Phantoms vs. Hartford 12-05-08: First Period

Scratches: Aubin, D'Amour, Raduns, Klotz, Hersley
Starting Lineup: Munroe, Bartulis, DeSantis, Kalinski, Gratton, Clackson

Aubin is still injured, Kalinski and Gratton are back in our lineup after stints with the Flyers.

Garrett Burnett said he's going to be here tonight, :-), but so far I haven't seen him. I asked at the info desk if he'll be signing, and they weren't aware of his having a table or anything of the sort. I hope they at least have him dropping the ceremonial first puck. Too bad he wasn't able to be here last week, for the pregame ceremonial glove drop. :-D THAT would have been fitting, lol!

Boyd Kane is back in the lineup -- he just came out the tunnel with the rest of the team. Ross has an A, and I'm looking to see who else has the A. My first guess is Syvret, since he wore the A prior to Kane's injury.

Nope, no Garrett-appearance pregame. Looks like the only fans who are going to get to see him are the ones who happen to figure out by blind luck that he's here. Or, in the case of fans who saw his facebook post, the ones who happpen by blind luck to determine where his seat is.

Nice move, Ross -- he just picked off a Hartford pass and allowed us to take play back the other way.

Kane is on a line with Giroux and Ross. Good combo, since Kane/Giroux worked well before Ross's return from the Flyers, and Ross/Giroux worked well after Kane went out of the lineup with an injury.

Beaulieu and DiDiomete just fought. It started as jersey-tugging, though DiDiomete got in one really nasty punch to Beau's face. Then Beau unloaded a string of roundhouses to DiDiomete's head. DiDiomete got in another solid punch or two, followed by another string of Beau's roundhouses. Win: Beaulieu, though he did take a few solid hits in order to dole out some punishment of his own.

Bellamy, Szwez, and Ross are out. Yet again, we dressed 7 D, so there are two extra forwards and they'll be double-shifted with different teammates as the nght progresses.

Clackson went with someone I couldn't see (turns out to be Sugden). The bout went behind some people standing up, so I couldn't see much of it, but what I did see is that Sugden ended up with a bloody head and went up the tunnel.

Maroon, Matsumoto, and Laliberte are out with Ratchuk and Curry. Munroe just made a nice stop on a point-blank shot. With ten minutes left in the first period, the score is 0-0, and the SOG are Phantoms 3, Hartford 4.

Guenin blocked a shot. I should just create a macro to automatically insert that phrase in the post. :-) God bless Guenin and his shot-blocking.

ROTFLMHO, they're going to have a promo "Scott Hartnell Glove and Mitten Toss". BWAHAHA! Hartnell will be signing autographs and people who donate gloves or mittens will be entered in a drawing to win an autographed Scott Hartnell jersey and gloves.

Ya know, I would have sworn that Bartulis just played a puck with a hgh stick, but the linesman apparently thought otherwise. Hey, let 'em goof in our favor on occasion, since they certainly goof in our opponent's favor now and then. It all evens out. (I hope.)

AAH, what a nice stop by Scott Munroe! Yeow.

Shucks. Kane was crashing the Hartford net, and when the rebound came to him, he LITERALLY crashed the net and the darn thing went off its moorings. Pity -- had that play worked out, it'd have been a nice goal. We'll have to go crash the net again, this time only figuratively. ;)

Bellamy, Szwez, and Matsumoto are out. See what I mean about the extra forwards having a different third linemate during the course of the game?

Next up: Gratton, Clackson, and Kalinski. Nobody in their right mind would mess with this line combo. I don't know that I've seen Kalinski drop 'em, but Gratton and Clackson are certainly willing to go with all combatants.

Eek, that was close. Hartford just clanged one loudly off the post. Fortunately, the puck stayed out.

With two minutes left in the period, the SOG are Phantoms 4, Hartford 8. Considering that neither team has had a PP so far, I'm not overly pleased with the disparity. On the other hand, Munroe's done well and the important stat on the scoreboard remains even at 0-0.

NICE block, Kane! Then we cleared the puck and it went the length of the ice and right on Hartford's net. Which is why, at the end of the first period, the SOG were Phantoms 5, Hartford 11. (Guess where we spent the entire final two minutes of the frame? In front of our net.)

The score remains 0-0. Here's hoping the Phantoms tilt the ice in OUR favor in the next period.