In this week's Future Flyers Report, we recap a weekend slate of junior games, a bizarre sequence of two six-goal games for the Phantoms and two Royals wins in the Rust Belt.
Juniors:
Travis Sanheim and Radel Fazleev were on the right side of two blowouts this week, as their Calgary Hitmen beat Prince Albert 10-1 on Friday and Edmonton 5-1 on Saturday — yes, two games in which they out-scored their opponents 15-1. Fazleev scored two goals on Friday while Sanheim notched three assists. Sanheim recorded an assist on Saturday, while Fazleev was held point-less.
Samuel Morin's Rimouski Oceanic were victorious in two games, beating Victoriaville 9-3 on Friday and Shawinigan 4-3 on Saturday. Morin recorded just one assist, coupled with a plus-1 rating.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored a goal and three points on Saturday against Rouyn-Noranda, but it wasn't enough as his Val-d'Or Foreurs lost 6-5.
American League:
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms found themselves on both ends of six-goal games this weekend, falling 6-1 to Hershey on Friday and beating Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6-2 on Saturday. Taylor Leier scored the lone goal against the Bears — his 10th of the season, assisted by Nick Cousins and Jason Akeson. Anthony Stolarz was pulled late in the second period after allowing four goals on 22 shots, while Rob Zepp made 11 saves on 13 shots in a mop-up role.
After allowing the first two goals on Saturday, the Phantoms fired off six unanswered goals against the Penguins. Andrew Gordon, Adam Comrie, Jesper Pettersson, Leier, Cousins and Akeson all scored, while Gordon, Cousins, Leier and Akeson each recorded multi-point games. Comrie and Pettersson's tallies were their firsts of the season, while Zepp made 27 saves on 29 shots.
Despite getting 14 power-play opportunities over the weekend, the Phantoms were able to capitalize on just two — bringing their power play to 23rd in the AHL at 14.8 percent.
The Phantoms (21-18-4-1) still sit in third place in the East Division with 47 points — five behind the Baby Pens and nine behind the Bears. They're off until Wednesday when they face Worcester at PPL Center, with puck drop scheduled for 7:05.
ECHL:
The Reading Royals swept a pair of weekend games, beating Indy 3-2 on Friday and rolling over Cincinnati on Saturday by a 5-1 margin. Zach Davies scored his fourth of the season against the Fuel, while Cam Reid scored twice. Connor Knapp turned away 29 of 31 shots.
Sean Wiles, Maxim Lamarche, David Marshall and Ian Watters each scored in Saturday's win over the Cyclones, with Wiles posting a two-goal effort. Martin Oullette saved 30 of 31 pucks between the pipes, as the Flyers' ECHL affiliate expanded their winning streak to seven games.
The Royals (23-13-1-1) now sit four points behind Florida for first in the East Division. They face Wheeling on Wednesday at Santander Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
