The Phantoms won both of their games via shootouts this weekend. It elevated their record to 20-18-5-2, but they still sit seventh in the Atlantic Division with 47 points.
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J.R. Avon
Avon scored a goal on Friday, tallied a powerplay assist on Saturday and scored two shootout goals this weekend. He’s been playing a solid game for the Phantoms for weeks now but wasn’t really showing up on the score sheet, but he finally broke through in a big way, helping lock down the wins in both games. If he can actually start converting on some of his chances it’d be a huge help for the Phantoms’ playoff push as well as his stock as a prospect within the organization.
Wade Allison
Allison had a goal and an assist of Friday, then scored the shootout-winning goal on Saturday. He technically scored in the shootout on Friday as well, but it was waived off due to a questionable goalie interference call. Allison has two goals and five points in his last four games, and his presence on the ice is as strong as it’s ever been. This is the player every Phantoms’ fan fell in love with years ago. When Allison’s at his peak he’s one of the premier power forwards in the league, and he’s riding the crest of the wave as long as possible.
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Bobby Brink
Brink had a powerplay assist on Friday. He scored three goals in his first two games in Lehigh, but has just two assists in the next five games since. He’s seeing a ton of minutes at both even strength and the powerplay, but even he isn’t immune to the anemic state of the Phantoms’ offense in general. It sure doesn’t sound like the Flyers are in any hurry to recall the 22-year-old, so he should continue to get every chance to succeed in Lehigh.
Elliot Desnoyers
Desnoyers’ goalless drought has reached 22 games. This has been a season from hell for Desnoyers, but his overall play has been trending in the right direction for the last few weeks even if the points aren’t coming. Gotta start his personal rebuild somewhere, right?
Samu Tuomaala
Tuomaala went pointless this weekend and has just one goal in his last five games. The rookie forward was on a heater through all of December and January, but February hasn’t been as kind. Much like Bobby Brink, the team in general is just not scoring with any kind of regularity, so when their staple contributor goes cold, it won’t be easy to get him going again as he has to save himself.
Emil Andrae
Andrae had an assist on Friday, his 20th helper of the season. He’s still the top guy in Lehigh, he’s still fifth on the team in total scoring, but he just hasn’t had the same swagger in his game for the last few weeks that typically accompanied him during his AHL run to this point. Could just be the dog days of the season or a nagging minor injury, but plateauing right before the NHL trade deadline isn’t the best time if he wants another chance with the Flyers.
Ronnie Attard
Attard did go pointless this weekend, but played a strong game lining up next to Andrae again. It’s interesting that the duo doesn’t seem to produce to their normal levels when playing together, but on the whole elevate their overall games when united. Attard could be padding his stats a little more than he is, but on the whole, there’s very little more for him to accomplish with the Phantoms and he needs to be getting NHL minutes ASAP.
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Adam Ginning
The downside of Attard and Andrae playing together means that Adam Ginning is stuck with Helge Grans, and that duo has been unspectacular in just about every way.
Tanner Laczynski
Laczynksi has missed the last three weeks with an undisclosed injury. Not only was he having the best season of his career, he was one of the few players able to create offense, as shown by his 26 points in 33 games this season. The team just hasn’t been the same since he went down and until he comes back are going to continue to struggle to produce offense down the middle.
Zayde Wisdom
Wisdom didn’t play in either game this weekend, but did take warmups on Friday, meaning he was probably healthy scratched versus missing time with an injury. Wisdom is one of the few prospects that haven’t been given a fair opportunity under Ian Laperriere, and even with the injuries to the forward corps his ice time is still getting diminished.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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