Injury Bug Showing Phantoms No Mercy
ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are in the midst of their busiest stretch of the season in the month of January no matter what way you slice it. And they're not getting any help in terms of staying healthy.
Monday afternoon's 2-1 overtime loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton marked their 10th game of the month in an 18-day span. It also marked the seventh game of a 10 games in 16 days stretch leading into the AHL All-Star Classic Jan 27-28 in Springfield, Massachussetts.
"It's always tough," goaltender Anthony Stolarz said after Monday's game. "Guys are pretty banged up, pretty tired but they battled through. Really proud of the boys."
Monday's game also marked a season-high seven forwards out of the lineup due to injury, with three of those causing guys who played Saturday night to unavailable Monday. The short turnaround - and possible last-minute decisions to sit guys out - resulted in Lehigh Valley calling up defenseman Frank Hora and signing forward Josh MacDonald to a professional tryout (PTO) from their ECHL-affiliate in nearby Reading, Pa.
The end result? A lineup Monday that entered the game short one on the bench - just 10 forwards and seven defensemen. Head coach Kerry Huffman was pleased with the team's effort to battle their way to a get point out of what he called a tough situation.
"I think the guys bought in to playing a pretty simple game," Huffman said after Monday afternoon's game. "We knew we would have some times being tired that we would be in our zone for a little while, but they played smart. They battled through and kept their shifts short for the most part, unless we got hemmed in."
Goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 44 of the 46 shots he faced, stopping Teddy Blueger's hard take the net right a full-splits right pad save. Stolarz also stopped the initial rebound attempt before Penguins defenseman Ethan Prow - a 2019 AHL All-Star in the Atlantic Division - lifted the third effort over Stolarz's leg.
“I felt pretty good," Stolarz said, modestly giving credit to the guys in front of him. "The guys did a great job of limiting their chances, keeping them to the outside and boxing out in front."
Mike Huntebrinker, who scored the team's lone shootout goal in Saturday's victory over Rochester, gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead in the third period on his first career AHL goal.
"Breaking through and scoring first there late in the third you put yourself in a good situation," Huntebrinker said after the game. "It was good to get that goal at the time but like I said unfortuantely we weren't able to hang on. Obviously it’s good to get the point, but we would have liked two though."
Forwards Falling Like Flies
Cole BardeauUpper body since Dec 8
Bardreau had a minor surgery to clean up something back before the holidays, and the initial word from head coach Kerry Huffman after the team's final game in Hershey before the Christmas break was that he was going to be out awhile. Recently asked for an update and Huffman's "awhile" status on Bardreau has remained. A source close to the situation told Inside AHL Hockey that Bardreau is going through the recovery process and has to let the ailment fully heal before resuming activity.
In other words, Bardreau is going to be exactly what Huffman said. Awhile.
Greg Carey, Tyrell Goulbourne & Mikhail VorobyevUndisclosed injuries - out since Jan 19
Several forwards missed time in the third period of Saturday's game, but it was these three who all missed Monday's game in Wilkes-Barre. The flu bug had been making its way through the locker room, but Inside AHL Hockey can confirm all three missed the game due to injuries. No guarantees all three sustained injuries in the third period or even in Saturday's game - guys are banged up left and right.
EDIT: All three returned to action in the team's next game Wednesday vs. Hershey.
Nicolas Aube-KubelLower body since Jan 18
Aube-Kubel definitely played late in the third period of last Friday's game in Hartford, but I don't recall seeing an injury or noticing him after the game. After Saturday's game, Huffman said that Aube-Kubel would be missing some time, and it sounded like something that's going to be more than a week or two. Hopefully after the break, there will be something more definitive. For now, it doesn't sound good.
German RubtsovShoulder surgery - out for season
Rubtsov was really starting to take his game to the next level upon his season-ending injury sustained on the team's New England swing on November 16th in Providence. You could see from the grimacing and obvious pain the player was in as he was heading off the ice late in the first period that it was going to halt his hot streak. Everyone was stunned when Scott Gordon revealed that Rubtsov was going to be out for the season.
Connor BunnamanLower body injury since January 23
Connor Bunnaman exited Monday's game briefly with a lower body injury, but later returned. On Wednesday, he left the game against Hershey and didn't return before sitting out Friday's game against Laval.
David KaseUndisclosed - out since Dec 7
The curious case of rookie David Kase, who was suspended for two games for a high collision against the Hershey Bears on December 7th and hasn't returned to action since out with an undisclosed injury. Did Kase get hurt in that collision on December 7 and have symptoms of his own? Hershey's Shane Gerisch, who Kase hit up high for his suspendable offense, went on to miss his team's next 10 games before returning for a January 5th contest against Grand Rapids. Kase has missed his team's last 19 games.
