With a 5-1 win Saturday night, the Flyers swept a pair of rookie games from the Rangers this weekend at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Egor Zamula, Olle Lycksell, Noah Cates, Zayde Wisdom and Ronnie Attard all scored goals for the Flyers in the second victory.
Samuel Ersson, eager for some long-awaited game action, was arguably the Flyers' best player. The Swedish prospect went the distance in net and made 36 saves.
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The Flyers won the first matchup, 2-1, in overtime Friday night. Tyson Foerster delivered the game-winner.
Let's get into observations on the second rookie game at the home of the Phantoms.
• Cates, the headliner of this year's rookie training camp, only fueled his push for the big club's season-opening roster by scoring a shorthanded marker.
Given the 23-year-old winger would be killing penalties if and when he's with the Flyers, he probably couldn't have asked for a better way to score a goal. The club's decision-makers had to like it.
NHL
Cates started the sequence up ice and finished it. His older brother Jackson Cates, a reliable center, assisted the goal.
As AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley head coach Ian Laperriere said earlier this week, a player won't win a roster spot with rookie game performances. But Noah Cates, as he did in his 16-game audition last season, continued to look like a player. He finished with an assist, as well.
Similar to Cates, Attard also came from college and got a look with the Flyers last season. The big, personable defenseman played well Saturday night.
The Flyers want to see him play a physical, take-the-body brand of defense. He provided that, particularly in the third period. He capped off the final stanza with a power-play blast for his goal.
"They're smart enough to realize that they didn't make it yet," Laperriere said Friday about Cates and Attard. "They had a little taste of it, which is great for them. They don't want to bus five, six hours with me, they want to be on those nice planes and in those nice hotels with the big boys. They're smart guys."
• Sure, it was only a rookie exhibition game, but this one had to feel good for Ersson.
Last season, his first with the Phantoms, the 22-year-old was limited to five games because of injuries after playing 42 the year prior in the SHL, Sweden's top pro league.
"Came in last year with fire in his eyes," Laperriere said Friday. "Unfortunately he had so many injuries. But he's the kind of kid who has got character and he wants to do well.
"We need him to stay healthy. It was a frustrating year for him last year and hopefully this is in the past and he'll be able to build himself into a professional hockey player."
Ersson looked sharp. He was pretty pumped for the opportunity. You can't simulate game action.
"Train all you want, but it's a different beast," he said Friday. "I've been looking forward to it for a long time, so I'm really excited to get out there.
"Getting the confidence that I know that I can play a full game, that's what I need right now. Just knowing that my body can handle it."
• Lycksell thoroughly impressed in both rookie games.
After netting a marker Friday, his goal Saturday came on a skilled shot and he added two helpers.
His line with Wisdom and Elliot Desnoyers was good.
"The only thing I saw was practices, which it was unbelievable," Desnoyers said Friday when asked if he knew much about Lycksell prior to the rookie games. "Really happy to play with him and he's doing a really good job. Really skilled player and he's a good communicator, too."
• The beefed-up Zamula got the scoring started for the Flyers. He's a guy to not forget in the Flyers' future defensive picture.
• Flyers rookie training camp wraps up Sunday in Voorhees, New Jersey with practice from 10:15-11:15 a.m. ET.
Main training camp commences Thursday.
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