Phantoms at Hershey Bears, Game 4, East Division Semifinals, 4-24-09: Second Period

LOL. We actually had four PKs in the first period, not three. Being |shorthanded for nearly half the period is part of the reason for the disparity in the shot count.

Interesting stat: Sirianni has two of our four shots, with Kempe and Guenin accounting for the other two.

OK, guys, we are at even strength, time to get out of our zone... oh, wait. Did I say we were at even strength? Silly me. There goes a whistle and another penalty against the Phantoms. Matsumoto goes.

Mink scores for Hershey. So the score is Ciamaga 1, Phantoms 0.

GREAT SAVE, AUBIN, and about ten seconds later, what do you know? Another freaking whistle. At this rate, we will get called with too many men on the ice when we have five guys out there. CHEESE AND RICE with these penalties.

AAAH, shorthanded breakaway by Mastumto, GO GO GO aaack HAULED DOWN and we are getting a Penalty Shot! GO MATSY, GO MATSY! Nuts, Neuvirth made the save.

Nice blocked shot by a Phantom, but I can't see who it was. I think Guenin was on the ice, though, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was the one.

We are (whispering) even strength (/whispering) and Aubin just made a fantastic stop on a point-blank deflection. ANOTHER great save on the following shift. NICE job!

Now it's Hershey's turn to go shorthanded for a spell, as Amadio heads off. Kukkkonen and Syvret are out with what I believe is the Matsumoto line... here comes a long 5-on-3 advantage for the Phantoms, as Hershey just got a tripping call. Samd guys out, and yes, that's the Matsumoto line. We are cycling but mixing in some good shots and shot attempts on goal. BLAH, the net goes off its moorings and Neuvirth has been doing acrobatics to keep the net puck-free. Now Ratchuk and Curry are out with Kane, Sirianni, and someone I can't see as the first penalty ends. Not overly long after that, the second penalty ended as well. The Phantoms have yet to score on the PP in this series, which is a pity as our special teams were absolutely great toward the end of the regular season.

Gee, how astounding. A penalty on the Phantoms. Who'd've thought it? Maroon goes. AUBIN, YAY, consecutive point-blank stops, NICE JOB! Maroon is out but we are having fits trying to clear the flipping puck. NICE save again by Aubin. Finally we get the heck out of our freaking zone. Eventually there is a stoppage in play as the Bears have a hand pass.

Per our announcer, we have not ad a shot since our two-man advantage, about eight minutes ago. Now it looks like we are giving Neuvirth something to do, however. Boy, we have been at (whispering) 5-on-5 (/whispering) for a while now. SOG are now Hershey 21, Phantoms 12.

Drat, I can't even whisper about being at even strength. There goes Sirianni to the sin bin after hitting a Bear who stopped a bit too far short of the boards to be safe. Boarding is the call. The Bears have their 8th man advantage. Guenin/Syvret iwth Matsumoto/Laliberte. Matsumoto clears and the Phantoms change, Kalinski/Kane with Bartulis/Kukkonen. We clear again, and the Bears go offside carrying it back in. NICE "Statue of Liberty" save by Aubin through a whole lot of traffic. :D

53.7 seconds left in the period; the Phantoms ice the puck and we have the faceoff in our end. We get out, but the Bears come back on a 2-on-1; Aubin makes the stop.

Nice pick-off by Maroon. The Bears net gets pushed well askew, but Ciamaga chose to let the play continue until the time ran out. We SHOULD have had an offensive-zon draw, instead we got bupkis.

At the end of the period, the Bears lead 1-0. SOG: Bears 25, Phantoms 13. (The *EIGHT* Hershey PPs have something to do with the skewed stats.)

Time for the Phantoms to regroup and come out borderline homicidal in the third period. Lose the game, lose the series and lose the team, so it's now or never for a comeback. GO PHANTOMS!