Phantoms goalie out indefinitely following surgery to repair torn meniscus Thursday

Last spring, Anthony Stolarz got the start in net for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with his team just one win away from clinching the franchise's first playoff berth in the last eight years. The Philadelphia Flyers' AHL affiliate was on the road facing their rival - the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

It was an action-packed start from the drop of the puck in that April 12th game. Sam Morin was challenged to a fight by Garrett Wilson during the game's opening shift!

The crushing blow, however, didn't come from that fight.

It came just 92 seconds into the first period on what appeared to be a routine sliding save. Stolarz had somehow gotten his left leg caught awkwardly underneath him, and needed to be helped off the ice - putting no weight on his left leg.

He never returned to the game, and was spotted on crutches after the game outside of the team's locker room.It was later determined that the left knee injury would require surgery and cost Stolarz the rest of his season.

And now - almost five months to the date - the Flyers announced that Stolarz underwent a second left knee surgery earlier this week to repair a torn meniscus. All previous signs, and expectations from the Phantoms staff last spring was that Stolarz would be ready to go in training camp this fall.

Back tracking a bit, the Phantoms went on to win that April game in Wilkes-Barre and clinch the playoff spot behind a clutch performance from Alex Lyon, who filled in both ably and unexpectedly for Stolarz.

It is Lyon again who will have an opportunity to earn a majority of the Phantoms' starts this fall as 30 NHL organizations prepare for rookie tournaments, rookie camps, prospect scrimmages and training camps this month.

Phantoms sign Dekanich

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, following today's news of Stolarz's knee surgery, subsequently announced that they have re-signed goaltender Mark Dekanich to a standard AHL player contract for the 2017-18 season. Dekanich, 31, was on an AHL deal last season with Lehigh Valley and saw almost all of his action at the ECHL level with the Reading Royals in 2016-17.

The Phantoms projected goalie depth chart now has Alex Lyon (NHL deal) in line for clear cut number one goalie duties this fall with veterans Dekanich, Leland Irving and John Muse all on AHL contracts supporting for depth.