The Phantoms won both of their games this weekend to elevate their record to 16-13-5-1. They’re still seventh in the Atlantic Division with 38 points, but they’re back within striking distance of the teams immediately ahead of them in the standings.
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Olle Lycksell
Lycksell had three goals (two of which came on the powerplay) and tacked on an assist over two games this weekend. It was a much needed slump buster for the 24-year-old as he hadn’t scored a goal since American Thanksgiving. He has a team-leading 15 goals and 26 points in 30 games and five points in his last four games. Safe to say he’s finally shook off the cobwebs that formed during his pointless recall with the Flyers.
Samu Tuomaala
The Phantoms 2023-24 All-Star selection wasted no time adding to his impressive rookie résumé with a goal and an assist over the weekend. That brings the 21-year-old up to 29 points in 35 games on the season. He entered the weekend on a mini skid, with just two goals in his last six games, but both he and Lycksell broke through recent dry spells, and considering they’re creating a vast majority of the offense the Phantoms produce, when they’re on, games will be won.
Ronnie Attard
Attard had the game-tying goal on Saturday, along with two assists, one in each game. In an interesting twist, he lined up on the top pair with Emil Andrae, and the two had instant chemistry. It’s arguable Attard’s best game of his professional career came on Saturday. He scored, added an assist, was physical and strong at both ends of the ice. The trade deadline is on the horizon and it seems clear that Attard is giving it his best in hopes of finally making the Flyers’ roster. He’s registered 17 points in his last 21 games.
Emil Andrae
Andrae had two assists over the weekend. He’s riding a three game point streak and has 12 points in has last 12 games. By AHL standards, Andrae is a near-elite offensive defenseman, ranking 15th in defensemen points-per-game, and if the team had a bot more firepower on the whole, he could easily be higher on the list. He’s more than likely NHL ready, and considering he spent the weekend partnered with Ronnie Attard, it’s possible they could be getting them both ready to make the jump together after the trade deadline.
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J.R. Avon
Avon had the shootout winner on Saturday. The story remains the same with Avon- he’s playing a limited bottom six role, but continues to show flashes of potential despite the opportunities coming few and far between. It will be interesting to see if he can blossom into a scoring forward once some of the lineup congestion relieves itself, be it at the trade deadline or next season, because he’s teasing the potential of a future top guy.
Tanner Laczynski
Laczynski had three assists, two of which came on the powerplay, in two games this weekend. Even though his status as a “prospect” with the Flyers is clearly over, he’s having a career year and has been a major part of the powerplay success in Lehigh. He has posted 26 points in 30 games, which already breaks every previous professional total he’s held to this point.
Wade Allison
It appeared as though Wade Allison got hurt late in the game on Friday after a collision into the boards after getting tangled up with a Wolf Pack defender and he didn’t play on Sunday. He did come on to the ice to test his apparent lower body injury twice on Friday, but whatever it was clearly was enough to keep him out. It’s a shame because he was finally starting to play like the Wade Allison Phantoms fans know and love, but the injury bug has struck again, hopefully being nothing too serious this time around.
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Elliot Desnoyers
Even though Desnoyers got the primary assist on the game-tying goal on Saturday, it was first point in seven games, and just his third point since December 9 (13 games) which was the last goal he scored. Desnoyers set a Lehigh Valley record for rookie goalscoring last season, and this year he’s got just four goals and 13 points in 31 games and has been ineffective on the whole for the last few weeks.
Adam Ginning
Ginning walked away from the weekend pointless with a -2 rating. Ginning led the team in +/- last season with a +24 and turned heads doing so, now he’s sporting the third worst +/- on the team with a -9 and doesn’t possess much flare to his game anymore. This is much closer to the Ginning everyone expected to see when he made the jump to North America. The former 50th overall pick is kinda lost right now among what has been, on the whole, an underwhelming defense corps.
Zayde Wisdom
Wisdom hasn’t scored a goal since the teddy bear toss and is still rotating in and out of the lineup, playing limited fourth line minutes when he does dress. He has just that single goal and 10 penalty minutes in 26 games.
Ethan Samson
Samson went pointless over the weekend, but managed to have an even zero +/- rating. At this point it’s actually surprising he doesn’t get sent down to the ECHL to see if he can figure things out at the professional level, because it’s unlikely this is what was expected of Samson heading into the season.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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