Ghost Spooks Swedes in WJC Warmup
If there was ever any doubt whether Flyers defense prospect
Shayne Gostisbehere was going to make the Team USA roster for the World Junior Championships, they were put to rest yesterday. The Union College sophomore played a major role in the Americans' 3-2 overtime victory against Sweden in a WJC pre-tournament game in Helsinki.
Despite taking two minor penalties in the game, "Ghost" led all players on his team with 21:16 of ice time against the Junior Crowns. He quarterbacked Team USA's top power play unit. He created several rushes with excellent breakout passes. In the end, he scored the game winner in overtime by unleashing a perfect shot directly off a faceoff win in the offensive zone.
Gostisbehere didn't play a perfect game. The slashing penalty he took was a needless one. There were a couple gambles he took that didn't pay off. On the whole, however, the Flyers' third-round pick was the Americans' best defenseman against the Swedes.
On Saturday, Team USA faces Finland in a tuneup game. Game time is 6:30 a.m. eastern U.S./Canada time. The World Junior Championships begin for real on Dec. 26.
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Friday Games: Flyers Farm Teams
AHL: PHANTOMS (11-14-1-0) @ Syracuse Crunch (17-6-1-2) -- 7:05 PM
The Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate and the Tampa Bay Lightning's top farm will renew hostilities tonight at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Syracuse enters tonight's game in first place in the Eastern Conference, riding a three-game winning streak. The Phantoms are coming off a 3-2 win over St. John's on Wednesday, but have lost seven of their last nine games and are tied for the fewest points in the AHL.
Tonight's game is the sixth meeting of the season between the teams. The Crunch have won three of the games and, overall, the visiting team has won four of the first five. The twon clubs split the first four games. Adirondack's victories came in overtime on Oct. 28 (a late-game comeback win) and via shootout on Dec. 8.
Last Friday, the Phantoms put forth one of their weakest efforts of the season. Syracuse had little trouble dispatching Adirondack, 3-0, in Glens Falls. Alex Killorn, Richard Panik and Radko Gudas scored for Syracuse. The Phantoms went 0-for-7 on the power play, and did
an exceptionally poor job of taking care of the puck in this game. There were four fights in the game, with
Jason Akeson (first fight of his pro career),
Tye McGinn,
Zac Rinaldo and
Matt Konan dropping the gloves with Crunch players.
When the teams met on Dec. 8,
Brayden Schenn snapped out of a four-game pointless streak with two goals and an assist in the second period, and successfully converted his attempt during the shootout.
Sean Couturier had two assists for Adirondack, while McGinn notched the first Adirondack goal. Goaltender
Scott Munroe was solid in the first and third periods for the Phantoms, and stopped 29 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime to earn his team a point. He earned a second point by stopping three of four in the shootout.
In Wednesday's win over St. John's, Schenn notched the game-winning goal in the third period. Couturier set up goals by
Brandon Manning (power play) and
Eric Wellwood (even strength) on the Phantoms' earlier tallies.
The Phantoms are dealing with numerous injuries. Team captain
Ben Holmstrom underwent ACL surgery on Thursday and is likely out the remainder of the season. Top pairing defenseman
Marc-Andre Bourdon is out indefinitely with his third concussion in less than a year. His defense partner,
Erik Gustafsson, is day-to-day with a foot bone bruise suffered last Friday.
PROJECTED PHANTOMS LINEUP
Tye McGinn - Brayden Schenn - Jason Akeson
Eric Wellwood - Sean Couturier - Matt Ford
Harry Zolnierczyk- Garrett Roe - Tyler Brown
Zac Rinaldo - Rob Bordson - Mike Testwuide
Brandon Manning - Cullen Eddy
Matt Konan - Danny Syvret
Oliver Lauridsen - Jeff Dimmen
Scott Munroe/ Cal Heeter
Injuries and potential scratches: Shane Harper (healthy), Zack FitzGerald (healthy), Andrew Johnston (resumed skating after concussion), Erik Gustafsson (foot), Marc-Andre Bourdon (concussion), Ben Holmstrom (ACL surgery).
