Stolarz's Second Game Enough For Fletcher, Flyers
Anthony Stolarz has been called back up to the NHL following two games on a conditioning loan with Lehigh Valley from Philadelphia.

Stolarz's Second Game Enough For Fletcher, Flyers

Tony Androckitis

Tony Androckitis

— 2 min read

ALLENTOWN, PA -- If you were hoping to catch Anthony Stolarz in action at the PPL Center during his conditioning stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, you were distraught at the news Thursday that Stolarz has been returned to the Philadelphia Flyers' roster during the NHL club's break prior to the NHL's All-Star events.

"We are happy with the progress that Anthony has made in his rehab and two recent games with Lehigh Valley," Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said in a statement shortly after the team's press release.

Stolarz appeared in two games with the Phantoms during his conditioning loan, with the first coming last Friday in Connecticut where he stopped 37 of the 43 shots he faced in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Hartford WolfPack.

"Yeah, I felt pretty good against Hartford," Stolarz recalled after last Monday's game against the Penguins. "Obviously the results weren't there, but I felt good in terms of my rebound control and moving around. Obviously a couple goals I would have liked back but nothing that I was too worried about."

Stolarz got back in the Phantoms' net Monday in Wilkes-Barre and really put together a solid effort behind a Lehigh Valley lineup in the game that featured just 10 forwards and played the entire game one short on the bench with just 17 skaters.

"I just wanted to come out and prove in the second game that I'm ready to go."

Ready to go he was, as Stolarz stopped 44 of the 46 shots the Penguins threw his way in an overtime loss to the Penguins.

"He [faced] a lot of shots, but he looked really good. I think he was a little more sound than he was in his first outing," Phantoms head coach Kerry Huffman said after Monday's game. "There weren't a whole lot of big rebounds. He was a swallowing up a lot of pucks, so it was good to see."

Stolarz certainly deserved the win Monday in a strong outing, but conceded it was a small victory - given the circumstances and the injury bug hitting the team hard all at once - to get a point out of the Monday game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Now, he'll get a break as the Flyers aren't back in action until Monday, January 28th when they host the Winnipeg Jets.

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