The Phantoms went 0-2-1 this weekend. They fall to 9-8-4 for sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
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Ronnie Attard
Attard scored a goal and added three assists this weekend; Two of the assists came on the powerplay. Don’t look now, but Attard has three goals and five assists in the last seven games and 11 points in 18 games on the season. It’s been a rocky start for Attard, but as he proved toward the end of last season there’s a valuable player inside, he just has unlock it with regularity.
Wade Allison
Wade Allison posted a goal and an assist on Saturday with the goal coming on the man advantage. Despite a miserable start to the season and getting eviscerated by his coach, Allison has slowly but surely gotten better as the season’s gone on. He’s got seven points on the season, but three have come in his last four games.
J.R. Avon
Avon scored two goal this weekend. The undrafted forward is working through his rookie season with the Phantoms and has five goals and seven points in 15 games. He’s not exactly standing above the crowd, but if the goals start coming with more regularity, he won’t be flying under the radar forever.
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Olle Lycksell
Lycksell recorded a single assist in three games. The helper did come on the powerplay, but it was an unusual quite weekend for Lycksell. It was the first time he went pointless in consecutive games since the first two contests of the season in mid-October.
Samu Tuomaala
Tuomaala scored a powerplay goal on Friday, but went pointless in the next two games. Tuomaala has been Lycksell’s partner in crime this season, so when one goes quiet expect them both to.
Tanner Laczynski
The third member of the Phantoms’ top line posted a single assist on Saturday. Despite having 18 points in 19 games, he’s been a bit streaky to get there. Is this a sign of a cooldown or just a rough weekend?
Emil Andrae
Andrae managed two assists, but also posted an ugly -5 rating in three games. It’s been a season of highs and lows for Andrae, which is not unexpected as he settles in to the North American game. He’s still the only thing close the Phantoms have to a top defenseman, so the ebbs and flows will just have to be worked through on the fly.
Elliot Desnoyers
Desnoyers scored a goal on Saturday and somehow walked away a +1 during a weekend when the team allowed 15 goals. The goal was Desnoyers’ third of the season and brought his point total to nine in 17 games. He went from the hottest prospect in the system to just another guy pretty quickly, albeit he’s still carrying his own defensively, which at the end of the day could pull on the main roster heartstrings far more than scoring ever could.
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Felix Sandstrom
Felix got just one of the three starts over the weekend and allowed five goals on 39 shots in a losing effort. It’s hard to put any blame on Sandstrom himself after the organization mishandled him and an injury derailed things even further, but given everything he’s faced he hasn’t been a disaster, but he hasn’t exactly been the saving grace the team desperately needed, either.
Helge Grans
He scored his first goal of the season on Saturday but also went -4 in three games. The coaching staff is trying their best to work Grans into a place where he can succeed, but it just hasn’t happened yet. With Ronnie Attard turning his game around, Grans’ days as the top righty in Lehigh could be numbered.
Zayde Wisdom
Wisdom is still pointless in 17 games with a -6 rating and just four penalty minutes on the season. He’s stapled to the fourth line as a grinder and that’s clearly all the coaching staff thinks of him. Probably the best example of failed development currently on the Phantoms’ roster.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 