Flyers' 'Ghost' in Calder race; Gudas headed for suspension?

Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has gone from rookie-of-the-year long shot to a legitimate contender.

Oh, he's not the favorite. But thanks to a 10-game scoring streak, he has vaulted into the Calder Trophy race.

In franchise history, no Flyer has ever been won the Calder as the NHL's top rookie.

In the Flyers' 5-1 win over visiting Buffalo on Thursday, Gostisbehere set up Wayne Simmonds' 20th goal, and the assist gave him points in 10 straight games, tying the franchise's rookie record set by Mikael Renberg in 1993-94. It is also the longest scoring streak for an NHL rookie defenseman since Colorado's Barry Beck had a 10-gamer in 1977-78.

Despite not being recalled from the Phantoms until Nov. 14 and playing in just 35 games, Gostisbehere is fifth among NHL rookies with 29 points.

Among rookies, only Edmonton's Connor McDavid (24 points in 19 games) and Chicago's Artemi Panarin (52 points in 55 games) are averaging more points per game than the 22-year-old Gostisbehere.

"If you were telling me I was going to do this going into the season, I would have told you that you were crazy," Gostisbehere said. "It's a compliment to my teammates, all the coaching staff for putting me in these situations. My teammates, just like tonight, Simmonds buries a goal and gives me an assist. It is everyone pulling together and it's a good team game."

Panarin, Detroit's Dylan Larkin and Anaheim goalie John Gibson are considered the rookie-of-the year front runners, but Gostisbehere has climbed into the picture.

Gudas suspension? Defenseman Radko Gudas may be headed for his second suspension of the season because of a third-period hit on Buffalo rookie Daniel Catenacci (see story)..

In December, Gudas was suspended for three games after a hit to the head of Ottawa's Mika Zibanejad.

In October, Gudas was not suspended after a head hit to the Rangers' Viktor Stalberg. Earlier this month, the burly defenseman escaped a suspension for clipping Montreal's Lucas Lessio near the boards. He received a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct.

The next day, Gudas said he would not change his style of play.

"Setting the tone a little bit is part of my game; it's who I am," he said at the time. "The Flyers got me here for a reason, so I want to make sure that everyone knows I'm on the ice and be the best for my team that I can."

Lately, however, he has played carelessly, accumulating 40 penalty minutes over the last six games.

Even if he escapes a suspension, it wouldn't be surprising if Gudas is replaced Saturday by Evgeny Medvedev against visiting New Jersey.

In Thursday's win, Gudas had two fights, 17 penalty minutes, four hits, six blocked shots and a plus-3 rating.

Breakaways. The Flyers' penalty killers were 6 for 6....Weirdness: The Flyers erupted for five goals but Claude Giroux was point-less and did not register a shot attempt for only the second time this season...The Flyers blocked 32 shots,  including six by Gudas and five by Michael Del Zotto.  It was their most blocks since a 2014 game vs. Montreal....Chris VandeVelde led Flyers forwards in time on ice (18:38), including 8:12 on the PK.