PHANTOMS NOTABLES:
Brayden Schenn (26 GP, 12 G, 15 A, 27 PTS),
Sean Couturier (24 GP, 7 G, 15 A, 22 PTS),
Erik Gustafsson (24 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 PTS, -6),
Harry Zolnierczyk (26 GP, 7 G, 1 G, 8 PTS, 28 PIM),
Tye McGinn (23 GP, 8 G, 2 A, 10 PTS, 48 PIM),
Jason Akeson (12 GP, 0 G, 10 A, 10 PTS),
Zac Rinaldo (24 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS, 80 PIM),
Eric Wellwood (22 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS),
Marc-Andre Bourdon (17 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, -5, 59 PIM),
Brandon Manning (25 GP, 3 G, 3 A, 6 PTS, -19, 43 PIM),
Cal Heeter (11 GP, 3-8-0, 3.24 GAA, .890 SV%),
Scott Munroe (17 GP, 8-6-1, 2.54 GAA, 1 SO, .918 SV%).
CRUNCH NOTABLES: Tyler Johnson (26 GP, 16 G, 11 A, 27 PTS), Brett Connolly (25 GP, 12 G, 11 A, 23 PTS), Vladislav Namestnikov (5 GP, 0G, 2A, 2 PTS), Cory Conacher (26 GP, 10 G, 12 A, 22 PTS), Richard Panik (26 GP, 12 G, 10 A, 22 PTS), Ondrej Palat (26 GP, 3 G, 17 A, 20 PTS, 18 PIM), Mark Barbeiro (26 GP, 4 G, 14 A, 18 PTS), Alex Killorn (26 GP, 8 G, 10 A, 18 PTS), Dustin Tokarski (17 GP, 10-4-1, 2.33 GAA, 1 SO, .907 SV%), Riku Helenius (11 GP, 7-3-0, 2.83 GAA, 2 SO, .884 SV%).
BROADCAST LINKS: 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.
ECHL: TITANS (11-11-2-2) @ Evansville IceMen (10-16-0-3) -- 7:05 PM
Winners of two in a row and three of their last four games, the Flyers' ECHL affiliate begins a two-day trip through Indiana with a meeting tonight with the struggling Evansville IceMen. Tomorrow, the Titans are in Fort Wayne to take on the Komets.
Rookie winger
Marcel Noebels has been red hot of late. He has scored artistic goals in each of the last two games, and has recorded at least one point in eight of the last nine games (seven goals, six assists). Fellow first-year player
Matt Mangene
has assists in each of his last three games.
Flyers prospect
Niko Hovinen has played sparingly of late, but played a strong game in the Titans' win over Orlando last Sunday. With the team in the midst of a three-game-in-four-night stretch (and six games in nine nights), usual starter Scott Wedgewood figures to be given off one of games this weekend.
The IceMan are in the cellar of the Eastern Conference and have second fewest points in the league. The club has lost three in a row heading into tonight's game. Former Phantoms forward Josh Beaulieu leads the team in scoring.
TITANS NOTABLES (FLYERS/PHANTOMS PROSPECTS INDICATED IN BOLD): Andy Bohmbach (26 GP, 12 G, 13 A, 25 PTS),
Marcel Noebels (26 GP, 9 G, 13 A, 22 PTS), Stephen Schultz (21 GP, 8 G, 12 A, 20 PTS),
Blake Kessel (26 GP, 3 G, 6 A, 9 PTS, -11),
Matt Mangene (6 GP, 0 G, 4 A, 4 PTS),
Tyler Hostetter (21 GP, 0 G, 9 A, 9 PTS, +3),
Ian Slater (28 GP, 6 G, 1 A, 7 PTS, 54 PIM), Scott Wedgewood (18 GP, 8-7-2, 3.06 GAA, .896 SV%),
Niko Hovinen (11 GP, 3-4-2, 3.17 GAA, .889 SV%).
ICEMEN NOTABLES: Josh Beaulieu (29 GP, 11 G, 15 A, 26 PTS, 54 PIM), Todd Robinson (21 GP, 1 G, 18 A, 19 PTS, -19), Dylan Clarke (25 GP, 7 G, 11 A, 18 PTS), Rob Madore (13 GP, 4-8-0, 3.43 GAA, .897 SV%), Paul Karpowich (12 GP, 3-6-1, 3.48 GAA, .889 SV%).
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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Watch Briere online: Eisbären Berlin @ Kölner Haie
At 1:30 p.m. eastern time on Friday,
Danny Briere and the rest of Eisbären Berlin are in action. The Polar Bears have a road game in Cologne against the Sharks.
Today's game will be broadcast live on Laola1 TV. A free webcast will be
available here.
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