Zayde Wisdom scores team-leading seventh goal in Phantoms loss

The Philadelphia Flyers had a rare night off on Wednesday, but the Lehigh Valley Phantoms were in action. The Phantoms’ luck wasn’t much better than the Flyers’, however, as they lost 6-2 to the Hershey Bears.

One of the bright spots in the loss was Zayde Wisdom. The Flyers’ 2020 fourth-round pick (94th overall) continued his strong rookie season with a goal in the loss.

Wisdom’s goal came on the power play with the Phantoms down 5-1 in the third period.

Wisdom set up in the slot as defenseman Derrick Pouliot and 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster played catch. After Pouliot faked a shot, he got a pass back from Foerster and one-timed the puck on net. Wisdom got a piece of the shot to deflect it home.

Pouliot and Foerster opened up the shooting lane and Wisdom did his thing in the slot.

It was the seventh goal of the season for Wisdom to take the team lead. He was tied with Ryan Fitzgerald and Max Willman at six goals prior to that. Wisdom also leads the Phantoms with 11 points.

Foerster, the Flyers’ first-round pick in last year’s draft, is now on a three-game point streak with the assist.

Among the league leaders, Wisdom is tied for 10th in the AHL with seven goals. However, he is now in a five-way tie for the most goals by a rookie despite playing in just 14 games. Arthur Kaliyev has played in 20 with the Ontario Reign.

Wisdom had a hot stretch from February 14th to March 3rd with nine points (six goals, three assists) in six games. He picked up an assist on March 10th, but this was his first goal since February 27th (six games).

Wisdom is just 18 years old and wouldn’t even be playing in the AHL if the OHL wasn’t shut down due to COVID-19. He had 59 points (29 goals, 30 assists) in 62 games with the Kingston Frontenacs last season, where he should’ve been playing this year.