Flyers' Sam Morin excels in debut, then gets sent to Phantoms
Lehigh Valley is in the playoffs. There was no word on whether the 6-7 defenseman would return for the last two games.
Sam Morin was one of the best Flyers on the ice in his NHL debut Tuesday, but the towering defenseman was sent back to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday.
General manager Ron Hextall was not available to comment, so there was no word on whether the 6-foot-7, 227-pound Morin will return to the Flyers for their last two games of the season, both at the Wells Fargo Center: Saturday afternoon against Columbus and Sunday against Carolina.
In addition to Morin, right winger Colin McDonald was sent to the Phantoms, who are battling for a playoff spot. McDonald, a 32-year-old veteran who is the Phantoms' captain, had a goal and played well in his three-game stint with the Flyers.
The Phantoms were set to host Hershey on Wednesday.
Morin was paired with Shayne Gostisbehere in the 1-0 overtime loss in New Jersey on Tuesday. Morin had a game-high seven hits, took two shots, and seemed to develop a quick chemistry with Gostisbehere, who put eight shots on goal.
"The game is faster than the AHL, but I played my game, played physical," Morin said.
Phantoms coach Scott Gordon said Morin has made great strides this season.
"Two months ago, if he had gone up to play, I personally as a coach wouldn't have felt as comfortable as I do today," he said after Morin was promoted to the Flyers on Tuesday. "I think in the last month he's really turned his game around to the point where he's just worrying about his job and not worrying about helping everybody else do their job."
Goalie Steve Mason is expected to play one of the final two games. Mason, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, is finishing strongly - a 9-5-2 record with a 2.15 goals against average and a .933 save percentage in his last 16 appearances.
"You have to have pride in your game, regardless of the situation," said Mason, mindful that the Flyers will miss the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons. "You just can't pack it in with two games remaining. You have to be professional about it."
The Flyers are concluding a miserable season on offense. They have been shut out eight times and scored one goal in 13 games. Put another way: They have scored one goal or none in about 22 percent of their games.
Claude Giroux has just 14 goals and is finishing his worst full season, points-wise, since 2009-10. The 29-year-old captain, slowed by offseason hip and abdominal surgery, has four goals in his last 45 games. Overall, he leads the Flyers with 43 assists and is second with 57 points.
Breakaways
Travis Konecny was used sparingly by coach Dave Hakstol after the rookie winger committed a tripping penalty 42 seconds into Tuesday's loss. If he was ready to play, "that's the type of penalty that doesn't happen," Hakstol said. . . . The Flyers are 24-11-4 (52 points) at home; they finished just 14-22-5 on the road (33 points). . . . Since Feb. 28, Sean Couturier leads the NHL with a plus-16 rating. In that span, he has 14 points in 19 games and has won 56.5 percent of his faceoffs.
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