Philadelphia Flyers prospects update: The goalie carousel and a nice milestone

Around we go on the goalie carousel

Rob Zepp was injured for the Phantoms in the third period of Saturday night’s game. Steve Mason suffered another lower-body injury during the second period of Sunday’s afternoon game in Washington. The goalie carousel is moving fast as Anthony Stolarz was recalled by the Flyers as the only other goalie under contract and Martin Ouellette was recalled by the Phantoms.

Mason is expected to be out two to three weeks and Zepp skated in practice on Tuesday. Zepp should be recalled by the Flyers once he is healthy.

Peaks and (Lehigh) Valleys

After dropping two of three the previous weekend, the Phantoms welcomed the Worcester Sharks to the PPL Center for a midweek showdown last Wednesday. Jason Akeson scored early for the Phantoms on the power play, his second goal in as many games, but the Sharks scored the next four to take a 4-1 lead. The Phantoms climbed back into it late with two goals, but ultimately lost by a final score of 4-3. A goal with two seconds left, among other things, made the game look closer than it really was.

Rob Zepp played well in this game, making 40 saves on 44 shots. Brandon Manning continued his solid season with a goal and two assists, and the January player of the month Nick Cousins also added two assists in the lost.

From there the Phantoms hit the road for games Saturday in Binghamton and Sunday in Hershey. Saturday night against the Senators is a game the Phantoms want to forget. Zepp left the game early in the third period to an injury as the Phantoms fell 4-1. The lone bright spot was Akeson scoring for the third straight game, his 69th goal for the franchise which puts him eighth on the all-time list for goals scored.

Things weren’t looking great as the Phantoms headed to Hershey for a Sunday matinee with the Bears. Hershey had won the last four meetings by a combined score of 22-7, including 5-2, 7-2 and 6-1 losses within the past month. Anthony Stolarz made the start for the Phantoms after stopping all five shots he faced the night before replacing the injured Zepp.

The game was a back-and-forth affair with each team nearly getting off the same amount of shots, 40-39 in favor of the Bears.The Phantoms started the scoring and eventually finished it with an overtime winner from the stick of Kevin Goumas, just his fourth goal of the season. Akeson continued his hot streak with goals in four straight games and former Flyer Jay Rosehill earned second star honors with two goals on the night.

The Phantoms currently sit at 22-20-5 through 47 games, giving them 49 points and the 11th spot in the Eastern Conference. They are only six points behind the seventh and eighth seeded Worcester Sharks and Portland Pirates. They will play another three in three this weekend with a home game on Friday versus Binghamton before travelling to Wilkes-Barre and Springfield to conclude the weekend set of games.

Gostisbehere going to be here?

Shayne Gostisbehere skated in a non-contact jersey for the Phantoms during Tuesday’s practice. Gostisbehere is still making his way back from a torn ACL on November 7th. This was the first time the young defenseman practiced since the injury.

Head coach Terry Murray told reporters that Gostisbehere should be back in the lineup in three weeks if all goes well.

Phantoms scoring leaders

Nick Cousins has continued his hot streak with eight points in his last five games. In fact, the top four Phantoms forwards have all played at a point per game pace in their last five games. Brandon Manning has been playing well too, with a goal and three assists in his last four.

A Royal record for Reading

The Reading Royals beat the Cincinnati Cyclones last night by a score of 5-0 to extend their winning streak to 12 games. The Royals have been a team with some big streaks this season, winning five of six in a stretch in November and 11 of 13 from December to January. Reading’s last loss came on January 16th to the Elmira Jackets, who they will face off against on Saturday after trying to extend their streak to 13 on Friday the 13th in Wheeling.

Prospect points

A few of the Flyers prospects have “slowed down” over the past week or so, but there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Sanheim is leading his team to third place in the Eastern Conference and Goulbourne is producing well on a very talented 42-9-4 Kelowna Rockets team. Give these guys some time to develop and be prepared to hear their names in the Flyers plans for the coming seasons.

Across the pond

After making a name for himself during the World Junior Championships, Oskar Lindblom has returned to Brynas in the SHL. Lindblom scored four goals and added five assists during seven tournament games but has only scored five goals and five assists in 27 games for Brynas. However, the fifth round pick is just 18 years old and still has plenty of time to blossom.