Phantoms at Binghamton Senators, 3-25-09: First Period

David Laliberte is cleared to resume playing, which has reunited the line of Matsumoto/Laliberte/Maroon is reunited. Ross/Kane/Sirianni is another line, and the return of Laliberte has allowed for the line of Kalinski/Szwez/Nodl to be reassembled, as well. Our other three forwards are Raduns, Kempe, and Clackson. Presumably they are our other line. :)

Per Brian Smith, this is the last time these two teams will ever meet, as there is no possibility that the Phantoms and Senators will meet in the playoffs. I presume that's because it's a mutually exclusive proposition -- when one team clinches the last playoff berth', the other team will be eliminated. |There's still no word on what it was that had Laliberte out of the lineup last week. However, as long as he's back, that's all that matters. :)

Mario Kempe is in tonight's lineup. He is a Flyers prospect who just came over from playing in Sweden and was signed to a tryout contract.

Fight: Clackson vs. Carkner. Carkner got in more hits early, as well as the eventual takedown. I would have to give this decision to Carkner, but Clackson withstood some solid punches and threw some haymakers of his own, so he gets a tip of the cap from me, too. Fiesty bout. This should be a high-energy game tonight, as there is so much at stake, and it shows.

With 14:12 left in the period, the SOG are Phantoms 3, Senators 2.

The Phantoms will be the first team to be awarded a PP, as Slattengren tripped Ratchuk. So let's have a nice PECOOOOO POWER PLAY, shall we? :)

Aaaah, two near-goals from Curry and then Matsumoto made me scare the cats. ;) But now we're at even strength.

Not for long, though, as Nodl is getting sent to the sin bin for holding. Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me... they just showed the replay of the alleged infraction, and if that was holding, I am the Queen of England. Well, anyway, we're killing a penalty. I like that we have been clearing the puck relatively well. That has been an issue for us at various times in the season, but not on THIS penalty kill. Aaaand there we go, it's even strength again. (Waits to see if the ref makes a fibber out of me by immediately calling a penalty. No? No. Good.)

We have  11 games left to play, including tonight's game, six of which are at home. We have two games in hand over Bingo, but we also need the Senators to lose some games in order for us to vault into the final playof spot. Well, all we can do is treat the upcoming games like they ARE playoff games, because they do bear that level of importance.

TO is playing in Hershey tonight. I hope the Bears and Marlies wear one another the heck out, as the Marlies play the Phantoms on Friday in Philly.

We have an extended timeout at the moment, as there's a broken pane of glass that needs to be replaced.

SCOOOOORE!!! ROSS draws first blood with 5:19 left! Assists from Sirianni and Bartulis. Outstanding work!

Eeeeek, there's a mob scene in our crease. Good grief, that was an alarming sequence! Fortunately, the Senators weren't able to cash in on any of several opportunities, and the score remains 1-0 Phantoms.

Our announcer is trying to figure out which Phantoms just headed up the tunnel with about a minute to go in the period. The forward combos are slightly jumbled (Ross/Kane and Matsumoto/Laliberte were out with a different winger than usual), but it wasn't possible to determine who was the missing player prior to the end of the period. The period is, in fact, over, and I hope that whoever it was comes back out with no difficulty to start the second.