Phantoms vs, Hershey Bears, 4-10-09, Final Game at the Spectrum

At the block party outside, we met up with and took pics with Frank Miceli, the team's former COO. Of course he's here; this was his second home for years. It's good to see him. I hope he brought extra good mojo with him to help boost the team into the playoffs.

Oustside, the band played "These Were The Best Days Of My Life". I wanted to cry, Which was only exacerbated when I saw the STH gift: a mini banner saluting the Final Game at the Spectrum, with Gene Hart's quote, "Good Night and Good Hockey".

The music on the PA is getting me, too; "Philadelphia Freedom", "I Will Remember You" (which nearly set me off again), "If I Could Turn Back Time"... the pregame music choices are surely no accident.

John Paddock is on the bench, pre-warmups, with his own personal video camera. Lou Nolan was signing autographs in the tunnel, but ran out of autograph cards before he got to me.

I already saw one small kid whom I'm familiar with crying at his seat. Yeah, little buddy, I can empathize.

So many familiar faces are here. That's what happens when you sit in the same place for at least 9 of the past 13 seasons. (I had three other locations, including the seats I shared with Bob P. and Karla in the first two seasons, before a seat adjacent to the tunnel became available.) So many long-timers like myself whom I've seen year in and year out, and am unlikely to see much of anymore after the season concludes.

I can see the original press box, which still has WIP on it, and the original organ which is still up in the rafters.

There's a Final Game banner in the rafters, also, waiting to be unfurled.

Scott Munroe just led the team out of the tunnel. Warmups are starting.

Luca Sbisa has returned to Philly, following the elimination of his junior team from the playoffs, and he is wearing #47
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Scratches: Duchesne, Lehtivuori, Ratchuk, DeSantis, Klotz, Beaulieu, Kempe, Bellamy.

Starting Lineup: Munroe, Guenin, Syvret, Ross, Kane, Sirianni

Less than two minutes into the game, MacNeill and Josh Gratton fight. Meanwhile we also get a PP because Helmer went off for inbte2rference, so it's our first PECOOOO POWER PLAY of the game. MacNeill landed more punches early, but Gratton landed haymakers of his own and got the eventual takedown. The fans went berserk when he raised his arms on the way to tbe sin bin. When Berube was our assistant coach in the Cup year, he reprimanded Josh for doing that, but I think even he would understand the emotion of the moment. This is NOT just any game,and everyone knows it.

Sbisa is out with Curry and the Matsumoto line. OMG this place is as deafening as old-time Bears/Phantoms games. WOW.

With 8 seconds left in the PP, we have the only three SOG.

Hee, make that 4 SOG with five seconds left in the PP.

With Ratchuk scratched, the D Pair is now Curry and Sbisa.

Szwez is out with Kalinski and JVR. and we are back to even strength. Syvret/Guenin and Bartulis/Kukkonen are our other D pairs.

FIGHT, Clackson vs. Brennan. Like Gratton, Clackson got the takedown and I would say the edege. GREAT GREAT GREAT this team has really come out on fire. At the time of the Clackson fight, we had 5 SOG to Hershey's 1.

Now there's a scrum on Munroe's doorstep as the Bears attempt to get the frozen puck loose. But the ref calls play dead and we get a faceoff.

SCOOOOOOOORE! Matsumoto jams his 29th goal in from he doorstep with assists from Maroon and Laliberte! It was our 6th shot of the game, compared to Hershey's 2.

We then get our first PK as Sbisa goes of. Ross and Kane break out 2 on 2, with Syvret and Guenin on D for the start of the kill.

Next, Matsumoto/Laliberte with Kukkonen and Bartulis AAAA BREAKAWAY... shoot, the goalie made the stop. Nice way to shave time off the clock. :D The Phantoms are out there with an intensity that is easily playoff-level. We know that it's a "win or go home situation", and we are playing like it.

Koharski calls Guenin for slashing with 4 seconds left in the Sbisa penalty. Kane, Syvret, and Kukkonen are out. Ross comes out whe Sbisa crosses the ice and arrives at the bench. Next up are Matsumoto/Lalibere th Bartulis/Curry. Again Laliberte takes the puck all the way in for a shot on goal. SOG are Phantoms 8, Bears 2, with 21 seconds left in the Guenin penalty.

Bartulis blocks a shot. As the penalty expires, the SOG are Phantoms 9, Bears 3.

With just under five minutes left, again Laliberte rushes the puck up ice full speed, followed by eeryone else.; Our scoring attempt earned us another PECOOOO POWER PLAY. Ross, Kane Sirianni, Kukkonen, and Syvret are out. SCOOOOOORE Sirianni from Syvret and Ross!!!! Outstanding! It was our 10th SOG.

About a shift later, here comes another PECOOOOO POWER PLAY. Matsumoto's line is out with Sbisa and Curry. The Bears are clearing the puck pretty well this time around, but the infraction is only half served. SCOOOOOORE!!! Sirianni again from Kane and Kukkonen! 3-0 Phantoms! SOG are 13-4 in favor of the Phantoms. One of those Bears shots came during the PP we just truncated with a goal.

And at the end of the period, the Phantoms went off to a standing ovation, leading 3-0 and outshooting Hershey 13-4.
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Intermission music: "Times of Your Life" and "Glory Days". HA HA HA, they're playing the Three Stooges theme again as the officials come out. :D They'd stopped doing that for a while, but tonight, it's baaaaack. :)

The second goal is now credited to Syvret from Kukkonen and Ross. We spent most of the first 90 seconds of the frame in our end, but allowed no shots. Matsumoto and company toook it in for a shot on Neuvirth, but Matsy shot high. However,even over the crowd noice, the puck struck the glass loudly. He got ALL of that disk!

The Bears must have gotten an earful in the locker room, because they are spending time cycling in our end again. However,a mixed line combo of Gratton, Raduns, and Ross got out of our zone and Ross sent a blistering puck on goal for the first shot by either team in the period. Nearly 4 minutes have elapsed in the frame. Neuvirth had to make a NICE save to keep that one out. For his troubles, he gets to stop three more pucks on the next shift. Ross's line is out for the faceoff. With 4 and a half mijtes gone, Munroe stops his first shot of the period, and it's a dandy save from point blank range. His next save thuds loudly off his pads, to loud applause from the Phantoms Phaithful.

Clackson gets called for hooking, so we go on the PK. Matsumoto/Laliberte are wth Guenin and Syvret. And MUNROE. :) Who is making stops With Authority. Aw, heck. Bears score just as the penalty ends. It's their 10th SOG, compared to our 7th. Also reminiscent of Days Of Old, there is a loud contingent of Bears fans in the house. We Phantoms fans will be returnng the favor tomorrow night at the GIANT Center, however.

With 9:30 left in the period, we give Neuvirth a puck to freeze just before the promo timeout.

Kalinski, JVR, and Szwez are out with Kukkonen and Bartulis.

Guenin blocked a shot. :)

HOLY COW. Our Phan Club's Sergeant-at-Arms just told me that Norfolk is leading Binghamton 6-0. OH. MY. GOSH. GO ADMIRALS!!!! If we win and Bingo loses, we clinch the last playoff berth!

AAAH SCOOOORE! While I was typng the great news about how much Norfolk is helpng our cause, KALINSKI scored an un-assisted goal on our 21st shot! $-1 Phantoms!!!

Next up, another PK. They think Matsumoto tripped someone. The Phantoms Phaithful beg to differ, LOUDLY. :D Oddly enough, I thought the Bears got a shot six seconds into the PK, but it never registered on the board. NOW they have a shot, with 36 seconds left in their man advantage. Munroe had to stop one other puck during the PK. Now the Matsumoto line is buzzing around the Bears net with a minute to go in the frame. They're followed by the Ross line, THEY'RE followed by the sound of the horn.

