Phantoms at Bridgeport 11-23-08: First Period

The Phantoms have not gotten off to a good start. In the first few minutes of the first period, we're already down 2-0. I was having some difficulties getting the video going at the time of the first goal, so I didn't see it, but the second one went in on a screened shot. Scott Munroe is our starter, and I hope he's able to shake the early portion of the game off and keep going. I trust the rest of the team to get him those goals back, if we pay ike we should. Goodness knows there are plenty of minutes remaining for us to strike back.

Ross, Maroon, and Giroux are out there, even as I type, trying to give us some scoring opportunities of our own. At the time, the Sound Tigers lead in shot on goal, 6-1. They didn't bury one, but on the next shift Jeff Szwez did the honors, cutting our deficit to 2-1 with an unassisted goal.

Now we're on the PP, which prompted the announcer to mention that the Phantoms are third in the league at the moment in PP scoring. Nice. Here's hoping we can generate some of that special-teams magic and erase the deficit entirely. Nope, no dice. Still 2-1.

On the other hand, it didn't take long for the Phantoms to return to the man advantage. EVERYbody's running all over the place in the Bridgeport zone on this PP, but the Phantoms are controlling the puck. Now we're in a scrum in front of Danis, but Danis just made a fantastic stop. There goes the second PP, but we're still in the Sound Tigers' end and we're keeping the pressure on. I think we're going to have to screen Danis a bit more, or bank one in on goal somehow. Danis is looking pretty good.

Fortunately, so is Munroe. We haven't spent a lot of time stuck in our own end, but when we are, Munroe's right there.

I'm surprised to see former Flyer Mike Sillinger on the Bridgeport roster. He and his line are giving us some agita, which isn't surprising to me since he's got a lot more experience than anyone else I know of from either team. He not only assisted on both Sound Tigers tallies but he just clanged one off the crossbar, even as I type.

The first period is over, and the score remains 2-1 in favor of Bridgeport.