The Philadelphia Flyers have clawed their way back into the thick of the playoff race for the seconf and final Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference. After dropping 8 consecutive games, they have rattled off back-to-back victories against the New York Rangers and most recently the New Jersey Devils. While they try to leapfrog a few teams in the final days of the regular season, a couple of their top prospects enjoyed milestone weekends that will surely bring about general excitement.
Forward Massimo Rizzo and goaltender Alexei Kolosov took big strides on Saturday as the former won the National Championship at the NCAA level, while the latter played in and won his very first professional hockey game for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Rizzo’s University of Denver Pioneers defeated a loaded Boston College roster that included Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabriel Perreault. To put it into perspective, Smith paced the club with 71 points in 41 games, followed by Gauthier’s 38 goals and 65 points, Leonard’s 31 goals and 60 points, and Perreault’s 41 assists and 60 points – all of whom were first round picks in recent drafts. While Denver was led by Jack Devine’s 56 points, Zeev Buium’s 50 points, and Rizzo’s 44 points (but in 14 less games than the rest of his teammates).
In the semifinals, Denver defeated Boston University, 2-1, while Boston College took down Michigan, 4-0, setting the stage for the final showdown. In the end, Denver not only defeated the number one seed but they also claimed their 10th title – the most of all-time – and their second in three years. Boston College remain without a title since 2012 and were surely looking to take advantage of their loaded roster to finally break the spell this year, especially with Gauthier signing his ELC with Anaheim the next day.
Rizzo was enjoying a fantastic season that was unfortunately derailed by injuries. At one point in time, he was leading the entire circuit in points and was flashing his playmaking abilities as he finished with 34 assists and 44 points in just 30 games. The Flyers acquired the 22-year-old Burnaby, BC native’s signing rights from the Carolina Hurricanes over the summer for the rights of David Kaše. It was widely believed Rizzo was going to be traded to Philadelphia in exchange of Tony DeAngelo before the NHL stepped in and axed the trade due to alleged cap circumvention.
Rizzo went without a point in both games but played a major role in the early parts of the season to lead Denver to a 32-9-3 record. In three years with the Pioneers, Rizzo went from 36 points in 39 games in 2021-22 to 46 points in 38 games in 2022-23, to 44 points in 30 games this year. The Flyers will look to sign Rizzo in the not-so-distant future and he could feature as an early mainstay for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Speaking of the Phantoms, recently signed goaltender Alexei Kolosov finally made his much anticipated North American professional debut and earned the hard fought victory to get his career rolling. The Flyers drafted Kolosov in the 3rd round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and eventually signed him to his ELC over the summer. Once his KHL season came to a close, he left Dinamo Minsk to join the Phantoms for the rest of their season.
He spent four years playing for his hometown team of Dinamo Minsk and over the course of his tenure he ameliorated in almost every category. He was playing behind a downtrodden club but managed to push them into the playoffs this year despite his 22-21-3 record. He carried a 2.39 GAA and a .907 SV% during the regular season and a .925 SV% and 2.21 GAA in the postseason before Minsk was eliminated in six games.
The year before, Kolosov owned a .912 SV% and a 2.55 GAA with a 13-21-1 record, profiling his individual abilities and overall game play.
In his AHL debut, Kolosov allowed 4 goals on 24 shots in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Bridgeport Islanders. The Phantoms were holding onto a 4-3 lead with 35 seconds left in regulation before the Islanders tied things up courtesy of Brian Pinho’s equalizer. The Phantoms eventually won in overtime after Louie Belpedio‘s fourth tally of the season just 78 seconds into the extra frame.
Kolosov departed Minsk on the 26th of March but didn’t make his debut for nearly three weeks. It remains to be seen how many more games they give to Kolosov with the Phantoms in the thick of a playoff race, but he figures to be a main feature in 2024-25 at the very least.
The Phantoms have three games remaining in the regular season and are currently holding onto the sixth and final spot in the Atlantic Division. They are four points up on the Springfield Thunderbirds who only have two games remaining, so all they need is a singular point within the final three games to clinch their spot.
The Phantoms’ goaltending has been spotty at best this season with Cal Petersen sporting a 9-15-3 record with a 2.81 GAA and an .891 SV%, while his counterpart in Felix Sandström is 12-7-3 with an. 881 SV% and a 3.24 GaA. If Ian Laperrière is looking for new blood in goal to lead them into the postseason, then Kolosov might be his best bet, considering what he just did for Dinamo Minsk.
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