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.