At the end of the second period, the Phantoms lead 4-1, and the SOG are Phantoms 21, Bears 17.
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I had some computer issues during the third period and the recap I was typing got lost. Dang it. But in short order, you know that second Phantoms goal that was recredited to Syvret? Well, apparently everyone conveniently decided to pay no mind to that, because when Sirianni scored an empty-net goal to make it Phantoms 5, Hershey 2, there was a downright avalanche of hats. :) So if the box score remains as it is right now, crediting Sirianni with three goals, then we closed out our tenure at the Spectrum by winning two fights, scoring five goals, celebrating a hat trick, and clinching a playoff berth!

For a few points of interest that happened during the third period: Hershey's second goal was scored by The Wrong Giroux, aka Alexandre Giroux. It was bhis 58tb of the season. WHY is this man not with the Washington Capirals?! CALL HIM THE HECK UP! Anybody with 58 freaking goals belongs in the SHOW, thank you very much!

Hershey repeatedly pinballed the puck off the boards behind the net, aiming it for a guy who would be stationed there to try and stuff the puck in before Munroe could move laterally. On one of those attempts, Kukkonen saved us from being scored on by crouching down to block the puck. It was a gutsy move on his part, given he still is wearing a guard on the lower half of his face, and he put himself right in the line of fire for both the oncoming puck and the stick that shot it. Fortunately, he kept the puck out without getting injured. But this team was motivated enoujh to dive in front of a Mac truck if that's what it took to win this game. This was just one bit of evidence to that effect.

Keith Jones, wired jaw and all, announced both Sirianni's goal and the "For the final time in the Spectrum, one minute left in the period" call. At the end, the whole team gathered at center ice and saluted the fans, then followed Phlex around the perimeter of the ice. Phlex had the "THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES" sign held high, and the team tapped the glass with their sticks all the way around the ice.

During the "Shirts Off Our Backs" after the game, the final song to be played in the Spectrum was "Say Goodbye".

It was a great send-off for one of the last ARENAS in pro sports. For make no mistake, the Spectrum is an ARENA. Most of the new buildings today are Entertainment Venues. The sports world will be a lesser place when the Spectrum is relegated to history.

But at least the Sports World will continue to have the Phantoms in it for a while longer. We are in the playoffs!

GREAT JOB, Phantoms! Now go kick some more Bear tail in Hershey tomorrow night!

WOO HOOOO, We're In The Playoffs!!!!

The GREAT news is, we beat Hershey 5-2 and Bridgeport lost to Norfolk, so we have absolutely clinched a playoff berth as of tonight! OUTSTANDING!!!!

The aggravating news is that my game night recap got goofed up and I've only got the first two periods to show for it.

So I'll be proofreading those, then writing up the things I remember best about the third period. There were plenty of highlights to remember, for sure.

I am SO PROUD of this team. Did we ever come out like gangbusters in this game!

Phantoms vs. Norfolk Admirals, 4-5-09

Scratches: Duchesne, Lehtivuori, Sloane, DeSantis, Klotz, Beaulieu, Kempe, Bellamy

Starting lineup: Munroe, Bartulis, Kane, Sirianni, Ross

The induction of Peter White into the Phantoms hall of fame took place prior to the game.

Matsumoto's line remains the same Szwez/Kalinski/JVR are also a line. The D pairs are the same as normal. The three remaining forwards are Raduns, Gratton, and Clackson and they are a line too.;

Two and a half minutes in, the Phantoms have the only shot on goal.

JVR parked at the crease's edge to try and screen the goalie/corral a rebound. Good thinking on his part. His line drew a penalty during that shift. So we are on the PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY with the Ross line, Syvret, and Kukkonen.

OMG OMG OMG Ratchuk does an end-to-end rush reminiscent of his first pro goal, and BURIES the biscuit for a 1-0 lead!

I didn't even have time to type in that we were shorthanded, with Bartulis off, before Laliberte and Matsumoto break in and score SH Laliberte from Guenin and Matsumoto, ALLL RIIIIIIGHT!!!

This was followed by a superb save by Munroe when the Admirals get the puck into our end – Muny is pumped to do HIS part to earn us that playoff spot, too. :)

Matsumoto makes another break Shorthanded, or at least we were shorthanded when he started rushing the puck. It was a 1-on-2 break, and the Admirals defenders included hooking among their attempts to keep him from scoring. So we get another PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY. Ross's line goes out with Curry and Ratchuk. We proceed to get a switch, as Kane goes up the tunnel holding his wrist. JVR comes out to replace him.

We go to 4 on 4 for 1:20 as Sirianni gets called for interference. That leaves Ross and JVR out with Kukkonen and Bartulis for the start of the 4 on 4. Kukkonen, BTW, still has jaw protection attached to his helmet Net up, Matsumoto/Laliberte with Syvret/Guenin as we go to the SH situation. Then Raduns/Kalinski.

Good, Kane and the trainer return to the bench.

Kalinski goes barreling up the ice on a 2 on 1 as our penalty expires. We got a couple of chances out of it, but no goal. Norfolk's goalie made a great save to keep the score at 2-0.

Aaaaw, JVR narrowly missed getting his first pro goal – he was breaking in on goal With Intent, but no dice this time. If he keeps that up, though, we'll see that pro point before the game is out.

Boy, did Ratchuk move fast to get to a loose puck near our net. We have had games in this season where we haven't gotten to stray disks first, but this is not turning out to be a night like that. Great!

LALIBERTE!!!! From Matsumoto and Maroon! Matsy's shot created a rebound that went way off to the side, but Laliberte was there to slam it over the prone goalie.

We proceed to get the Battle of the #15s, as Clackson and Brookbank go. Clackson gets the extra two for roughing. Gratton will sit in his stead. It was a somewhat long tilt that had Brookbank trying to pin Clackson in close and throw head shots. Clackson gave up a lot of size and reach, but apparently not much strength, because he fought out of the bear hug and got in some punches of his own. Brookbank seemed to throw more than Clackson, if we want to go by punch count, but I would say the quality of the shots was about even. I would say
“draw”, or :”slight edge, Brookbank”.

Raduns, Kalinski, Guenin, and Syvret are out on the PK for the final minute of the period.

At the end of the period, the teams are back at even strength, the Phantoms lead 3-0, and the SOG are Phantoms 12, Admirals 10.
WTH? A center-ice scrum that eventually separated into just Gratton and Henley looked fightish, till Henley.... turned and skated away mid-fight. If he was trying to make Gratton get the Betteann 17 (two for instigation and a ten-minute misconduct on top of the 5 for fighting), the ploy failed. All he got was booed and the players got coincidental majors.

I'm still not sure what triggered that outburst, though, really. All I know is that both Clackson and Gratton are in the sin bin at the moment, and I'm not too happy about it. I don't want to see shenanigans going on out there with our two best fighters in the box. Fortunately, though, Clacker should be done with his two-minute extra penalty soon. His waltz partner is already finished with his fie minutes and came out at the last stoppage in play.

Szwez is on the ice with Kalinski and JVR. Which tells me, among other things, that we are letting our other most physical guy be out there while we await Clackson's return.

Maroon was denied on a POINT BLANK shot by a superb save. No matter what the demeanor of his teammates, their netminder Kowalski most definitely came to play.

Ross made a slick play, looking like he was about to crash the net with the puck, only to jam on the brakes and let the defender go past him. He got a clear shot on goal off, but unfortunately an Admiral was in better position to get to the resulting rebound before Sirianni could fire it home. Nice move, though. :)

Here we go on a PK, as Szwez gets called for hooking. Ross and Kane proceed to break out in a 2 on 1. We don't get a shot but we come darn close and we kill some time off the clock into the bargain.

Back at our end, Guenin blocks a shot.

Next up: Matsumoto/Laliberte with Bartulis and Kukkonen.

