Future Flyers Report: Phantoms face critical weekend

While the Flyers find themselves in the midst of a three-game winning streak, the Flyers of Tomorrow continue to hold their own. While it's been a bit of a slow week for the Flyers' prospects, there are still some interesting takeaways.

Juniors:

Tyrell Goulbourne and Nicolas Aube-Kubel were both active this week — Goulbourne's Kelowna Rockets played in back-to-back games against Red Deer and Edmonton while Aube-Kubel's Val-d'Or Foreurs played one game against Gatineau — but both players were held without a point. CHL teams will be active again this weekend, so be sure to check back in Monday's Future Flyers Report for an update on how the Flyers' junior prospects fared.

American League:

The biggest news from the AHL this week was the league's announcement that five teams will be relocating operations to California for the 2015-16 season. Luckily for fans throughout the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys, the Phantoms won't be one of those teams. 

The Phantoms were active in just one game this week, losing 4-1 to Albany. Zack Stortini recorded their lone goal on the power play — his seventh tally of the season — with Brandon Manning and Jason Akeson recording the assists. Rob Zepp made 28 saves on 31 shots in his first game with the Phantoms since Jan. 10. The team will play host to Hershey tonight, and visit Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tomorrow.

With a 20-17-4-1 record and 45 points, the Phantoms sit five points behind the Baby Penguins for second place and six points behind the Bears for first — a testament to how critical their games are this weekend.

In Monday's All-Star Classic, Manning registered an assist with a minus-2 rating, as the Eastern Conference fell 14-12 to the Western Conference.

ECHL:

The Royals played in one game this week, and outclassed the Evansville IceMen by a 7-2 margin. Cam Reid led the way with a hat trick and four points, while Andrew Johnston, Sean Wiles, Olivier Labelle and Jordan Heywood also scored. Connor Knapp made 23 saves on 25 shots in the cage.

Coach Randy Courville's squad now sits in second place in the East Division, with a 26-13-1-1 record and 54 points — four behind first-place Florida.

The Royals head to the Rust Belt for a pair of weekend games, taking on Indianapolis tonight and Cincinnati tomorrow.

Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61

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