Flyers Rookie Series Recap: Nikita Grebenkin STRONG AGAIN, Oliver Bonk OUT as Flyers Fall To Rangers

Flyers Rookie Series Recap: Nikita Grebenkin STRONG AGAIN, Oliver Bonk OUT as Flyers Fall To Rangers

Game one of the Philadelphia Flyers rookie series against the New York Rangers here in Allentown went according to plan. They came away with a 4-3 overtime win, but Saturday’s game did not. The Flyers rookies fell to the Rangers in the second game of their weekend series by a 52 score. I’m Charlie Oconor with PHLY Flyers, PHLY Sports, and these are your Flyers postgame notes. So, as noted, the Flyers did split their weekend series with the Rangers prospects here in Allentown. Once again, they fell behind two to nothing, just like they did on Friday, but this time there was no comeback to be found. Now, that’s not to say the Flyers didn’t try. They did cut the deficit to one goal on two separate occasions. first with a nice shot from Ethan Samson off of a strong Nikita Gerbankin pass, but every time they got close, the Rangers were able to pull back away. Soon after that Samson goal, the Flyers took two penalties, both unnecessary ones. The first one from Hunter McDonald, the second one from Tai Merchesen. And on that five on three, the Rangers extended their lead back to two goals, making it three to one. So then the Flyers pushed back again. Another strong play from Gbankin in the neutral zone. time got the puck over to Alexi Gendron who scored on a really nice snipe and again it was a one-goal game. But then two minutes later the Rangers go right back down the ice on a transition rush. Ty Merchesen lost his man. A twoon two becomes a twoon-one and a 32 deficit becomes a 4-2 deficit. They were back down two goals. Really though, the big story of this game was just how chippy it was. That’s what the players said after the game. That’s what head coach Sean Snowden mentioned after the game. It was a a bitey game, which is the word that Snowden used actually. There was a lot of chirping. There was a lot of physicality, a lot of scrums, a lot of post- whistle shenanigans. Samuala, certainly not known for dropping the gloves, actually did get into a fight with a Rangers player after a whistle. And if Samuel’s dropping the gloves, you know, it’s an odd game. The Rangers clearly wanted to muck it up a little bit and it worked for them. Ultimately though, there was some pushes by the Flyers in the third period. They could not break through that muck. There were no goals in that third up until the very end when an Alex bump pass that went arry ended up getting on the stick of Gabe Perau and Perau went down the ice with the net empty and put the icing on the cake. 5-2 the final here in Allentown. So, who were the standouts in this one? Well, there weren’t as many as there were on Friday night to be sure when basically the whole team had their moments. But I would say in my opinion, best player on the ice for the Flyers. Nikita Gurbankin closing out a really strong weekend. Both games he was a standout. But even though he was good in both games, I would say this game probably fits his style better. And John Snowden agreed when I asked him that question after the game. Look, Gerbankin’s a big physical guy who plays a big physical game. He’s best around the net, below the goal line. That’s where he shines as a playmaker. And this kind of game where it was chippy, where it was bitey, as Snowden put it, just fits his style. It’s no surprise that group gets two primary assists and I would say was the most consistently effective player on the ice. He’s throwing hits. He’s battling in the corners. He’s chirping after whistles. It just was a Nikita Gbankin game. And it should be no surprise that Gbankin played well. I think he’s positioning himself very well for main camp where he will very much be in the mix for a potential NHL roster spot. I think the affforementioned Alexi Gendrin also had a strong weekend. Solid game, has that one goal, but I think low-key he had a very, very strong rookie series. His speed popped. He was making plays. He obviously gets the two goals, one on Saturday, one on Friday. He’s a little bit of an under the radar prospect, but he did have 20 goals this past season for the Phantom. So, he’s he’s on their radar, or at least he should be. And I would say this weekend he did nothing to kill the momentum that he has coming from last season. I don’t think he’s going to make the team. I don’t think he has much of a chance to make the team out of camp. But this is an important weekend for him to prepare himself for the upcoming season where maybe he can put himself in the mix for a potential call up at some point. I would say the Flyers other goal scorer Ethan Samson also had a pretty strong game. Now look, wasn’t perfect. He made his mistakes. He plays a game where he’s going to make mistakes. He likes to carry the puck, but he also made plays. I would say he made more plays than any defenseman, any other defenseman on the Flyers roster. Although, I will say that it was probably made a little bit easier by the fact that Oliver Bon, the Flyers top defenseman prospect, did sit out this game again after being kind of a surprise sit out on Friday. He didn’t play, didn’t practice in the morning, didn’t play on Friday. They were hoping he was going to get into Saturday’s game, but ultimately they decided to hold him out. It seems like largely for precautionary reasons. I talked to a few people in the Flyers front office and they expressed confidence he’ll be more than ready for main camp that this was mostly just making sure that he was okay. Got a little banged up in that first day of practice. But again, we’ll wait and see. Certainly would have been nice to see Oliver Bon. It would have given that defense core a boost, but in his absence, I would say Samson was the Flyers best and most consistent defenseman. Denver Barky also sat out this game. Although my understanding is that was not injury related at all. That was mostly the fact that the Flyers brought 13 forwards up to Allentown for these games. They were going to have to swap one in to get Nathan Quinn, a draft pick from this past year in the game. And Denver Barky was just so good on Friday night. They felt like there really wasn’t a need for him to play a second game. He showed them all he needed to show them. So, expect him good to go for Monday. When rookie camp gets back going, hopefully Oliver Bon will be out there as well. There are two more days of rookie camp before we switch over to Philadelphia Flyers main training camp which will kick off later this week. And I will be there covering it for PHLY Flyers. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening.

The second game of the Flyers’ Rookie Series in Allentown at the PPL Center was “bitey,” as Head Coach John Snowden described, as the Flyers rookies fell 5-2 to the New York Rangers.

PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor was on the scene to witness the game action and discuss standout performances from Nikita Grebenkin and Alexis Gendron, as well as lineup updates with Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk.

Photos courtesy of Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

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