Saturday night was a forgettable one for the Flyers farm teams and the majority of the Flyers-affiliated players and prospects who were in action with their respective teams. Here's the roundup of results:
FLYERS FARM TEAM REPORT
AHL: Albany 2 - PHANTOMS 1. The Flyers' AHL affiliate has played much improved team defense of late, allowing a combined three goals in its last three games. The scoring, however, remains sporadic.
Last night,
Eric Wellwood scored his first goal of the season. The unassisted tally temporarily tied the game at 1-1 in the second period.
Sean Couturier missed his second game with the flu and
Brayden Schenn was held off the scoreboard for the second straight game.
Scott Munroe stopped 29 of 31 shots in a losing cause.
Power play failure contributed to the loss. The Phantoms went 0-for-7 on the power play and were unable to convert on a substantial 5-on-3 advantage with an opportunity to tie the game at 2-2. Adirondack generated only a total of 23 shots for the game; not nearly enough given the number of power plays they had. Overall, the Phantoms rank 23rd on the power play, with a 12.3% (8-for-65) success ratio.
On the bright side, the Phantoms were 7-for-7 on the penalty kill against Albany, which ranks dead last in the AHL in power play conversions (2-for-47, 4.3%). Adirondack improved to 11th in the league in the PK category, and have now killed 46 of 53 (86.7%) of their own penalties.
The Phantoms (5-6-0-0) return to action on on Wednesday night. The road trip continues in New Hampshire with a tilt against the Manchester Monarchs (7-3-0-1).
ECHL: Reading 4 - TITANS 1. The Titans' gauntlet of five consecutive games against the Reading Royals has thus far been a disaster for the Flyers' ECHL affiliate. Reading has won each of the first four games in regulation. Trenton has scored a combined five goals over that span.
Niko Hovinen got the start in goal last night, and did not fare particularly well. He stopped 25 of 29 shots, including a pair of point-blank stops. Unfortunately, he also continued to have problems with going down too soon on shots from distance as well as with his rebound control.
The Royals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before the game was four minutes old. Kirk MacDonald scored at 3:15 with a slap shot from the top of the right circle, beating Hovinen to the short side. Thirty one seconds later, the Titans suffered a coverage breakdown and David Vallorani had a tap-in on a cross-crease feed from Alex Berry.
At the 14:34 mark of the opening period,
Marcel Noebels went off on a breakaway but was hooked from behind by Bryant Molle. Noebels was awarded a penalty shot. The rookie German forward came in on his forehand, making a cut toward the left post. He had room on the stick side against Reading goalie Brandon Anderson but fired the shot wide of the net.
Noebels, who had points in each of the first eight games of the regular season, has been held without a point by Reading in each of the last three matches. Additionally, his line with
Jason Akeson and Pier-Olivier Morin was on the ice for three even-strength goals by Reading last night.
Late in the first period, Reading defenseman Denny Urban hammered a shot past Hovinen to open a 3-0 lead. The Finnish netminder settled in over the remainder of the game, except for yielding another goal from distance, as Royals defenseman Adam Comrie made it a 4-0 game midway through regulation.
The Titans finally ended Anderson's shutout bid at 10:37 mark in the third. Defenseman
Blake Kessel fired a shot that semi-intentionally banked off the end boards directly to Morin on the other side. Morin top-shelved a blast from the lower right circle to make it 4-1. Akeson drew the secondary assist on the power play goal.
The Titans, who started the season by winning five of their first six games, have now lost five in a row (including each of the first four games of the five-game set with the Royals). The teams will face off again tonight in Reading. Game time is 7:05 PM.
BROADCAST LINKS: Tonight's game is available via a
free radio stream. Alternatively, a webcast can be
purchased here for $8.
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SATURDAY GAMES: FLYERS JUNIOR PROSPECTS
* The Oshawa Generals learned why Erie Otters rookie goaltender Oscar Dansk is considered one of the top NHL goalie prospects in the world. The rookie was a one-man show last night, drawing a standing ovation for a 49-save performance in what turned out to be a 6-1 win for his heretofore downtrodden team. Flyers defense prospect
Colin Suellentrop had a real rough night statistically, going minus-four. He did record a point. The Generals only gave up 19 shots for the game but six of them ended up in the net.
* The Sault. Ste Marie Greyhounds lost 7-5 to the Owen Sound Attack. Flyers center prospect
Nick Cousins had a pair of assists (one power play and one even strength) in a losing cause. He was on the ice for three Owen Sound even-strength goals.
