A weekend review on a Monday? Madness!
The Phantoms are on fire of late. The went undefeated over the weekend and are on a four game winning streak. More impressive, they've only allowed one goal in each of the last four games. Lets get into how some of the players performed.
Tye McGinn scored two goals for the Phantoms Friday before getting called up to the Flyers Saturday. It was pointed out during the game that McGinn now has as many goals (3) in the AHL as he does in the NHL. McGinn has 3 points in 6 games in the AHL.
Petr Straka had his best weekend to date, picking up his first two goals on Saturday night. Straka has a great shot so it was only a matter of time before started scoring, and hopefully now he can start scoring consistently. He is right now second on the team in point per game average (.777 PPG) behind Kris Newbury, 2nd in total points, and he leads forwards in +/- and is second on the team behind Oliver Lauridsen.
Nick Cousins also had a great weekend picking up three assists in two games. Both of Cousins' assists Saturday nights game on goals by Straka, I speculated before the season that a Cousins/Straka combination could help both of them reach the next level. Hopefully we see them paired together for a good bit longer. Cousins has 8 points (2 G, 6 A) in 11 games.
Jason Akeson picked up an assist on Saturday, he's tied with Straka for 2nd on the team in points with 7.
Mark Alt also picked up an assist on Saturday after picking up an assist for the Phantoms Wednesday. Alt, who was pushed further down the line up because of Bruno Gervais, now has 4 points (1 G, 3 A) in 10 games so far this season. Many equally sized star defensemen score between .4 and .55 PPG in their first AHL season. If Alt can do that the Flyers could have a monster on their hands.
Cal Heeter has been arguably the most impressive Phantom in their recent stretch. He's started 3 of their last four and has stopped 99 of the last 102 shots he's seen.
Scott Laughton was back on point coming off a bit of a down weekend at the end of October. Laughton picked up a goal Saturday night and hit the score sheet on all five of Oshawa's goals Sunday. Laughton ended with 3 goals and 3 assists on the weekend and has 25 points (14 G, 11 A) in 13 games in the OHL this season.
Anthony Stolarz also saw a return to form after being pulled in games twice last weekend. He stopped 60 of the 63 shots he saw over the weekend raising his season save percentage to .930 which leads the OHL.
Samuel Morin picked up a goal and an assist in three games over the weekend, but he was a -2 for the weekend and his team continued to struggle. Morin now has 8 points (3 G, 8 A) and a -5 in 13 games.
Taylor Leier had another strong weekend with the Portland Winterhawks. He had two goals and an assist in his two games over the weekend and he's tied for 15th in scoring in the WHL. The WHL has yet to name their team for the Subway Super Series, but Leier's recent offensive outburst will hopefully be enough to help him make the cut for team WHL.
Tyrell Goulbourne picked up another fight in his game Friday night but was held out of Kelowna's game Saturday. It is unknown if this is because of injury or whether he was a healthy scratch.
Robert Hagg skated for 14:42 Friday but was held to less than ten minutes of ice time in his game Sunday. I have noticed that he usually picks up more hits in games that he plays less than 10 minutes, so he is willing to take a more physical defensive role if need be. European leagues are taking a short break, Hagg will probably play with Sweden's junior team during this time.
Valeri Vasiliev, after playing less than 10 minutes in two consecutive games, played a game in the MHL (the Russian junior league) Thursday. He didn't hit the score sheet with Spartak's junior team, but he did when he returned to the big club Friday. Vasiliev picked up his second assist in 19 games and skated for just over 16 minutes. Vasiliev will likely be named to the Russian Subway Super Series team this week.
Jakub Kovar stopped 27 of 31 in a shoot out victory on Friday. Kovar was playing at an unreal pace leading up to this small step back. Kovar will likely play a least a game or two for the Czech Republic in the Karjala Tournament during the KHL break.
Shayne Gostisbehere picked up 3 assists in his game on Friday and now has 7 points (1 G, 6 A) in 7 games. Gostisbehere probably can't keep up this pace (he hasn't really been able to do it this season, he's had two 3 points games this season) but if he can stay at a Shattenkirkian pace of .76 PPG he can be ready to make an NHL impact sooner rather than later.
Reece Willcox picked up an assist and was a +1 in two games this weekend. Willcox is more of a defensive defesemen so I don't think he'll pick up tons of points this year. One cool thing that Willcox's Cornell team does is track blocked shots, at least at home games. Willcox picked up 5 blocks in his two games this weeknd.
Michael Parks picked up an assist in 2 games over the weekend. Parks has 5 points (1 G, 4 A) in 6 games. Nick Luukko didn't impact the score sheet but he did help his Vermont team split with #2 Notre Dame over the weekend. Petr Placek has yet to play for Harvard this season.
In the American Junior leagues, Terrance Amorosa picked up 2 assists over the weekend, he has 5 points (all assists) and a +7 in 10 games so far this season. Fredric Larsson was a -1 on Friday but considering his team gave up 5 even strength goals that's not so bad. Larsson didn't play in the team's second game of the weekend. David Drake ended up a -1 on the weekend. Merrick Madsen stopped 21 of 23 in a shoot out victory. He has raised his save percentage to .900 on the season.
