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| Anthony Stolarz looks to shoulder the load while Rob Zepp is out of the lineup. |
Chorney Injured In Penguins Shootout Loss to Hershey
In Hershey, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Taylor Chorney left last night's 2-1 shootout loss to the Bears early in the 1st period after a hip-check along the boards by Bears defenseman Conor Carrick.Chorney appeared to suffer a lower body injury on the hit and he did not return to action.
The Penguins managed to steal a point playing most of the game with five defensemen. One of those defensemen - Brian Dumoulin to be exact - came up big with goaltender Jeff Zatkoff pulled for the extra attacker in the final minute of regulation. Dumoulin took a pass from Scott Wilson and beat Philipp Grubauer with a point shot through traffic with 50.9 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 1-1.
The Pens' shootout loss in Hershey last night marked the eighth straight time the Penguins have lost at Giant Center, with the last Penguins win at the Bears' home rink coming over a year ago in a game at Giant Center on November 2nd, 2013.
Phantoms Starting Netminder Zepp Injured In Warmups
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a surprise starter in net last night against the red-hot Springfield Falcons. Rob Zepp led the team out for warmups but tweaked something in his lower body during the pre-game warmup, leading to Anthony Stolarz finding out halfway through the warmup that he would be the team's starter.
The Phantoms didn't respond well, with a terribly slow start to a Falcons team that had come into the contest riding a six-game win streak. Stolarz was arguably the Phantoms' best player through 40 minutes as the home team trailed 3-0 and were being out shot 27-15. Steven Delisle and Taylor Leier scored third period power play goals to draw the game within one with 1:13 left, but it was too little too late for the Phantoms in their final game of a five-game home stand which saw them go 3-1-1-0.
After the game, Phantoms head coach Terry Murray said that he expects Zepp (lower body) to be out this weekend and that Stolarz will likely be the starter in both games tomorrow in Atlantic City, New Jersey against Albany and Saturday at home versus Norfolk.
The Phantoms recalled rookie goaltender Martin Ouellette from their ECHL affiliate in Reading, presumably as a back up to Stolarz this weekend. Ouellette is on an AHL-only contract with the Phantoms. The former 7th round draft pick of Columbus is a former two-year starting goaltender for the University of Maine.
Flyers Place F Akeson On Waivers
The Philadelphia Flyers placed forward Jason Akeson on waivers with the likely purpose of re-assigning him to their AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Akeson, 24, is in the final year of a one-year contract he signed with the Flyers this past summer and is a restricted free agent at season's end.
It appears as though forwards Chris VandeVelde and Scott Laughton are staying put in the NHL, at least for now, with Akeson being waived by the Flyers. If unclaimed, Akeson would be a welcomed addition to a Phantoms team struggling on the power play and in the goal scoring department. In the AHL last season, Akeson finished in the top-10 in the league in scoring with 64 points (24G-40A) in 70 games played.
Wouldn't be interesting, however, if say the Pittsburgh Penguins put in a claim on the Flyers' forward? The Penguins, with the unfortunate news regarding Pascal Dupuis and Beau Bennett heading back to the injured list, certainly could use a winger of Akeson's skill-set. Akeson will have to clear waivers by noon tomorrow to report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where I'd expect he would play Friday night in Atlantic City, New Jersey against the Albany Devils at Boardwalk Hall.
Links To Extra Reading
Monday's Links section was a little light, so I'll add some here for those who want to read about some things going on around the American Hockey League that I have covered:
- AHL Eastern Conference Notebook, November 2014
- AHL Western Conference Notebook, November 2014
- Jonathan Drouin Pro Debut With Syracuse
- Vancouver Prospects Bo Horvat & Hunter Shinkaruk
The Penguins have a rare Friday night off, but I'll still have live coverage of AHL hockey from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms take on the Albany Devils. Stay tuned here for a full post-game recap of the action as well as live in-game updates on Twitter.
Follow all the latest news & information on the Phantoms on Twitter -> @TonyAndrock_TCG.
For the best insights/updates on the AHL Penguins, follow @H_P_Hockey.
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