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SATURDAY GAMES (ALL TIMES EASTERN U.S./CANADA)
There are 12 Flyers-related games on the slate today, including the Phantoms, Titans and three games in Europe. Here is the full rundown.
* J20 SuperElit at 5:00 AM: Fredric Larsson and the Brynäs IF J20 team host the Leksands IF J20 team. A boxscore will be available here and a webcast of the game in its entirety will be archived for free viewing at the Brynäs Bambuser channel.
* Allsvenskan at 10:00 AM: Matt Read and Södertälje SK will look to get back on the winning track when they host Djurgårdens IF. The NHL contingent on SSK has grown to three, with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson joining Read and linemate Carl Hagelin. The game will be broadcasted live on the Viasat subscription channel. Alternatively, there will be live updates available in English.
* EIHL at 2:30 PM: Tom Sestito and the Sheffield Steelers remain in Northern Ireland for a rematch of Friday's game against the Belfast Giants. Yesterday, the Giants prevailed, 5-1, to run their winning streak to five games in a row. There will be webcast can be purchased for $12.90 ( £8.00).
* PHANTOMS at 7:05 PM: Coming off an ugly 5-1 loss in Albany last night, the Phantoms (2-3-0) return home to Glens Falls for the first time since opening night. Tonight, they will take on the Buffalo Sabres' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. The game broadcast is available for free via the streaming Phantoms radio broadcast or you can purchase a streaming video webcast via AHL Live. A single-game webcast costs $6.99, with a variety of multi-game purchase options.
* TITANS at 7:05 PM: The Trenton Titans (4-1-0) have a return match at the Sun National Bank Center two nights against the Toledo Walleye. The team is running a special promotion tonight in which Flyers season ticket holders (or STHs for other NHL teams) can get free admission by bringing a ticket to an 2012-13 NHL game. Tonight's game is available via a free radio stream. Alternatively, a webcast can be purchased here for $8.
* OHL at 7:05 PM: Derek Mathers and his Peterborough Petes are at home to take on the Saginaw Spirit. A free radio stream of the Petes' broadcast is available or you can purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
*NCAA at 7:05 PM:Freshman defenseman Reece Willcox and his Cornell University team have a home rematch with Colorado College. Last night, Cornell captured a 2-0 shutout victory. There will be a free audio stream available.
* NCAA at 7:05 PM: Sophomore defenseman Nick Luukko at the University of Vermont have a rematch with Merrimack one night after dropping a 6-3 decision. A free live audio stream is available.
* NCAA at 7:05 PM: Sophomore forward Petr Placek and Harvard University are in action against Bentley. An audio stream and box score will be available.
*NCAA at 8:00 PM: Coming off an all-too-easy 8-0 thrashing of the American International College last night, Shayne Gostisbehere head to Storrs, CT, tonight for a game against UConn. There will be a free audio stream available and a webcast is available for $7.50 purchase from the same site.
*NCAA at 8:35 PM:Freshman goalie Anthony Stolarz did not play last night but could get the start tonight as his University of Nebraska -Omaha team plays the second of back-to-back games against Bemidji State. The teams skated to a 3-3 tie last night. There will be a free audio stream available plus an webcast available for $8 purchase.
*NCAA at 8:35 PM: Forward Michael Parks and his University of North Dakota teammates host Alaska-Anchorage for the second straight night. North Dakota won last night by a 4-1 count. The game will be broadcast on television on some networks that carry Fox College Sports (DirecTV 608/623/626)
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PHANTOMS START SLOWLY, FINISH POORLY IN 5-1 LOSS
The Adirondack Phantoms dropped to 2-3-0 on the 2012-13 season as they put up weak resistance to the Albany Devils last night, losing 5-1. Zac Rinaldo converted a penalty shot opportunity late in the first period for the lone Phantoms tally.
In all five games of the regular season to date, the Phantoms have started off poorly early in the game. On this night, the club was never able to recover from a 2-0 deficit and, after playing better over the middle stages of the game, faded again in the third period.
Rookie goaltender Cal Heeter had an unimpressive stat line for the game (25 saves on 30 shots) but his play was actually one of the bright spots for the team in the game. He held the club close while it was getting massively outplayed early, and many of the saves he came up with were on real testers.
The fifth Devils goal -- a Johan Larsson slap shot from distance -- may have been stoppable but the other ones were all tough chances. The defense in front of Heeter was lacking for much of the night.
Sean Couturier (pointless in four straight games after a goal and assist on opening night) and Brayden Schenn (two excellent games, three so-so ones) were largely non-factors offensively in this game. Adirondack needs both players to step on the attack if it is to score more goals than last year's offensively-lacking club.
Apart from Rinaldo, the Phantoms also got strong games from two of their rookie forwards, Andrew Johnston and Matt Mangene. They were using their speed and winning battles, which is something few other Adirondack players did.
Marc-Andre Bourdon returned to the Phantoms lineup after a two-game absence. Terry Murray split up his defensive pairing with Erik Gustafsson in this game. Gustafsson, who has not looked good in four of the five games thus far, had another rough night; he was a non-factor in triggering offensive rushes and finished minus-two on the night. Gustafsson is now minus-seven through the first five game of the regular season.
The other defensemen didn't fare much better. Brandon Manning played easily his worst game of the young season, while Danny Syvret was burned badly by Phil DeSimone on the fourth Albany goal.
There were two penalty shots in the game. The Devils' Adam Henrique answered Rinaldo's earlier penalty shot goal with a successful attempt of his own. The latter one looked more like a penalty on Bourdon than a play where a penalty shot should have been awarded.
