Heat head coach Cail MacLean attributes the increased production to some hard-earned savvy and belief that have been added to Phillips' elbow grease.
"He's always been good with his (hockey) sense," said Stockton's bench boss. "There's more strength in battles, but there's also more confidence in those battles. He was relying more on his sneakiness last year. He's still got sneakiness now, but he's also got slipperiness. He can squeeze through holes whereas before he was stealing pucks, now he's getting in there and making it to the other side."
Phillips' awareness on the ice has also been put on display this season, never moreso than in the Heat's game-winning goal against the Colorado Eagles on Saturday. The forward saw an opportunity to pressure goalie Hunter Miska, who had left the cage to play a puck by the boards. The speedy winger stripped Miska of the puck and quickly turned his attention toward the slot, hitting a streaking Luke Philp with a great pass that led to a goal.
Looking strictly at the numbers, there's an obvious difference in Phillips' production from a year ago - the consistency factor. No sophomore slump to be found, Phillips has made his way onto the scoresheet in 15 of 20 games played. He has yet to go two-straight without scoring. He's run up five points with two goals in Stockton's last three outings.
"I pride myself on being consistent," Phillips said. "If you just look at the points, sometimes you'll have a tough game but get some points somehow. Some games you do a lot of things really well but the pucks just aren't bouncing right. I pride myself on just being consistent, feeling good every day and doing the right things on and off the ice."
His 200-foot game continues to come along and he's always aiming to fine-tune the minutia that separates good from great, or in his case perhaps being No. 13 in the league to cracking the top 10.
"I expect that his work ethic will be second to none," said MacLean on his night-in, night-out expectations. "That's a staple of his game. I expect that he'll be detailed with the puck in terms of playing a 200-foot game. I expect that he'll find a way to possess the puck in open ice and create some offence."