Friday Games: Flyers Farm Teams
AHL: PHANTOMS (13-14-1-0) vs Providence Bruins (15-10-0-2) -- 7:00 PM
The Adirondack Phantoms will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they take on the Providence Bruins at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Providence has won seven of its last 10 games.
Friday's game marks the start of a busy stretch for the Phantoms. The Flyers' AHL affiliates will play 13 games in the next 30 days leading up to the league's All-Star break. Eight of those games are divisional games against Bridgeport, Connecticut and Albany.
The Phantoms and Bruins have met once previously this season. On Dec. 9, goaltender
Scott Munroe stole a point for the Phantoms with a spectacular performance. Despite being badly outplayed for two periods, Adirondack trailed only 2-1 as the game approached the final minutes. Finally, a goal by defenseman
Jeff Dimmen drew the Phantoms even. Ultimately, Providence won the game in overtime on a Kyle MacKinnon goal.
Numerous Phantoms players were absent from practice on Thursday due to severe weather conditions in the area this week. It was the team's first practice after a four-day break for Christmas. The lines below reflect the ones used last Saturday against Bridgeport. None of the injured Phantoms skated yesterday, nor are they expected to play this weekend.
Chris Bourque leads the Bruins in overall scoring with 23 points in 25 games. Jamie Tardif leads in goal-scoring with 15 tallies. First-season goaltender Niklas Svedberg has played well for the most part this year, including in the previous game against Adirondack. However, he was roughed up a bit in his last start.
PROJECTED PHANTOMS LINEUP
Tye McGinn - Brayden Schenn - Jason Akeson
Eric Wellwood - Sean Couturier - Matt Ford
Harry Zolnierczyk- Garrett Roe - Zac Rinaldo
Zack FitzGerald - Rob Bordson - Shane Harper
Brandon Manning - Jeff Dimmen
Matt Konan - Danny Syvret
Oliver Lauridsen - Cullen Eddy
Scott Munroe/ Cal Heeter
Injuries and potential scratches: Mike Testwuide (healthy), Tyler Brown (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (high ankle), Marc-Andre Bourdon (concussion), Ben Holmstrom (ACL surgery).
PHANTOMS NOTABLES:
Brayden Schenn (28 GP, 12 G, 17 A, 29 PTS),
Sean Couturier (26 GP, 8 G, 18 A, 26 PTS),
Erik Gustafsson (24 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 PTS, -6),
Harry Zolnierczyk (28 GP, 8 G, 1 G, 9 PTS, 32 PIM),
Tye McGinn (25 GP, 8 G, 2 A, 10 PTS, 50 PIM),
Jason Akeson (14 GP, 2 G, 10 A, 12 PTS),
Zac Rinaldo (26 GP, 2 G, 3 A, 5 PTS, 84 PIM),
Eric Wellwood (24 GP, 3 G, 4 A, 7 PTS),
Marc-Andre Bourdon (17 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, -5, 59 PIM),
Brandon Manning (27 GP, 3 G, 3 A, 6 PTS, -17, 50 PIM),
Cal Heeter (12 GP, 4-8-0, 3.19 GAA, .895 SV%),
Scott Munroe (18 GP, 9-6-1, 2.51 GAA, 1 SO, .920 SV%).
BROADCAST LINKS: The Flyers official site will be streaming all Phantoms home games for free. Additionally, the audio of the game broadcast is available for free via the
streaming Phantoms radio broadcast.
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ECHL: TITANS (14-11-2-2) @ Reading Royals (21-7-1-1) -- 7:05 PM
The Trenton Titans will look to extend their winning streak to seven games when they take on the Atlantic Division leading Reading Royals in the middle game of a three night home-road-home set. On Thursday, the Titans captured a 2-1 overtime victory at the Sun National Bank Center to snap the Royals' eight-game winning streak.
Rookie winger
Marcel Noebels scored the winning goal on an overtime play. In so doing, he continued a torrid December streak that has seen him post at least one point in 11 of 12 games, including the last seven in a row. Overall, he has nine goals and 18 points for the month. Defenseman
Blake Kessel drew the primary assist on the goal.
Defenseman Ryan Grimshaw scored the other goal for Trenton, tying the game with 6:55 remaining in the third period. Starting goaltender Scott Wedgewood matched counterpart Philipp Grubauer (widely considered the best goaltender currently in the ECHL) save for save, making several spectacular stops among his 29 saves.
Titans coach Vince Williams may very well come right back with Wedgewood tonight. That would leave Flyers prospect
Niko Hovinen to get the start in the rubber match in Trenton on Saturday.
TITANS NOTABLES (FLYERS/PHANTOMS PROSPECTS INDICATED IN BOLD): Andy Bohmbach (29 GP, 13 G, 15 A, 28 PTS),
Marcel Noebels (29 GP, 11 G, 16 A, 27 PTS), Stephen Schultz (23 GP, 9 G, 14 A, 23 PTS), Jacob Cepis (24 GP, 8 G, 13 A, 21 PTS),
Blake Kessel (29 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 PTS, -9),
Matt Mangene (6 GP, 0 G, 4 A, 4 PTS),
Tyler Hostetter (24 GP, 0 G, 11 A, 11 PTS, +1),
Ian Slater (29 GP, 6 G, 3 A, 9 PTS, 63 PIM), Scott Wedgewood (20 GP, 10-7-2, 2.89 GAA, .904 SV%),
Niko Hovinen (12 GP, 4-4-2, 3.15 GAA, .890 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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Friday Games: Flyers in Europe
* Spengler Cup:
Max Talbot and
Bruno Gervais will join their short-term Fribourg-Gotteron teammates for the second game of the tournament. The team will take on Czech Extraliga squad HC Vitkovice. A free webcast will be
available here. Game time is 9 AM EST.
* KHL:
Jakub Voracek and Lev Prague are in Russia to take on Dynamo Moscow. A free webcast is
available here. Game time is 10:30 AM EST.
* DEL:
Danny Briere is coming off a four-point game (2 G, 2 A) for Eisbären Berlin. On Thursday, he signed with the team for the remainder of the season, barring an NHL lockout settlement. Today, Eisbären takes on ERC Ingolstadt in a nationally broadcasted game on Laola1 TV. A free webcast of the game will be
available here. Game time is 1:30 EST.
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World Junior Championships: Team USA vs. Russia
One day after routing Germany 8-0, Team USA faces an exponentially tougher task over the next two games. First up today is a meeting with the tournament host Russians in Ufa. Game time is 9 AM EST. The game will be broadcasted on NHL Network and streamed online for free at NHL.com
In the U.S.-Germany game, Flyers defense prospect
Shayne Gostibehere blasted home a power play goal for the Americans. He finished plus-one on the day, as he was out on the ice when defense partner Jacob Trouba tallied another of the three goals scored by defensemen. Top 2013 NHL Draft prospect Seth Jones had the other.
Following the game against Russia, Team USA will get one day off. On Sunday, the Americans take on Canada in a game few in North America will be awake to see (it stars at 4:30 AM EST).
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