Phantoms at Springfield, 12-12-08; First Period

Not only are the Phantoms facing former teammate Ryan Potulny, but there's another Phantoms alumnus on the Falcons' roster in the person of Guillaume Lefebvre. I realized this when, in the early minutes of the game, Clackson and Lefebvre got into a bit of a dispute, resulting in a 4-on-4 shift. That quickly turned into a Phantoms PP, as Nate Raduns drew a hooking penalty early on and we wound up at 4 on 3. Speaking of whom, I haven't seen what his injury was that had him absent from our lineup for a few games, but he's back and wearing a full cage now.

During the ensuing PP, I still don't know HOW Dubnyk kept the one particular stuff attempt at the right post from being cashed in. Oh, doggone, but that was close. The Phantoms are great at getting someone stationed right AT the net, which is how some of our guys have tallied a good number of points this year.

The PP is over, and the game is still scoreless. However, we are outshooting the Falcons 4-0.

Kalinski and Bellamy, are on a line with what looked like a player wearing #9, in which case it would be Raduns.

Clackson is in a fight with Benson.Clackson threw a whole lot of lefts -- more than Benson threw rights, though they were both swinging away for all they were worth. Clackson also got the Falcon's jersey most of the way over hs head. The zebras are checking his jersey to see if it had been tied down prior to the fight, as it certainly didn't appear to be fastened to anything by the time the fight was over. Benson was neither ejected nor given an extra penalty, so apparently the loose jersey was deemed not to have been an infraction.

While I was typing this, the Phantoms got a PP and Ross scored, in short order. :) Assists went to Maroon and (former Falcon) Syvret. We have some Falcons alumni on OUR roster, including Syvret and Kane.

With 8:02 remaining in the period, the Phantoms are outshooting Springfield 9-2.

Dubnyk had to make a darn nice save to prevent Ross from earing a second tally in this period. Then the teams made their way to the Phantoms' end of the ice, and it was Munroe's turn to make a good stop.

OK, we have spent the next few shifts mostly in front of Munroe, and I'm not happy about it. FINALLY, Laliberte and his linemates, Matsumoto and Maroon, got us the heck out of our zone. Laliberte took it in front of the Falcons net, and in the mad scramble that followed somehow the puck went in. Our announcer was wondering if it went in off a defenseman, but in any case the goal was credited to Laliberte, with an assist by Maroon. 2-0, Good Guys. :)

Thank you, Sean Curry, who threw a hit just as a Falcon was about to take a dangerous shot on goal. The shot missed the net as a result. That'd have been a point-blank scoring chance if the disk hadn't gone wide.

I don't think that second goal is sitting well with Dubnyk. He made a save and froze the puck just a bit farther from the net than most goalies tend to these days. Only his feet were in the crease. But he saw a Phantom (Matsumoto) heading to the net, so Dubnyk decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

We just found out that the reason Raduns was out of the lineup was to have a broken nose treated. He actually broke it in November, but for various and sundry reasons, the treatment was delayed a few days. Also, Josh Gratton is out with a lower body injury.

OH, three cheers for crashing the net! Kane and Ross did the honors; Kane got dumped to the ice by a defenseman but even so, they kept at it and the puck got in with 2.7 seconds remaining in the period. NICE NICE NICE Ross scored, assisted by Giroux and Kane.

The Phantoms lead the Falcons 3-0 at the end of the first period. WTG, guys!