Zayde Wisdom scores twice shorthanded in Phantoms Game 2 win over Bears

Flyers prospect Zayde Wisdom showed up in a big way for the Phantoms as they secured their Game 2 victory and tied up the series with Hershey.

Last night saw the Phantoms take big step forward in their division semifinal matchup with Hershey, responding after a tough loss in the opener and coming away with a, if not an altogether tidy, well-deserved win.

The Phantoms’ offense looked much more commanding at even strength — a really notable change from their series opener performance — and while they did manage to pot one goal at even strength, the bulk of their scoring came, go figure, on the penalty kill.

The lack of discipline from the Phantoms throughout this postseason has been much lamented, and there’s been a real feeling that they’ve been playing with fire, with a continued inability to keep themselves out of the box, and yet, they keep not getting burned in big ways. Last night saw them give up one power play goal, but still manage to outscore the Bears on the power play, in an effort that was somewhat singular — that is, it was on two well pressured breakout plays that the Phantoms were able to send a pair of their forwards heading down-ice on the rush, and it was twice the Zayde Wisdom was able to get one by Hunter Shepard shorthanded.

And the fact that Wisdom was able to step up for the team in this way should not come as a shock, after all, “he’s been playing like that all year, for us,” Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere said postgame. “He’s been a great surprise… not surprise, I shouldn’t say surprise, but I talked about him before, he’s a kid who came to our camp and told me this summer ‘I’ll come to camp and make your team and you won’t be able to take me out.’ A lot of guys are telling me that, but not too many guys walk the walk. He’s been walking the walk and he’s one of our leaders in that room and I couldn’t be happier, he’s just a great kid.”

And this echos what Laperriere has been saying about Wisdom since the real resurgence of his game kicked off back in December. He’s been doing well to get himself on the scoresheet, which is certainly impressive in its own right, but even more notably, he’s bringing a balanced and engaged game, which helps to raise the level of play of whoever he’s paired with. He might not be one of the big names on this roster, might not be putting up the biggest and flashiest of numbers, but he’s done some remarkable work to rebuild his game at this level, and to make himself an integral part of this offense. He’s in a really positive spot with his game, and he’s stepping up for them when they need him most.