed the first month of the season with an abdominal muscle tear before returning during the Hawks six-game road trip, is injured again.
*
Anthony Stolarz made his second start of the season for University of Nebraska-Omaha, running into some tough luck in a 2-1 loss to North Michigan. Stolarz stopped 21 of 23 shots. Ryan Daugherty snapped a shot from the slot over the freshman goaltender’s shoulder to open the scoring for Northern Michigan. The other goal was a slam-dunk for Ryan Aynsley, with defense out of position.
*
Reese Willcox did not record a point or penalty and was even in the plus-minus department in an exhibition game for Cornell against Brock. He did get one shot on goal. Willcox was paired with senior defenseman Braden Birch. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.
*
Michael Parks and the University of North Dakota team played Alaska on Saturday. The game is still ongoing as of this writing. I will post the result later.
*
Valeri Vasiliev did not record a point and was whistled off on a hooking penalty in MHK Spartak’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl junior team.
*
Fredric Larsson did not record a point or penalty in Brynäs J20’s 3-2 win over Modo J20. Larsson was a plus-two (+3, -1) in the game. BIF plays Mora on Sunday. A
free webcast is available via the BIF Bamuser channel.
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