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.