Top prospects impress despite loss to Islanders in Wednesday’s rookie game

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Sep 12, 2019

Flyers hockey is back… sort of.  While it’s not the big-league club just yet, Flyers fans did get their first glimpse of the team’s top prospects as they took the ice at the PPL Center, home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Seeing the Flyers’ top prospects take the ice is always an indicator that the real season is not far away but this year, with the likes of Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Phil Myers, and others, this game deserved some spotlight of its own.

The crowd at the PPL Center saw the Flyers rookies take a 3-0 lead and carry a 4-2 lead late before the Islanders tie the game and Oliver Wahlstrom score the shootout game-winner to win 5-4.

Despite the loss, there was plenty to be excited about from the Flyers’ rookies.

Entering the game, the Flyers rookie team with Scott Gordon behind the bench, lined up like this:

Forwards

Isaac Ratcliffe – Morgan Frost – Joel Farabee
Maxim Sushko – German Rubtsov – Pascal Laberge
Max Golod – Mikhail Vorobyev – David Kase
Matthew Strome – Mika Cyr – Egor Serdyuk

Defense

Egor Zamula – Phil Myers
Mason Millman – Robert Michel
Wyatte Wylie – Sean Comrie
Josh Couturier

Goalies

Felix Sandström – Kirill Ustimenko

Observations

German Rubstov

– German Rubstov paced the offense with two goals on four shots and has furthered his case to take the open spot on the third line. He was arguably the Flyers’ best forward despite not playing in a real game in over 10 months after his 2018-19 season ended with a shoulder injury.

His first goal came off a beautiful deke and set up from Phil Myers with Rubstov sitting in the low circle and ripping a one-timer into the net.

The 2016 first-round pick tallied his second of the night midway through the second on a slick re-direct of a Mikhail Vorobyev shot.

Rubstov found himself in the right place at the right time all night and for now, should have the lead in the race for the last roster spot.

Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Isaac Ratcliffe

– The line of Frost, Farabee, and Ratcliffe was dominant all night despite none getting on the board.

The three created the Flyers’ second goal of the game with Ratcliffe and Farabee crashing the net while Frost set up camp invite Sean Comrie to take a 2-0 lead.

While they did see a few more scoring chances but were unable to finish as Farabee hit the post and later failed on a breakaway in overtime. Later, both Frost and Farabee were stopped in the shootout.

Phil Myers

-After playing in 21 games with the Flyers last season, Phil Myers is entering this season with a third-pairing role almost locked up. Myers showed some of his potential on Wednesday night as he was by far and away the best defenseman on the ice, ending his night with four shots and an assist.

At 6’5″ and 210 lbs, Myers has the size to be an NHL defenseman but sets himself apart with his effortless speed and agility. Quite frankly, Myers looked like he did not belong in last night’s game. He was that good.

Yegor Zamula

Paired with Myers, Yegor Zamula looks to be a prime candidate for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after a strong season with the Calgary Hitmen (WHL) and has been impressive in camp.

Zamula was a camp invite after going undrafted in 2018 and played well enough for the Flyers to sign him to a contract and bring him back this summer.

He did have a mistake in the neutral zone which led to a breakaway but played fairly well for someone who was just an invite to training camp last year.

Felix Sandstrom

The forgotten goalie prospect in the Flyers’ farm system, Felix Sandstrom put on a show in Wednesday’s game with 23 saves on 24 shots before coming out halfway through the second for Kirill Ustimenko.

 

Sandstrom bailed out the Flyers a few times including the aforementioned turnover by Zamula and looks to be locking down his spot to share the net with Alex Lyon in Lehigh Valley.

Featured Image: Steven M. Falk/Philadelphia Inquirer

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By Drsnock
Eagles Nation Blogger
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