The Admirals appear to have tried to turn it on during this period, as they went from being outshot to outshooting us. As the period ends Kane shoots on a 2-on-0 and Kowalski makes the save. The score remains 3-0 Phantoms. SOG are Phantoms 17, Admirals 24.
Yikes, Laliberte and an Admiral I can't identify crashed into one another and the boards at the blue line and both went down stunned. Laliberte got up slowly, but the Admiral got some assistance from the trainer before getting up. What do you know, it's #15, Brookbank, who also got called for roughing. However, someone else is serving his penalty (Buck), so we will have to see if Brookbank returns to the game.

POSTAGE, dang it. We had a few chances so far during this PP, but the most recent one found iron. Then Norfolk made a shorthanded rush, at which point Guenin blocked a shot.

Surprise, we get another PP moments after the previous one ends. Let's try this again, shall we? We got some more opportunities in this man advantage, but all we did was close the gap on the shot clock a bit more. With 10:4 remaining in the period, the SOG are now Phantoms 25, Admirals 28.

BOY did Guenin ever block a shot. That's at least the third time he has laid out flat on the ice to cut off a shooting lane. This time, he swept his stick and cleared the oncoming puck out of harm's way.

On Norfolk's next attempt, our defender took the body and the puck slid gently in toward Munroe all by itself. He easily sticked it aside.

Our rush with 8:01 remaining in the period resulted in yet another penalty against Norfolk, so let's see about cashing in this latest PECOOOOO POWER PLAY. We start with th Matsumoto line, Curry, and Ratchuk. Yiii... on our next shift, Kukkonen's shot from the top of the slot nearly nailed Kane at the crease's edge. Fortunately, everyone was in one intact piece by the end of that sequence. Ross's line is out with Syvret and Kukkonen... as the PP expires, Kalinski, Szwez, and JVR are out with Curry and Ratchuk. With 5:34 remaining, SOG are even at 28-28.

Just as we reach the final minute of the period, Guenin gets called for slashing. So we get to wrap up this game on the PK. At least we can ice the puck at will. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Kukkonen, and Bartulis are out.

Or we could go to 4 on 4 instead, with 36.2 remaining. Ross and JVR are out with Ratchuk and Curry.

And there we go – the game is over, we've won our remaining game in hand, and now it's the Phantoms who are in 4th place by one point. We have a game in Albany on Wednesday, one at home on Friday vs. Hershey on Friday, and a game in Hershey on Saturday. Count them all as must-wins for us to control -our own destiny and secure that final playoff berth.

GO PHANTOMS!

Phantoms vs. Portland Pirates 2-20-09: Third Period

Just before the third period started, they added an assist on the third Phantoms goal. It should now be Patrick Maroon from David Laliberte.

I wonder if one of Portland's goalies is sick? They swapped goaltenders again to start the third... AAAA, SCOOOORE. Boyd Kane puts one in on our first shot of the period. Assists from Nodl and Ross, 21 seconds into the period.

That's the third time we scored early in the period in this game. Portland is having an overall rough go of it tonight. We are doing the right thing by cashing in on that whenever possible, but I suspect the Pirates will not be the happiest team that ever got on a bus once it's time for them to head out of here. 6-0.

Aaah, phooey, there goes the shutout. 6-1, Phantoms with 16:37 left in the period. Would have been nice to see J-S keep that goose-egg on the board, as a show of how well he has played in his last couple of games. Still, as long as we keep our cool and play for the W, it will be good for the team with or without the shutout. We just have to do OUR job and not relax.

With 9:13 left in the period, the score remains 6-1. SOG are Phantoms 28, Pirates 21.

SCOOOORE, about a minute later -- Ross fires one on the netminder that actually does hit the goalie, but keeps going and bounces into the net. Assist goes to Nate Guenin. 7-1 Phantoms.

Nuts. 7-2, just as I was typing that in. OK, we can't go exchanging goals for the rest of the period. Let's make sure that we don't give up opportunities for the Pirates to get some life.

SOG are now Phantoms 29, Pirates 22. So as soon as I typed in the update at 9:13, both teams scores on their next shot on goal. Hmm.

Aw, for goodness sakes. With under 3 minutes left in the period, Clackson gets called for tripping. We have only had one PP in this game, if my memory serves, but so far we have been killing penalties nicely. I hate being shorthande this late in the game, although at least at this point we have a wide enough margin that it shouldn't make or break our chance at a win.

Such as, for example, right now when Portland just had a goal disallowed for hitting the puck in with a high stick. Interestingly, that was reason enough to move the faceoff all the way to the Pirates' end.

We are at even strength in the final minute of the game. Aaaaand there's the final horn. Phantoms win 7-2. SOG Phantoms 30, Pirates 27. Stars of the game were #3 Laliberte, #2 Kane, and obviously #1 Maroon.

Phantoms vs. Portland Pirates 2-20-09: Second Period

MAROOOOOOON scores, assisted by Laliberte and Kukkonen, 49 seconds into the frame! IT was a nice show of persistence on the Phantoms' part, as Maroon's shot was the third in succession. The goalie stopped the initial shot and the first rebound, but Maroon was right there at the top of the crease to fire in the second rebound.

AAH! MAROOOOON does it again, this time unassisted! THere he was to stuff in a puck at the left post. :) So we have taken four shots on goal in the period, and scored on the third and fourth attempt. 3-0 Phantoms, quite iterally in less time than it took for me to type it.

Ooooopsie... Raduns goes for tripping with 17:01 left in the period. Rossk Nodl, Guenin, and Syvret are out. (Speaking of whom, Ross has an A on his jersey and Guenin does not... These are auction jerseys and they were most likely assembed rior to any changes to the assistant captains that took place last week.)

Matsumoto and Laliberte go barreling up the ice for a SH 2 on 2, but one of the Pirates prevents Matsumoto's pass across to Laliberte. Rats. We tried.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we gave up three shots while we were killing thepenalty, but Aubin was upu to the challenge.

I can't help but notice that w3hen play is down at our end of the ice, the Pirates goalie is IN his net. Literally "in", as though he is impersonating a hermit crab. He's leaned forward in a crouch, watching play, but honest to gosh from his shoulders down he is behind the goal line. That's a stance I can't honestly say I've seen before.

With 12:25 left in the period, and the SOG Phantoms 16, Pirates 10, we have a player in the sin bin. Curry has gone off, so we are going on the PK yet again.

SCOOOORE, Kane fires on net shorthanded and it pings off the goalie's mitt and bounces in. Kukkonen assisted. The Pirates have changed goalies. There is 1:01 left in the PK. 4-0, Phantoms.

OMG, MAROOOON gets his third of the game! Lalberte and Guenin get the assists. THere was a scramble in front, and Maroon's shot deflected off something ast the goalie was trying to move post-to-post. I think it hit a defender's skate or stick, but in any case, it went five-hole on the netminder. 5-0, Phantoms.

Now the Phantoms are absolutely being as aggressive on the rush as they've been this season. They're charging into the Pirates' end like there's a winning Lotto ticket to be had for the next guy to score a goal. The Pirates, meanwhile, are understandably frustrated and it's boiling over right in front of Keith Jones's booth. Somehow, only Clackson gets a roughing minor, which is kind of ridiculous when you consider that all ten skaters were in a shoving match. Not to mention, once play resumed, a red-clad attacker knocked J-S Aubin flat right in the crease. No call. Mumble grumble mumble...

Portland swapped netminders again, btw -- their starting goaltender is back out. I woudn't say he's getting an awful lot of help, given the number of SH scoring opportunities that we've had in this game.

Wth 5:26 left, we're having a promo timeout. The teams are at even strength, SOG are Phantoms 21, Pirates 14, and the score remains 5-0 Phantoms.

Fight between Portland's #17 and a Phantom who I couldn't see at first. The Pirate hit one of our guys from behind, knocking him to the ice. The puck was nowhere near this, as far as I could tell. Next thing I knew, there was an orange-and-back-jerseyed combatant having at him. I would give the edge and the takedown to our guy... Who turned out to e David Laliberte. Serves #17 right for thinking he could take liberties (no pun intended) while our scoring line was on the ice. Laliberte gets five minutes for fighting. His wltz partner got two for interference and five for fighting. So with a bit less than two minutes remaining in the frame, we are going on the PP.

