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!