By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
As the playoffs start to draw closer for the minor leagues, both the Flyers AHL and ECHL affiliates took hits with unsuccessful weekends.
Meanwhile, some of the junior prospects continue to show promise.
Here is this week’s look at the Minor League Report.
AHL
The Phantoms lost two straight games this weekend, dropping them into third place in the Atlantic Division behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence. Among the Phantoms weekend losses were a tough overtime loss to the Atlantic leaders in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Lehigh Valley is preparing for a 3-in-3 weekend with all games coming on the road. The Phantoms will make stops in Springfield on Friday night, Hartford on Saturday afternoon and Providence on Sunday afternoon.
Among the players that have had continual success all season is Greg Carey. Carey scored his 25th goal this weekend, which has him tied for the AHL league lead with Wade Megan of the Chicago Wolves. Carey also easily leads the league in power-play goals with 17 on the season, five more than any other AHL player.
ECHL
The Phantoms weren’t the only team to drop both of their games this weekend. The ECHL’s Reading Royals lost to Adirondack, 4-2, on Friday night and fell to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, 6-3, on Sunday night.
Reading was a combined 1-for-8 on the power play this weekend while surrendering four goals while shorthanded in the two games. The Royals also had 52 shots in Sunday’s loss.
The two losses dropped Reading from second to fourth in the North Division. The Royals have 17 games remaining, as well as Tuesday night’s conclusion to the previously suspended game against the Elmira Jackals from Feb. 17. The Royals had a 2-0 lead with 6:07 left in the first period when the game was suspended.
Juniors
Oskar Lindblom continued to put up stellar numbers. In three games last week, Lindblom had two goals and two assists, bringing his season totals to 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points in 47 games.
Philippe Myers had two assists in a game on Saturday against Drummondville. Myers now has four points, all assists, in six games since his return from a concussion.
After a two-week break for Bowling Green, Mark Friedman returned with a two-assist performance on Friday against UAH. Friedman, who could be joining the Flyers organization on an entry-level contract soon, has eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points in 35 games this season.
Pascal Laberge added another goal and assist to his total in two weekend games for Victoriaville. Laberge is now up to 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games this season.
Making a return from a nine-day break, German Rubtsov had just one assist this weekend for Chicoutimi. Still, he has seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in just 13 games, so he remains well above a point-per-game pace.