Ross got nailed by an attempted shot on goal as he stood at the crease's edge. He proceeded to head up the tunnel. He looked to be in some pain, but since I couldn't tell just where he was hurting, I hope it's something that will go away by the time the second intermission ends.

At the end of the second period, the Phantoms lead 5-0. SOG are Phantoms 22, Pirates 15. The Phantoms have 18 seconds of PP time remaining when the third period begins.

Phantoms vs. Portland Pirates 2-20-09: First Period

Scratches: DeSantis, Klotz
Starting Lineup: Aubin, Ratchuk, Curry, Matsumoto, Laliberte, Maroon

Ratchuk is the Birthday Boy today. He's 21. They get younger and younger in this league, I swear. My husband has a nutty theory that the players stay in the same age range and it's US getting older every year. But I don't feel a bit older, so that can't be right. Have you ever heard something so ludicrous? No, I insist that it's the players getting younber and soon we'll be4 fielding a team full of Mites on Ice. Yeah, that's the ticket. :D

Best sign of the night so far: "How many pucks would a Ratchuk chuck if a Ratchuk could chuck pucks? & Score?" Hee hee hee!

Frank Miceli's induction into the Phantoms Hall of Fame took place prior to the game, It was a really nice ceremony. The one downer was that, as Darth Luukko was included among the dignitaries from the organization, there was booing on the couple of occasions when his name came up. Fortunately, as other individuals' names were announced shortly thereafter, we could resume cheering in short order.

We only have two scratches tonight: DeSantis and Klotz. I'm presuming that means the team is largely healthy, which is a good thng.

SCOOOOORE! Sirianni scores 2:15 into the first period, with an assist from the Birthday Boy Ratchuk! :) Nice! SOG are Phantoms 5, Pirates 0.

A minute and change later, Guenin gets called for hookng, so we get to put our PKing on display. Raduns, Maroon, Bartulis, and Kukkonen are out. Next up, Nodl, Ross, Syvret, and Curry. Ross clears it all the way to the opposing net, just as we reach the one minute mark of the PK. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Bartulis, and Kukkonen take over. OH, lucky for us the Pirate who tried to cash in a rebound hit the side of the net. At the end of the PK, the SOG are Phantoms 5, Pirates 1.

Ratchuk absolutely buries a guy right by the Phantoms bench. Following that, Szwez lays out and blocks a sot, and his efforts send the puck out of our zone. Nice work, guys. Within a shift or two of this, it's our turn to go onto the PP. Two minutes later, the score remained 1-0, Good Guys, and the SOG were now 8-2 in favor of the Phantoms.

Boy, these auction sweaters have numers that are jolly hard to read at a distance, mosty because of the orage stripes that match the hue of the numbers on the back just a hair too well.

With 4:42 remaining in the period, the SOG are Phantoms 9, Pirates 3.

NICE move by Kane, lying on his side at the red line, to sweep his stick and direct the puck to an attacking Phantom before any Pirates could come and take it away.

At the end of the first period, the score is 1-0 Phantoms, and the SOG are 10-5, also in favor of the Phantoms.

Phantoms at Binghamton Senators 2-14-09: Recap and Box Score

The Phantoms won in Binghamton,4-1, on Saturday night. Here is the link to the recap on the Phantoms site.

Here is the link to the box score.

I didn't get home and log on until the game was partway over. The score was tied at 1-1 when I started watching the cybercast. But I certainly saw enough to be extremely pleased at the game J-S Aubin had. He definitely deserved that first star, and I couldn't be happier for the turnaround he made from his start in the previous week. He must have worked his tail off making sure that the problems that cropped up during the Hershey game wouldn't resurface, because by gosh those issues were nowhere to be seen on Saturday night. Good on him! :)

Keep up the great work, J-S -- nothing makes this avowed Goalie Junkie happier than seeing my team's goaltenders earning stars of the game during their appearances. :)

Phantoms at Lowell Devils 02-11-09

I tried to watch the game online wirelessly, while on my way home on the AC Expressway, but the wireless connection was inconsistent and my cell phone battery eventually went kaput. However, I did manage to get home in time to see the last part of the third period, plus the OT and shootout.(Have I ranted recently that I LOATHE SHOOTOUTS?)

At least *this* shootout turned out with a happy ending, for the Phantoms, even if it DID take nine rounds' worth of shooters to determine a winner. But the end result was a Phantoms 2-1 victory.

Here's the recap of the game from the Phantoms site.

And here is the link to the box score.

Next up: the Phantoms play on the road on Friday (Bridgeport) and Saturday( Binghamton), and at home (inasmuch as the Wachovia Center is "home") on Monday (vs. Hamilton).

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-8-09: Third Period

Morency and Curry are released from the sin bin, and on the very next shift, Morency resumed making a nuisance of himself. He managed to side along and take the feet out from under a Phantom. No call. Later, however, karma got him as he took another slide next to his own net and swept away another Sound Tiger. Maroon, committed to moving forward and faced with the prospect of falling over the pair of them, did a high jump and cleared them both. Nice move! :)

NATE GUENIN, boy did he block a shot! Munroe had made the save, but the rebound went out to the opposite faceoff circle from where Munroe was covering. Guenin went siding for all he was worth, and deflected the oncoming puck away from the net.

HA, finally, a PP. Mitch Fritz, the 6'8" behemoth, goes for holding. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Maroon, Syvret, and DeSantis are out. Unfortunately, we chewed up a little bit of time retrieving the puck from our own end, but now we're on our way down to pay a call on Lawson. Raduns, SIrianni, and Kane are the forwards this time. Sirianni spent some time crashing the net, then it was Kanes turn. No dice, as the Sound Tigers cleared the puck. TIme for a line change -- we're back to the original three forwards, but we have finally swapped out the D for fresh legs: Bartulis and Guenin are out.

There goes the end of the penalty. We didn't get a lot done that time around. But MATSUMOTO on a breakaway... Gah, Lawson makes the stop. And I think it's a different Lawson than the one that was in Hershey, having taken a moment to check the roster sheet.

Ugh, Bellamy got slammed hard into the glass behind the Bridgeport net, and he was down for the count. He did, however, batle back to his feet and he has the trainer checking him out on the bench now.

Curry was back on what quickly turned into a 2 on 1 when a second Sound Tiger charaged forward to join the play. He didn't quite prevent the pass across, but Munroe kept track of the puck all the way and made the save.

With 9:44 left in the period, the score remains 1-1 and the SOG are Phantoms 27, Sound Tigers 31. Hersley appears to be operating the bench door in this period -- I am trying to recall if we saw him on the ice at all in this game. I sincerely don't remember seeing him take a shift. I'm suspecting he's not quite ready for prime time, but with callups and injuries galore we had to dress him to make the league minimum. (I strongly suspect that Nodl, even though he did return to the game on Friday night and he practiced yesterday, is a little bit the worse for wear or else he wouldn't be in the press box right now.)

Raduns and Kane on a 2 on 2.. We didn't get it on net, though, and now here come the darn Sound Tigers.

LALIBERTE!!! Buries a shot on a beautiful play! Matsumoto and Guenin get the assists. Outstanding!

Bridgeport has pyulled the goalie. There is a stick lying on the ie in our end and I can't tell whose it is. All our guys appear to be bearing sticks, so that's what's important.

GEEEEESH, a huge scrum at our right post took forever to draw a whistle as the puck remained loose at the feet of eleven skaters. Finally, with 2.4 seconds left, the puck was frozen (or else the ref lost sight of it) and play was stopped. .

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-8-09: Second Period

Hee hee hee... Clackson has ways of getting under the opponents' skin even when he's not fightng. For example, he just jammed on the brakes and sprayed a bunch of snow all over the Sound Tigers goalie. Wise-aleck kid. :)

SCOOOORE: Syvret blasts one in from the top of the slot! Maroon and Matsumoto assisted. NICE shot! IT's 3"42 into the period, and the shot clock reads Phantoms 17, Sound Tigers 9.