The Phantoms are in Glens Falls tonight to take on the Rochester Americans. It remains to be seen if Terry Murray makes any lineup changes tonight. I suspect there will be a couple switches, including Scott Munroe in goal. These were last night's line combinations:
Shane Harper - Brayden Schenn - Eric Wellwood
Tye McGinn - Sean Couturier - Matt Mangene
Zac Rinaldo - Rob Bordson - Ben Holmstrom
Garrett Roe - Andrew Johnston - Harry Zolnierczyk
Marc-Andre Bourdon - Oliver Lauridsen
Brandon Manning - Danny Syvret
Erik Gustafsson - Jeff Dimmen
The Flyers' ECHL affiliate ran its record to 4-1-0 with a convincing 4-1 home win over the Toledo Walleye on Friday night. A three-goal onslaught by the Titans in the third period decided the game. Trenton got goals from Luke Pither, Jason Akeson and non-Flyers affiliated players Chris McKelvie and Ryan Grimshaw.
Rookie Trenton forward Marcel Noebels assisted on McKelvie's deflection-goal game-winner in the opening minute of the third period. In so doing, he kept alive his streak of recording points in every regular season game thus far.
Niko Hovinen did not play in the game but the rookie goaltender was able to back up New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood. Hovinen did not make last week's road trip for Trenton as a result of a deep bruise sustained in his second start of the season.
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SIMMONDS ONE OF FEW BRIGHT SPOTS FOR LIBEREC
On Friday, Wayne Simmonds made his home debut (second game overall) for Bili Tygri Liberec against HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice. He wore uniform number 71 and played left wing on a line with longtime NHL center Petr Nedved in the middle and St. Louis Blues forward Chris Stewart on the right.
Simmonds collected an assist on his first shift of the game. He backhanded a pass across the slot, which was collected by Nedved and promptly deposited in the net.
In the second period, Simmonds was spun around from behind on a shorthanded rush. He was awarded a penalty shot. Simmonds came in with speed on the forehand, got goaltender Pavel Kantor to bite on a little head-and-shoulder fake and quickly wristed a shot home almost before the goalie could react at all.
Unfortunately for Liberec, those two plays were the team's lone highlights of the game, in what turned into a 6-2 romp for Ceske Budejovice. Ales Kotalik scored a hat trick, while Milan Michalek and Ladislav Kohn (a former Philadelphia Phantom) also lit the lamp against beleaguered Winnipeg Jets netminder Ondrej Pavelec.
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GIROUX AND BRIERE KEEP POINT STREAKS ALIVE IN LOSS
Eisbären Berlin's 5-3 loss on Friday to the Straubing Tigers was not one of the team's better efforts of the season. It was a winnable game lost due to sloppiness. On the bright side for the Polar Bears, Claude Giroux (two power play assists) and Danny Briere (one even-strength assist) kept alive their streaks of recording points in every game they've played with the team so far.
Briere missed Eisbären's European Trophy Game in Sweden earlier this week due to the flu. He returned to the lineup and remainded separated from Giroux, centering the team's second line.
Eisbären returns to action on Sunday.
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SESTITO RUNS AFOUL OF REFS AGAIN IN EIHL
Tom Sesitito earned a reprieve from the UK Elite Ice Hockey League earlier this week when the league ruled to rescind a match penalty and automatic three-game suspension stemming from a game last night. On Friday in Belfast, Sestito got himself tossed from another game.
Apparently unhappy with the referee's calls throughout the game -- unpenalized grabs from Belfast Giants players and a slashing penalty assessed to Sestito in the opening period -- the big Sheffield Steelers forward blew up at 3:20 of the third period. The team was called for a too many men on the ice penalty. Sestito argued the call vociferously enough to earn himself a 10-minute misconduct and then a game misconduct.
As a result, Sestito now has a whopping 86 penalty minutes in just six games in the EIHL. He has also found time to score three goals and add three assists, but he was held off the board prior to being ejected in each of his last two games.
Sheffield plays a rematch in Belfast today.
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OHL SUSPENDS LAUGHTON FOR 10 GAMES
The Ontario Hockey League has suspended Flyers' 2012 1st-round pick Scott Laughton for 10 games following a checking-to-the-head major and game misconduct in the Oshawa Generals' game against the Ottawa 67's Daniel Walsh late in the third period of Wednesday's game.
While extremely steep, the ruling is not unexpected. Sarnia Sting player Craig Hottot recently got a 10-game suspension for a somewhat similar incident. Laughton served the first game of his banishment on Friday.
Click here to see the OHL's review video and rationale for issuing the 10-game suspension. Broadcast video footage is below:
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FRIDAY JUNIOR/COLLEGE ROUNDUP
* Nick Cousins earned three assists in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' 6-5 shootout win over over the Erie Otters. He was unsuccessful in his shooting attempt against Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Oskar Dansk in the shootout. For the season, Cousins now has 22 points (7 goals, 15 assists) in 15 games.
* With Laughton serving the first game of his OHL suspension, the Oshawa Generals lost to the Saginaw Spirit, 3-2. Defenseman Colin Suelltrop scored a power play goal late in the second period to run his season totals to 10 points (3 goals and 7 assists) in 15 games. The blueliner was minus-one in this game but is still plus-five on the season.
* Shayne Gostisbehere was credited with one assist and a plus-three rating in Union College's 8-0 romp over American International College.
* Reece Willcox did not have any points or penalties in Cornell's 2-0 win over Colorado College. The defenseman was credited with one shot on goal.
* Anthony Stolarz did not play in UN-O 3-3 tie with Bemidji State.
* Nick Luukko was credited with two shots on goal and was minus-two in Vermont's 6-3 loss to Merrimack. He did not record a point or a penalty.
* Michael Parks was not in the lineup for North Dakota against Alaska-Anchorage.
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