The Phantoms went 1-1-0-1 in three games during the week, bringing them to a 16-14-3-2 record on the season.
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Olle Lycksell
Lycksell racked up two assists on Friday, which bumps him into the team lead for points with 24, a point-per-game pace. It’s been an incredible season for the 23-year-old Swede who has turned all kinds of heads and earned multiple NHL recalls already. He hasn’t been utilized at that level yet, but if he keeps this level of production up for the remainder of the season, he could be an NHL regular in no time.
Tyson Foerster
Foerster had a two-goal game on Friday, which brings him up to three in his last five games and 11 on the season. The offensive results have come and gone for Foerster during the season, but he’s undoubtedly playing hard as he continues to find his place at the professional level. His game does continue to grow, but we’re all still patiently waiting for the 21-year-old to become undeniable.
Elliot Desnoyers
Desnoyers scored his first goal in eight games on Saturday and added an assist in Wednesday night’s game as well. The points are still trickling in with shaky consistency for the rookie, but his overall play is still solid as he’d been deployed in much tougher defensive minutes since the arrival of Artem Anisimov back in December. He won’t be the flashiest player on the ice, but he is definitely putting a solid campaign together back his overall development seems to be on track.
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Bobby Brink
Brink has played four games since returning from his offseason hip surgery with mixed results. He scored a goal in each of his first two games, then went -4, pointless and without a shot on goal in two games over the weekend. It’s going to take a few weeks for Brink to figure things out as he works his way back into play, not to mention this is his first sustained taste of hockey at the professional level after playing only 10 NHL games at the conclusion of last season.
Egor Zamula
Zamula missed the two weekend contests with an illness. The team was a hot mess defensively in both Friday and Saturday’s games without their top lefty, so it speaks to just how much he has been counted on this season. He should be back for their string of games next weekend and hopefully will bring some of the stability with him.
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Felix Sandstrom
Sandstrom allowed eight goals on 51 shots during the pair of games over the weekend and has a very pedestrian .894 save percentage and 2.97 goals against average through five games during his conditioning stint with the Phantoms. There are few player’s stock that has fallen quite like Sandstrom over the last month or so. The emergence of Sam Ersson partnered with his own struggles has thrown his future with the club into question, despite the fact that his unappealing numbers haven’t been all his fault.
Zayde Wisdom
Wisdom was demoted to the Reading Royals early in the week, pausing what was a very underwhelming AHL run for the 20-year-old. He was stuck primarily in the bottom six for the Phantoms and was one of the few players on the team whose usage was questionable at best. Hopefully he’ll go down to the ECHL and build a head of steam and get a clean slate and a chance to prove himself upon his return to the AHL, whenever that may be.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 