Ah, boooo, the first penalty of the game is called, and it's on Laliberte for cross-checking. Phantoms Phans beg to differ. ;) Raduns, Kane, Guenin, nd Syvret are our first P grouping. GREAT SAVE MUNY with a Sound Tiger standing right in front of his face. Matsumoto and Beaulieu are out with Curry and Bartulis. On the next shift, Kane went DIVING to get to a puck that was headed for the Bridgeport zone, taking out the nearest Sound Tiger into the bargain.

After the teams returned to even strength, it looked for a moment like Clackson and Morency were going to go, but then Clackson rejoned the play. Curry, however, took the opportunity to nail Morency with a check when the puck heded his way. Methinks Morency is makng a pest of himself if he's got TWO of our guys gunning for im. Hwever, I can see where with ony a one-goal lead, we would want to take his name and number and get back to him later.

We haven't goten much on goal since we scored... The SOG are now Phantoms 18 Sound Tigers 15, with 9:03 left in the period. Curry nearly made me eat my words with a wraparound attempt -- we did get a shot on goal, but Lawson read the play and hugged the post. The offensive flurry got interrupted when Laliberte's stick broke. DRAT with breaking sticks, that's the second time tonight that someone's stick went kaput at a critical time.

Lawson left a big rebound twice, and twice Matsumoto was right there to try and take advantage of it, but Sound Tigers defenders were also right there to prevent him from getting much on the shot. WHOA now Bellamy, Raduns, and Kane are getting attempts on goal... We only got credited for one shot in that flurry but I assure you that at least two of those attempts reached Lawson. But with the crowd in front of the net, it must have been hard to see that from wherever the official sits.

Yep, Morency is making a nuisance of himself. Curry just dropped the gloves and challenged him, and they had at it. I would give Morency the win on that one.

Phooey. Guenin goes to the sin bin for slashing, AND we have Maroon limping in the tunnel trying to walk off whatever it was that stings him. He and the trainer went up the tunnel... Wth less than three minutes remaining in the period, it's not worth rushing him back onto the ice.

Meanwhile back on the PK, Nate Raduns broke his FREAKING stick and is stuck out there because the second period is when the players have to skate a mile and a half to get to the freaking bench. Finally, Munroe froze the puck and we could get a line change. Oh, what IS it with these STICKS in the past two games?! My NERVES.

BLAST it. We had returned to even strength, but finally the consequences of being stuck in our end for minutes on end caught up to us. Bridgeport scored with 59.5 seconds remaining in the period. Crud. 1-1. SOG are even at 23-23.

And with the period over, the score and SOG remain even at 1-1, 23-23.

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-8-09: First Period

Our scratches are Nodl and Szwez (who said yesterday he might be back as soon as Wednesday). Therefore, Klotz is in today's lineup. I'm glad to hear it. Hersley is also in the lineup.

Our starters are Matsumoto, Laliberte, Maroon, Bartulis and DeSantis.

Klotz lined up Wotton for a big check on his first shift on the ice. :) He's baaack.

Five minutes into the game, with very few stoppages of play so far, the SOG are Sound Tigers 2 Phantoms 0. Not bad, given that we spent a lot of time in our end during those first five minutes.

Kane, Bellamy, and Raduns are our second line. Clackson, Sirianni, and Ryan are the third line, and Klotz, Beaulieu, and Hersley are the fourth line.

Our D pairs are Guenin/Syvret, Bartulis/DeSantis, and Curry/Ratchuk

A somewhat-too-vigorous attempt to crash the Phantoms net resulted in Scott Munroe being bowled over backward; this resulted in a ten-skater shoving match at our crease, but no penalties resulted.

Ratchuk fed Sirianni wth a nice pass, resulting in al three of our forwards crashing the net, but no goal resulted. If we keep that up, though, we will be in good shape.

Kane is out with Bealieu and Klotz, and they did a nice job of crashing the net -- and literally crashing a Sound Tiger defender. No penalty resuted from that, either.

I see Mitch Fritz, who looks about 9 feet tall compared to the linesman he's talking to, is on the ice. Our top ine is out, though, so I'm not exoecting to see a fight just now.I do see Maroon makng an attempt to both hit Fritz and prevent him from reaching a loose puck first.

Brdgeport came charging into our end whie we were on a line change. They were carrying the puck up the far boards, but Ratchuk managed to get all the way across and disrupt an attempt to shoot on our goal. Nice hustle, Mike.

We have done a great job of creating offensive opportunities for ourselves so far. With 7:08 left in the period, the SOG are Phantoms 8, Bridgeport 7. Laliberte and Maroon just did a great job of stripping a Sound Tiger of the puck and going in on an odd man rush. Lawason kept the puck out, but still, I like seeing our guys beng alert enough to take advantage of the opponent's mental lapses. (Note to self: take a look and see if this is the same Lawson that used to play for Hershey.)

Syvret's stick broke, and Beaulieu gave his to the defender. Meanwhile, Nate Guenin blocked a shot. :) Did I mention how nce it is to type that phrase in again?

GREAT job by Munroe, sweeping aside the breakaway s hot by Bentivoglio! Sybret was hounding Bentioglio from behind but not so blatantly that it would cost us a penalty or a penalty s hot.

Speaking of which, it's the last minute of the first period and we hae not seen an infraction called yet against either team. Jeff Smth is letting the teams play.

At the first intermission, the SOG are Phantoms 10, Sound Tigers 8.

Phantoms vs. Lake Erie Monsters: Recap and Box Score

Here is the recap of the game from the Phantoms site. I loved seeing this team Dig Deep to come up with the W right at the end of the game. If anything (besides getting our top guys back from injury/callup) vaults us into a playoff spot, and keeps us going in the postseason, it will be the complete absence of quit in this team. This game is just more proof that there's no way to count us out until the game is truly over. GOOD. That's exactly how things SHOULD be. It's exactly how the rest of the top guys on our roster will have to play in order to make it to The Show, so it's good to see them on the right track now.

Here is the box score of the game from the AHL's site.

Next up: most of the team gets a week off. Danny Syvret and Jared Ross are headed to the AHL All-Star Classic. Syvret will play for Team Canada, and Ross will play for PlanetUSA.

Phantoms vs. Lake Erie Monsters 1-24-09: Third Period

Wow, a PECOOOO POWER PLAY in the third period! Finalmente! The Monsters had too many men on the ice. We have Laliberte, Ross, DeSantis, Syvret, and Nodl on the ice to start. Bacashihua came way out to stop a shot, but we couldn't quite strip the puck from him so it stayed out. The Monsters did manage to clear the puck, however. Matsumoto, Maroon, Sirianni, Ratchuk, and Curry were next. Ratchuk nearly duplicated his end-to-end goal rush from last year, holy cow :). The darn party-pooper Monsters didn't oblige by allowing a goal this time, however.

SCOOOORE with 9:30 left! This time, it was the Phantoms who were hemming the Monsters into their end, and we kept at it until it paid off! MAROOOON from Sirianni and Matsumoto (told you those two guys were going to put themselves on the box score!), and the score is 2-2! PLUS, we are outshooting Lake Erie 22-21 into the bargain, after trailing on the shot clock for the majority of the game.

LOL, I took a photo of Matsumoto rushing the puck, looked at it after I took it, and realized that he was being hooked from behind. Simultaneously with that realization, I saw the ref's arm go up. We have another PECOOOO POWER PLAY. Which, unfortunately we have yet to register a shot on goal during, though we have given up two SH shots incuding one breakaway. We still have 22 SOG, just as we did prior to the PP starting.

Meanwhile, we have had two goalmouth scrambles in front of Munroe, which a combination of his acrobatics and some pure good fortune kept the puck out of the net. The good fortune happened when the puck was loose in the crease, and the Monster who intended to bat it in missed it entirely as Munroe dove for it and fell slightly short. Hey, luck is never a bad thing.