* The Peterborough Petes now have the worst record in the OHL. Last night, the team got beaten 5-2 by the Niagara IceDogs. Flyers enforcer prospect
Derek Mathers scored for the third time in the last five games and stayed out of the penalty box, but that was just about the lone highlight for the Petes.
* The scorching hot Portland Winterhawks may be the most entertaining team right now in any of the CHL-affiliated leagues. There have been several nights in the last month where Portland has simply steamrolled opponents. Last night, Portland mercilessly pummeled the second-place Spokane Chiefs team to the tune of 9-1. The Hawks ran their record over the last 12 games to a gaudy 11-0-1-0. Flyers left wing prospect
Taylor Leier joined the fun with a goal and an assist.
SUNDAY GAMES: FLYERS JUNIOR PROSPECTS
* OHL: Sault Ste. Marie @ London (2:05 PM EST): Cousins and the Greyhounds will try to salvage a win from their three-games-in-three-days weekend. BROADCAST LINKS: A free
radio stream of the Soo broadcast is available or you can
purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
* OHL: Peterborough @ Mississauga (2:05 PM EST): Mathers and the Petes will try again in search of their elusive fifth win of the season. BROADCAST LINKS: A free
radio stream of the Petes' broadcast is available or you can
purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
* OHL: Oshawa vs. Kitchener (6:05 PM EST):
Scott Laughton will serve the eighth game of his 10-game suspension while Suellentrop and the rest of the Generals will try to put last night's frustrations in Erie behind them. BROADCAST LINKS: A free radio stream (Rangers broadcast) will be
available here. You can also
purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
*WHL: Kamloops @ Portland (8:00 PM EST): If you only catch one Flyers-related junior game today, this is the one to watch. The B.C. Division leading Blazers still have the best record in the Western Hockey League but bring a three-game losing streak into this evening's game. The Hawks will look for their 12th win in the last 13 games. Leier has scored goals in back-to-back games heading into tonight. BROADCAST LINKS: A
free radio stream is available (Portland broadcast) or a
webcast stream can be purchased for $6.99.
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SATURDAY GAMES: FLYERS COLLEGIATE PROSPECTS
* Flyers defense prospect
Shayne Gostisbehere did not record a point and was even (+1, -1) in plus-minus last night as Union College fell short in a 3-2 loss to undefeated Dartmouth. Union trailed 3-0 after two periods and got two of the goals back but was unable to find an equalizer. "Ghost" was credited with two shots on goal in the game.
* Cornell had a rough weekend, losing both games this weekend. Last night, they were on the wrong end of a 4-1 score against Quinnipiac University. Flyers defense prospect
Reece Willcox did not figure in any of the scoring nor was he on the ice for a goal by either side. Quinnipiac goalie Eric Hartzell, who stopped 21 of 22 shots to earn the victory, was a Flyers' summer prospect camp attendee earlier this year.
* Harvard University bounced back from getting trounced by Union on Friday with a 4-0 shutout of RPI last night. Flyers right wing prospect
Petr Placek did not figure in any of Harvard's scoring. The Czech sophomore remains on the fourth line.
* The University of Vermont got blanked 4-0 at the hands of New Hampshire on Saturday night. Sophomore defenseman
Nick Luukko was minus-one for Vermont. Flyers summer prospect camp attendee Trevor van Riemsdyk had two assists for UNH.
* As expected, Flyers goaltending prospect
Anthony Stolarz did not play in University of Nebraska-Omaha's homecoming game last night against Minnesota-Duluth. Senior goalie John Faulkner started in the 3-2 victory.
* Sophomore forward
Michael Parks is still not ready to return from the preseason leg injury that has sidelined him for the entire regular season to date. His North Dakota team had a tough time last night, losing 5-2 to St. Cloud State after shutting out the same team, 3-0, on Friday.
SUNDAY GAMES: FLYERS COLLEGIATE PROSPECTS
* UNO rematches with Minnesota-Duluth at 3:05 PM EDT. BROADCAST LINKS: There will be a
free audio stream available plus an
webcast available for $8 purchase.
* All other Flyers collegiate prospects' teams return to action on Friday, Nov. 16.
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Thank you to WIP/WYSP host Brian Startare for having me on as a guest last night to discuss the legacy of Pelle Lindbergh and the outlook for the NHL's lockout.
Coming Tomorrow: A look at Zac Rinaldo's progress to date; Titans vs. Royals and other Sunday results; Flyers in Europe Updates; Non-Flyers players who would have been good fits in Philadelphia.
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