Morgan Frost, who made his NHL debut earlier this season with the Flyers, was loaned back to the Phantoms Sunday afternoon.

The Flyers top prospect got off to a fast start in his NHL career, scoring his first NHL goal in his inaugural game against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 19. In his second NHL game, Frost added his second goal and chipped in with an assist against Carolina.

In 16 games since then, Frost has notched just four assists and no goals for the Flyers, leading them to send him back to Lehigh Valley for more work.

Prior to turning pro, Frost spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League as a member of the Soo Greyhounds. He had two phenomenal seasons to wrap up his stint as a Greyhound and lead the Flyers to draft him with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft.

Frost was named an OHL First Team All-Star in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 and led the OHL in assists in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, with 70 and 72 assists, respectively. He also finished second in points with 112 during 2017-18. The native of Aurora, Ontario totaled 319 points on 110 goals and 209 assists in 268 career OHL games.

The 20-year-old Frost has played 16 games with Lehigh Valley this season, and has five goals and seven assists during his rookie season and tallied 12 points on five goals and seven assists. Frost notched his first pro point on Oct. 18 as part of a three-assist game against the Binghamton Devils. He went on to tally points in seven straight games, the longest stretch by a Phantom this season.

Frost’s move back to the AHL was also helped along by the fact that Michael Raffl was activated from the IR and ready to return to full-time duty in Philadelphia after suffering a broken finger in early December.

Had Frost not slumped, another former Phantom, Mikhail Vorobyev, would have likely been the one sent back to Lehigh Valley. The hope is that playing with the Phantoms will allow Frost to regain some confidence, and then return to Philadelphia for the stretch run as another scoring option for the team.

The Flyers have faced a number of injuries, which has depleted the Phantoms’ roster. Lehigh Valley has scored just 10 goals in its last six games, and has gone 1-5-0-0 in that span to fall into last place in the Atlantic Division, a full 14 points behind Hartford and Providence, who sit atop the division.

The Phantoms and Utica Comets played a lackluster game through much of the first 40 minutes on Saturday, with Utica holding a 1-0 lead. Something sparked the Phantoms, and they got goals from Kurtis Gabriel and Gerry Fitzgerald in the span of just 39 seconds. It was hoped that the offensive skid was ending, but just then, the defense faltered and allowed two Utica goals in just under three minutes and the Comets were back on top. The Lehigh Valley offense didn’t produce the rest of the night.

“You get a spurt like that where you get a couple of quick goals,” said Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon, “and you think you see something from the guys and just that fast, it turns back around. We give up a couple goals and the offense stalls the rest of the way. It’s just the nature of the game, with so many players having to be shifted around and guys needing to adjust to new roles.”

GIVING THEM FITZ

... Gerry Fitzgerald is one player who appears to be putting things together for Lehigh Valley. The 26-year-old scored his second goal in as many nights against Utica. In his last seven games, Fitzgerald has three goals and an assist after enduring a stretch where he tallied just one goal and two assists in his previous 18 games for Lehigh Valley.

YOU HAVE TO SHOOT TO SCORE

... You can sense some frustration and pressure among Phantoms players. Many players appear to be looking to play a perfect game and look to line up the picture-perfect shot instead of just looking to force opportunities. A prime example came in a 3-0 loss to Hershey on Sunday when they had a four-minute man advantage and were only able to get three shots on goal in that stretch. They finished the game with just 19 shots on goal.

NO STICK, NO HELMET, NO GOAL

... With every part of their game struggling, the one player who can’t be blamed is Alex Lyon. The Phantoms lead goalkeeper turned aside 35 shots against Hershey on Sunday, including 15 in the first period. At one point, Lyon lost his stick in a battle in front of the net, but still kept the puck out of the goal. He later lost his helmet, but didn’t back down and again shut down the Bears offensive attack.