SCOOOORE with 19 seconds left!!! OMG!!! Matsumoto is the hero, assisted by Sirianni and Curry! What did I tell you about Matsumoto and Sirianni tonight?

Aw for crying out FREAKING LOUD, wth 10.7 seconds left, we get a penalty to Raduns for Delay of Game. DRAT that dratted stupid rule! Phantoms call timeout. Lake Erie's net is empty. SOG are Phantoms 23, Monsters 32. On the ice are Ross, Syvret, Parent, Matsumoto. We hold on for those final few seconds, and eke out the win! WTG, Phantoms -- what a great way to head into the All-Star break!

Phantoms vs. Lake Erie Monsters 1-24-09: Second Period

Bellamy just took a nice shot on goal that caused Bacashihua to leave a huge rebound. If Raduns had been a few feet farther forward, he would have had an opportunity to try and one-time that rebound in. Just one of those "luck of the draw" things. Now it's a minute later, and Zarb, the newly christened forward, is on a rush with Ross and Maroon. He had a chance at a shot on goal, but it hgot hung up in the skates of a couple of Monsters players. Hey, give him an E for effort, as I'm not sure how often it is that he's the first guy arriving at the opposing net with the puck.

Watch it, Muny, the Monsters are starting to buzz in our end. We need to get a clear or a breakout soon... Aw, crud. Not soon enough. With 14:26, the Monsters tie the score at 1-1. Phooey. SOG are Phantoms 12, Monsters 15. It appears that Lake Erie called a timeout. It wasn't announced, but Lake Erie's timeout count on the board has been decremented to zero, and we did see the 30-second countdown clock right after the goal was scored.

With 13:39 remaining in the period, the Phantoms now have the opportunity to kill a penalty. Matsumoto is being charged with slashing. The fans beg to differ. ;)

Ross, Syvret, Laliberte, and Parent are out. Ross is now ruishing the puck up the ice, and whoooa, I think we just got away with a too many men situation. I saw five white jerseys plus the goalie, and we are killing a penalty. Lake Erie had the puck anyway, so maybe that's why we didn't get penalized. Either way, no harm done to either team.

At the end of the penalty, SOG are Phantoms 12, Monsters 17. So we were pretty effective at killing that infraction off.

Matsumoto is in great form tonight -- it seems like every other time I see him, he's lugging the puck up the ice at full speed. Here's to seeing him get some Nice Results in the box score for his efforts.

Aha -- the Lake Erie timeout was just restored to the clock. I guess someone hit a button by mistake. This explains why the timeout was never announced -- it wasn't really a timeout. (Calling a timeout immediately after your own team calls a goal would be a bizarre bit of logic, at best.)

Arrrgh -- thanks to a couple of genius fans who were coming back from the concession stand and blocking people's line of sight, I couldn't see exactly what led up to the Monsters' goal with 7:57 left in the period. All I know is that play went pretty much straight in on our net, and the next thing I could see was our goal light going on. 2-1, Bad Guys.

On a lighter note, I just turned around to check who's in the press box and I do believe I see Garrett Klotz sitting there with other scratched guys. Haaa-le-freaking-LUJAH.

We are having issues getting the freaking puck out again. Bellamy tried and nearly succeeded, we collapsed in front of our goalmouth to keep the puck out of the net, and Bartulis freaking BURIED a guy in the corner. Finally, we got out and earned ourselves an offensive-zone draw. With 2:12 left in the period, it would behoove us to hurry and get the equalizer before the intermission.

I like Sirianni in this game. He keeps creating opportunities to either score a goal or earn an assist. If he keeps it up, I honestly think he wil get results.

OK, now it's crunch time -- just under a mnute remains in the period. Raduns, Matsumoto, Bellamy, Bartulis, and Curry are out. That's a slight tweak to the third line (Matsumoto swapped with Clackson). OMG, coach is onto something. We just got a trainload of opportunities from Matsumoto, Bellamy, Parent (who came on after the faceoff), Laliberte (ditto). GAAAH, so close to putting a goal in. But the clock was not our friend, and the period ended with the SOG Phantoms 17, Monsters 21, and the score Monsters 2, Phantoms 1.

Phantoms vs. Lake Erie Monsters 1-24-9: First Period

Scratches: Guenin, Klotz (no surprise there, after last night's game, poor guy), Kane, Hersley, Szwez.
Starters: Munroe, Syvret, Parent, Ross, Laliberte, Maroon

I was told prior to the game that Garrett Klotz is planning to attend tonight's game. You can bet I'll be looking in the press box to see if he's there. Heck, I'll just be happy to find out that he's out of the hospital, period and end of sentence. Anything beyond that, just barely 24 hours after a punch to the head caused him to go into convulsions on the ice, would be amazing.

I had a word with the people at the Information Desk last night, regarding an error in the "Games Left" countdown banners.They were showing one more game left than we actually have. They must have double-checked their math and realized their mistake, because tonight's game has the correct number on it. :)

WOW! 25 seconds into the game Laliberte scored on our first shot Assists to Ross and (I missed the secondary assist). I'll see if I can get the secondary assist from the box score later.

That was a great start to the game, obviously. Even better was that Munroe came up with some acrobatics to keep the puck out, wHhen Lake Erie had THEIR first scoring opportunity of the game.

I keep turning around to see which of our scratched players are in the press box. The only one I see in there so far is Boyd Kane.

Good grief, the names on Lake Erie's jerseys are in a stupendously hard-to-read font. I do, however, see Jesse Boulerice standing by the boards in front of us, at an angle that makes his name easy to pick out. Boulerice is another one of our alumni whom I like. But as I said about Marty Murray last night, Jesse's welcome to have a quiet game tonight. :)

That goal has been our only shot so far. With 13 minutes and change left, we have faced 4 shots and gotten one puck on net. Ha ha, just as I finished that sentence, we got a great scoring chance. Make that "two pucks on net".

Zarb is sitting with the forwards, even though he is normally a defenseman. I guess that tells us who is filling in for Klotz while he's injured.

Boy, Munroe has been extremely sharp in these first nine minutes. He's had to be. Lake Erie keeps coming up with point-blank shots. We4 are going to have to stop giving up opportunities like that as well as starting to create more chances of our own. Munroe has been solid, but the law of averages does not favor any team that gives its opponent one prime chance after another for an entire game.

Freakin' 25 from Lake Erie just deliberately broke Clackson's stick in two. No call -- he got away with one there. (Sorry, but my middle-aged eyes can't read the darn name on the jersey when he's on the opposite side of the ice.)

Zarb, Ryan, and Beaulieu are out -- I'm presuming that they're our fourth line tonght.

Holy cow... How long have we been playing without a break??? We have 6:33 left in the period, the game is still going, and it's only 7:21. This is without doubt the longest I have ever seen a pro hockey game move without a stoppage.

FINALLY, with 5:55 left, Munroe makes a superb stop to freeze the puck. I should hope that the officials are going to take advantage of the break to get a drink of water or something. *I'm* tired and I wasn't the one skating end to end for the past several minutes.

Raduns, Clackson, and Bellamy are our third line, as they were last night following Klotz's injury. Ratchuk and Curry are a D pair. So are Syvret/Parent and Bartulis/DeSantis.

Nodl makes a nice defensive play to take a rebound out of harm's way. He gets it to Clackson, who starts a rush, though he doesn't make it all the way into the Monsters' end.

We've done a good job of evening out the SOG. With 1:45 left, the Phantoms have 8 shots compared to the Monsters' 9. Good -- I'm tired of seeing us get massively outshot. Let's keep the shot totals this close, shall we? ;)

Say, unless I miss my guess, we haven't had any penalties called yet in this game. At the end of the first period, the SOG are Phantoms 9, Monsters 11. The score is Phantoms 1, Monsters 0.

