It's been eight years since the Philadelphia Flyers drafted Union College defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft and four years since he took the NHL by storm to set a rookie defenseman point streak record (15 games) and earn the top runner-up spot for the Calder Trophy. "Ghost" celebrated his 27th birthday on April 20, 2020.

The 2019-20 season has not gone the way Gostisbehere envisioned it for himself. Coming off a down year in 2018-19 after a stellar 2017-18 campaign (65 points, regular top-pair duty paired with Ivan Provorov), the offensive-minded blueliner anticipated a return to form under new head coach Alain Vigneault and new assistant coach Mike Yeo.

For various reasons, it has not worked out that way. However, Gostisbehere's performance appeared to back on the upswing at mid-season until he was sidelined by a knee injury. Now healthy again, the player was eager to reclaim a regular spot in the Flyers' starting lineup at the time the NHL paused to 2019-20 season on March 12 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Overall, "Ghost" has been limited to 42 games this season (5g, 7a). Among the Flyers' 69 games this season, he dressed in 40 of the first 43 but only two of the last 26 before the season pause.

Ten of the games he missed were due to arthroscopic right knee surgery, which sidelined him from Jan. 8 to Feb. 3. After a one-game return to the Flyers' lineup on Feb. 6, he had a two-game conditioning stint in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms amid of stretch of being out of the Flyers' NHL lineup again as a healthy scratch until he dressed in the March 10 game against Boston (16:13 TOI).

Earlier in the season, Gostisbehere sat out three games (Nov. 23 to 27) as a healthy scratch in late November. When he returned to the lineup, Gostisbehere started to turn a corner. Unfortunately, injury got in the way in January.



In his final game before exiting the lineup, Gostisbehere's knee locked up on him as he went to pivot skating backwards. In significant discomfort, he knew it was no longer something he could play through. When he returned to the Flyers from his two games with the Phantoms, Gostisbehere said he now felt fine and his timing was coming back.

In the meantime, the Flyers were on a roll throughout February into mid-March. Gostisbehere said that he understood why Vigneault was not inclined to make changes in the lineup, barring injury.

"Ghost" finally got his chance to play again in what proved to be the final game before the pause, in place of injured defenseman Philippe Myers (fractured kneecap, from which he's now recovered). He was in the projected starting lineup for the Flyers' March 12 game in Tampa Bay -- which ended up being the first postponed game as the NHL suspended the season -- and stood a good chance at seeing his first extended number of games if not for the timing of the season pause.

A two-time winner of the Barry Ashbee Trophy (2015-16, 2017-18), Gostisbehere has three seasons remaining on his current contract ($4.5 million average annual value). The deal which runs through the 2022-23 season.

FIVE KEY FACTS

1) Four of the five goals that "Ghost" scored this season were scored in the eight games between Nov. 29 and Dec. 15.

2) As his confidence returned from the tail end of December until the knee injury, Gostisbehere's ice times increased again, too. Between Nov. 29 and the Jan. 7 game when he tweaked his right knee -- which he later said had been bothering him off and on for awhile but worsened in the final game -- Gostisbehere played 19 or more minutes in seven games and 20-plus minutes in four.

3) At five-on-five this season, Gostisbehere ranks third among Flyers defensemen with a 52.01 percent Corsi and second in Fenwick (51.78 percent). In terms on-ice expected goals for/against at full strength, he ranks sixth (46.96%).

4) Ghost has posted two multi-point games this season: Oct. 26 vs. Columbus and Dec. 3 against Toronto.

5) Over the course of his NHL career (2015-16 to present), Gostisbehere leads all Flyers defensemen and is second among all players to appear for the team during that time, with an average 3:35 of power play time per game. That exceeds even Claude Giroux (3:33). However, this season, Ghost's average power play time dropped to 2:38 -- sixth on the team -- as a result of Ivan Provorov (3:03) displacing him on the PP1 unit.

TOP HIGHLIGHTS

1) Oct. 26 vs CBJ (10:52, 3rd period): With the Flyers trailing the Blue Jackets midway through the third period by a 4-1 score, it was Gostisbehere who kicked off one of the most dramatic turnarounds in team history. His one-timer goal from the deep center slot off a Claude Giroux feed cut the deficit to two goals. The Flyers went on to score a total of five unanswered goals to skate off with a 7-4 victory. Earlier in the game, Gostisbehere assisted on a James van Riemsdyk power play tally.

2) Nov. 29 vs. DET (19:02, 1st period): Ghost's late first period power play goal put the Flyers ahead of the Red Wings. 2-1, in the Black Friday matinee at the Wells Fargo Center. With the Flyers going on to win, 6-1, Gostisbehere's goal stood as the game-winner. In a season where he's had very little puck luck go his way, Ghost got some on this play. Pinching down to the bottom of the right circle, he steered a backhander in front and the puck bounced into the net off a defender's skate. Teammate Oskar Lindblom occupied two defenders near the net, which ended up playing directly into the fortuitous bounce.

3) Dec. 7 vs. OTT (6:16, 1st period): In a game best remembered for how feisty it got as the afternoon progressed, the Flyers prevailed over the Senators, 4-3. Less than two minutes after the Senators had knotted the score at 1-1, Gostisbehere restored an early lead for Philly. Ghost got every bit of this left point blast with traffic swirling in front of Craig Anderson.

THEY SAID IT

"I like Shayne. He's gone through a few weeks, probably over a month now with some [knee] issues and he's cleaned it up. ...He's a guy I think can still contribute. He can play on the power play. We were certainly not looking to move him [at the trade deadline."

-- Chuck Fletcher, Feb. 27, 2020.

HE SAID IT

".I've just got to realize how good of a player I am and that players like me don't grow on trees. I've got to get back to that."

-- Shayne Gostisbehere, Nov. 25, 2019.

"I definitely had a better mindset mentally [after returning to the lineup]. I was feeling good and I think we realize on this team that we're all doing the little things. Every guy has a small role. No matter what your role is, just roll with the punches."

-- Shayne Gostisbehere, Jan. 30, 2020.