Phantoms vs. Manchester Monarchs: Recap and Box Score

Here is the recap of the Phantoms game, from the Phantoms site.

Of particular note is this paragraph:

Update On Phantoms Left Wing Garrett Klotz: Klotz was taken to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital after suffering a facial laceration and a seizure in a first-period fight. Klotz was alert and responsive en route to the hospital, and was able to watch the rest of the game on television upon arrival. He is being kept overnight for observation and is expected to be released tomorrow after further testing.

It's an ENORMOUS relief to see that Garrett is doing all right, or at least as well as can be expected. This incident scared the living daylights out of an awful lot of people, both at the Spectrum and watching on live TV (not to mention the people who watched news feeds of the event once the information got reported elsewhere). I'm glad that everything turned out to be NOWHERE near as bad as it could have been.

I taped the game and watched it when I got home... at which point, I saw the same very upsetting footage that went out live on Comcast. My gosh... there really are no words, except to say that if you didn't see the Comcast telecast, but do find the TSN Sportscentre video clip online, I know why they say it was "edited for content". There were a couple of closeups from the game tape that are conspicuous by their absence in the TSN footage, and it's completely understandable why those camera angles were omitted. Believe me.

Anyway... here is the link to the box score from the AHL site.

Phantoms vs. Manchester Monarchs 1-23-09: Third Period

The Phantoms are getting a nice early PP in the third. Let's see if we can liven things up. :) Ross, Laliberte, Maroon, Syvret, and DeSantis are out. Laliberte took a nice shot, but unfortunately we couldn't quite get to the resulting rebound first. Next up: Matsumoto, Nodl, Sirianni, Ratchuk, Curry. Nope, no dice.

We are having a dilly of a time getting set up in front of the Monarchs net, but the good news is, we ARE repeatedly trying to set up down there. The more time we spend down there, the better. Of course, having said that, Manchester did rush the puck to our end and we're about to have a defensive-zone draw, but hey. It's been too long since we've made a habit of spending minutes at a time at the other end of the ice.

MUNROE with the great save! Nice to know that when he's been standing idle for a while, which admittedly has not been a problem our goalies have faced often in the past few weeks, he's just as sharp as when he's seeing multiple shots in succession. Good work!

They never did update the "Games Left" banners tonight -- they were about to right when Klotz got hurt, and they just seem to have stopped in their tracks. That's OK, as I mentioned to the info desk prior to tonight's game, the numbers need adjusting anyway. They were going to count down from 22 to 21... The oly problem is, this game is our 20th home game of the season, out of 40. What happened is that they forgot to make the adjustment and subtract a game when we had a game over at the Wachovia Center. So now the total is a game off. Not only that, but as our February 16 game has also been bounced over to the Center, they are going to have to compensate another time, and subtract one more game from the total once we have played the President's Day game.

Anyway, we have 20 home games left in the season after tonight's game is over, and 19 of those are scheduled to be played at the Spectrum. They will have to tweak the totals accordingly, hopefully by tomorrow night.

Once again, we have given up 40 shots. With 8:12 remaining in the period, the shot total stands at Phantoms 21, Monarchs 40. MAN ALIVE, we must have given up the most shots in the freakin' league by now. And OH, for goodness sakes, we just had a big shoving match behind the Phantoms' net following the 40th save, resulting in a Monarch sitting for two minutes and Ryan Parent sitting for FOUR. GRRRR... So we're on the PK. Clackson will sit for the extra minor. On, and lo and behold. The ref has decided to get more involved in this period, apparently. With 1:24 left in Parent's penalty, Curry (another defenseman) is going off for hooking. Great, now we are down to four D for the time being. Syvret and Bartulis are out with Ross for the two-man disasvantage. NICE clear!

And again, a clear. These guys have been out for a lonnnng shift, though, and there has not been time to change. Munroe makes a nice toe save, then freezes the puck the next time it comes his way. That leaves us with 7 minutes on Parent's extra minor and 43 seconds on Curry's penalty. New troops... Huh, only Raduns changed. And Clackson came out of the sin bin. Syvret and Bartulis are still out there. RADUNS, not only did he clear the puck but he started rushing it up the ice. That gave us tie to change Bartulis for DeSantis. Curry is back out, with Ross, Matsumoto, DeSantis, and Syvret (three D). Daggone, Syvret was out for that ENTIRE penalty kill and then some.

With 4:13 left, I saw the ref stop play and make a high-sticking sign, but nobody is headed to either sin bin yet. Instead, there's a TV timeout. I guess we'll find out soon enough whose penalty it is... Or maybe it's NOBody's. Maybe it was a "puck was played with a high stick", as I don't see anybody besides Parent in the box.

3:32 left in the period, and we ice the puck... SOG are Phantoms 21, Monarchs 43, and do I need to say that Manchester is trying to move heaven and earth to tie this game? Of course I don't. Matsumoto, Nodl, Sirianni, Syvret, and DeSantis are out. Nodl tried to block a shot, but it went just barely over him. Fortunately, Munroe saw it all the way and froze it. Ross, Raduns, Clackson, Curry, and parent are next up. We are still in our zone and getting the freakin' puck across our blue line seems to be a huge task right about now. Ross is now sent off for "delay of the game", boy do I loathe that freaking infraction. Nodl, Masumoto, Parent and Syvret are out to kill the penalty. Nodl makes a HUGE clear. I think he'd have cleared it clean to Lincoln Financial Field if there hadn't been boards at the other end of the ice. WHOA, Manchester's guy stationed at the post missed the net with his shot, fortunately. The Monarchs have pulld the goalie, but fortunately we outlasted the 6-on-4 disadvantage and Ross is back on the ice. NOW we keep clearing the puck, fortunately, earning loud cheers every time the puck starts heading in the general direction of Manchester's empty net.

Hee, I can see the stars written on the sheet that Shawny Hill is carrying. Methinks our netminder wil be getting a postgame interview, if all goes well. Manchester has called a timeout with 21.0 seconds remaining. The faceoff is in the Monarchs end, with Ross, Nodl, Laliberte, Syvret, and Parent on the ice. The Monarchs goalie is back in the net, but as his team rushes the puck up ice, he heads for the bench. AAAH we get it back and he goes charging toward his net again. But we miss the net with our shot. However, we do hold on to win the game.

Phantoms vs. Manchester Monarchs 1-23-09: Second Period

At the start of the second period, an assist was added to the second Phantoms goal. Rob Sirianni is now credited with the secondary assist.

The description that I got, from someone who was watchng the game on TV, is that Klotz was hit with 2 or 3 rights and dropped, and may also have hit his head on the boards as he fell. I just hope that the precautions they took getting him off the ice were more of the "better safe than sorry" variety. Don't these boys know that they're not allowed to alarm us ike that? :( I hope he's OK.

So far in this period, there's been a lot of back-and-forth, but not many SOG to show for it. Five minutes into the period, both teams only have garnered two shots apiece.

Laliberte just nailed Crosty with a nice hit in the corner, to the Manchester goalie's left. THAT got the crowd applauding. :)

Maroon's parked in the tunnel, taking his skate off for some work, with 13:48 left. There appears to be a TV timeout, so that buys our equipment guys time to work on whatever they need to do. Oh, and there goes Matsumoto UP the tunnel while adjusting some of HIS gear. Dang, what's the deal with everybody's darn gear acting up at once? AT least Matsuoto and Maroon are on the same line, so Paddock won't have to get too crazy mixing and matching forwards for the next few minutes. Less than a minute's worth of game time later, Matsumoto is back on the bench and Maroon is putting his skate back on so all is well.

Crikey, now it's ROSS going up the tunnel for gear-related reasons. My gosh. It's the Revolt of the Inanimate Objects. Fortunately, he didn't need long to fix or adjust whatever caused the problem.

With 9:11 left in the period, Clackson just had a brief fight with Boyle. Dagnab, how tall IS Boyle? Clackson gave up a noticeable amount of height and reach in this bout. Once again, the sparring took place right in front of the Monarchs bench, so I saw preciious little of it. But both guys headed to the sin bin and they look relatively intact. Good. I like a good rumble as much as the next fan, but I could live without ever seeing another ambulance in a Zamboni tunnel, ever, anywhere, anytime.

It's been a relatively low penalty count in this game, but Manchester just took one for interference.PECOOOO POWER PLAY time for the Phantoms. Ross, Maroon, Laliberte, DeSantis, and Syvret are on the ice. Ross is buzzing around the net with the puck. We seem to be stationing someone BEHIND the net now and then, whidh is a tactic I don't recall having seen before. AAA, and it nearly worked, as we have Laliberte parked in the slot for a PERFECT shot on goal, once our guy behind the net got the puck to him. But the goalie made the save, and a Monarchs Dman cleared the rebound. It was a nice sequence, though, and I can see it succeeding if we do it often enough.

Aw, bleep. There goes the PP. Nodl goes for elbowing with 21 seconds left in the man advantage, so we wil have a brief period fo 4 on 4 followed by a PK.

Ross, Sirianni, Raduns, and Syvret are on the ice (three forwards and one D). The next PK unit was the more traditional two forwards/two D: Matsumoto, Laliberte, Bartulis, Curry. We killed the penalty successfully.

I'm just realizing how little we have seen of Beaulieu in this game so far. The last I heard, he's not cleared to fight yet, but I"m wondering with the limited amount of ice time he's getting how healthy he is. I know that Paddock tends to roll three lines and use the fourth line sparingly, but one would think that if we've got a shortened roster, we'd see a little more of the fourth-liners to compensate.

Drat. With 3:06 left in the period, freaking Manchester scored. There goes the shutout. It's what happens when we get stuck in our end. However, we still have a one-goal lead. We will just have to get the heck OUT of our end and bust our tails to get that goal back. The fact that we are currently being outshot 25-15 tells the tale of which end we are spending more time in. We've had six SOG so far in the second period, compared to 14 for the Monarchs. Since we have not had a parade to the sin bin, much of that has come while the teams were at even strength.

I wish the Flyers had thought to sed Giroux down for the duration of the NHL All-Star Break. Not only would he be able to participate in the AHL All Star game, in which he was named to the starting lineup, but he would be helping the Phantoms tonight and tomorrow night into the bargain.

Failng that, I would love to see guys who were called up to the Flyers, then got injured (Gratton and Kalinski), recover and return to the Phantoms lineup. I think we would be spending less time in our own zone if we had those players back on our roster.

Anyway, at the end of the second period, the SOG totals are Phantoms 16, Monarchs 27. The score is 2-1, Phantoms.

Phantoms vs. Manchester Monarchs 1-23-09: First Period

After a slight delay getting to the game, when I realized I needed to pick up batteries for my camera, I'm here! I arrived just in time to hear the scratches: Zarb, Guenin, Kane, Hersley, and Szwez. Nate Raduns is back in the linep, yay!

Two seconds into the game, Klotz and Westgarth(?) got into a fight. When I could see them, Klotz was holding his own perfectly well. Then the fight migrated toward the benches, and I couldn't see over the people standing up anymore.

But what I did see was Westgarth and one of our guys start waving for the trainer, and the Zamboni doors open to admit the stretcher. I STILL can't see over the people standing up, but everyone from both teams who was on the ice is clustered around one area near the Manchester bench, so I am presuming that's where the first aid is beng administered. Poor Garrett. :( I hope he's OK.

They backed the ambulance as far into the Zamboni tunnel as they could safely get it, and took Klotz out on a stretcher. God knows what happened, but I'll be asking on the flyersphans board ASAP. I'm sure some people have the game on TV so they might have had a better vantage point.

Marty Murray, the captain of the Monarchs, was taken by the LA Kings from us on waivers a couple seasons ago. I'm still ticked at them for taking him -- I always liked him when he was here. He's one guy I wish well, though he's welcome to have a quiet night tonight. ;)

Bellamy came out to replace Klotz in the starting lineu, and play resumed. So far, we have faced five shots on goal, with 15:47 remaining in the period, but we have gotten no SOG of our own.

With 13:34 left in the period, Nodl drew the first penalt of the game (besides the coincidental majors to Klotz and Westgarth). Raduns, Ross, Syvret, and aren't are the first PK unit. Next up, Matsumoto, Laliberte, Curry, and Bartulis. SOG with 12:55 left in the frame are 7-0, Monarchs. God bless Munroe, he's been a rock for this team since he came back from the Flyers. Laliberte skated the puck far enougn out of the zone that he could dump it into the Monarchs' zone, and allow us to make another line change. We seem to be using the same eight guys as our PK units, at least so far, and it's interesting to see how short the shifts are that they're taking. With 14 seconds left on the PK, this is the fifth separate shift of PKers. Now Laliberte is rushing the puck up ice for all he's worth. He got an attempted shot on goal, but he also drew a penalty. We will now play at 4 on 4 for two seconds, followed by a Phantoms PP.

Matsumoto, Nodl, Sirianni, Ratchuk, and Curry are the first PP unit. Next PP unit, Ross, Maroon, Laliberte, DeSantis, and Syvret. Oh, and we have a shot on goal now. :) Both Syvret and DeSantis have attempted one-timers from the point. Though neither reached the net, it's something we need to see a bit more of. (Partcularly since we have gotten shut out in three games during the past couple of weeks.) Manchester did kill the penalty successfully, and we are at even strength again.

Oh, SWEET -- on our next rush, we fired in a rebound to open the scoring! SOG are 8-3 in favor of Manchester, but the score is 1-0, Phantoms, courtesy of Matt Clackson! Raduns and Bellamy assisted. NICE play!

With 6 minutes remaining in the period, we hae Parent headed to the sin bin. Matsumoto and Nodl are the first two PK forwards, with Syvret and Curry. After a false start on the faceoff, Nodl ws swapped for Raduns. Bwahaha, and two Monrchs just ran into one another. :) heh heh, that's one way to kill a penalty.

Nodl, Ross, DeSantis, and Bartulis just gave us a shorthanded scoring chance, but nothing came of t. That's what we could use, a nice SH goal. : Oh, but I'll take a nice clear, instead, like the one we just got. Boy, whoever swatted that could replace Pat Burrell in the Phillies batting order... I think it was Ross.

BTW, Mr. Ross is going to get his shot at the All-Star game this year, which he missed last year due to having his appendix removed. Several of the AHL All-Stars are going to miss this year's game due to injury or callup, and Ross was named to replace one of the guys who couldn't make it. Heck, I think it was an oversight that he wasn't chosen on his own merit n the first place, so I'm glad to see he is getting his shot after all.

Aaaand there goes Dravecky into the sin bin, giving the Phantoms a PP with 3:24 left in the period. Ross, Laliberte, and Maroon are out with DeSantis and Syvret. And we somehow have wound up battling for the puck in OUR end. Hmm... Let's try this again, shall we? Out we go, offsides we go, faceoff in the neutral zone. And Manchester cleared the puck again -- we are having a bear of a time getting into the Manchester end during this PP. A minute is gone in the man advantage and we haven't got anything to show for it yet. RATCHUK -- well, NOW we have something to show for our efforts! Matsumoto assisted on the goal 2-0, Good Guys, and there is now a minute remaining in the first period.

GO GO GO GO, aah there was a goalmouth scramble in front of Manchester's net but we didn't manage to bury the puck this time around. We did get a ten-skater glaring match, however.

SOG at the end of the first period: Phantoms 9, Manchester 13. But the important stat, the score, is Phantoms 2, Monarchs 0.

Phantoms vs. Albany River Rats 1-18-09: Recap and Box Score

Here's the recap of the game from the Phantoms site.

And here is the link to the box score.

Don't look now, but the Phantoms have quietly embarked on a four-game win streak. We're looking to extend that to five games in Binghamton tonight. Let's go, Phantoms!