Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 3-20-09: First Period

Duchesne, Sloane(?), Laliberte :( Gratton, Bellamy
Who is Sloane? That's a new name on me.

I wonder what happened to Laliberte, that he's out of the lineup? That's bad news for the Phantoms for sure. He is 1/3 of our hottest line (with Matsumoto and Maroon). In his stead, Klotz is in the lineup tonight.

The Phantoms got a PP less than a mnute into the game, after a fiesty first shift in our end where multiple hits were thrown. We actuallyhad a good scoring chance on the delayed penalty, but unfortunately nothing came of it.

The game program describes Sloane as a D-man from the Philadelphia suburb of Ambler, PA, who recently completed his college career. He has been signed to a tryout contract. However, there is no indication in the game program regarding the reason that Laliberte isout of the lneup.

Now it's the Phantoms' turn to kill a penalty. Matsumoto goes off for slashing. The first PK unit incudes Kane, Ross, Guenin (with an A, replacing Syvret) and Kukkonen. We made a little shorthanded noise, but we still so far only have one shot on goal in the game. Oh, great, Pesonen and Satan are on the first PP shift for the Penguins. Pains in the neck. Fortunately, Pesonen fumbled an attempt to pass the puck, leaving it there for Kukkonen to clear to the far end. ON the next shift for us, Raduns and Kalinski managed to get a Sh break, though no shot on goal. This time, however, Nodl and Curry take it down to the other end, which kils still more time off the PK. At the end of the PK, the SOG are Phantoms 1, Penguins 6. I am not certain whether we got that shot on the scoring attempt leading up to the PP, or if we got it during the power play itself.

Ratchuk just had a fight with Bissonnette. It started out with Bissonnette having an edge, but then Clackson got the jersey over his fellow gladiator's head and pretty much took over from there. Win: Clackson.

The D pairs in this game remain Guenon/DeSantis, Bartulis/Kukkonen, and Curry-the-Dman/Ratchuk.

Kukkonen made a nice move with his stick to prevent a Penguin from receiving a cross-ice pass from Satan in frotn of our net. Matsumoto and Maroon are with Nodl tnight, in the absence of Laliberte.

Paddock is NOT a happy camper. He has been standing on top of our bench hollering, and now that we are going on another PK, he is adamant about getting some answers from Banfield, the referee.

BLAST -- soooo close to a goal and the lousy puck went wide! Ross broke in shorthanded, and the Dman covering him fell. Curry-the-goalie came way out to cut down the angle, and Ross managed to get around him. Owever, the puck went off on its own tangent, and when Ross got hold of it again, he shot it in a hurry and it went wide of the open net. Argh. We did, however, earn some 4 on 4 play as a Penguin was guilty of holding.

Nodl got a breakaway on the next shift, but he was unable to score. I heard the puck hit the boards, but I didn't see if Curry-the-goalie deflected it or if it went wide.

We killed our penalty, and we are now on a very brief PP of our own. Too bad it wasn't enough time to get entirely set up. However, I like our energy so far in this game. We need to keep it up.

Kalinski is on a line with Raduns and Szwez. That leaves Clackson, Beaulieu, and Klotz as our fourth line.

The referee's arm is up, thanks to a play in the corner that's hard to see from my seat (the bench side of the end where the Zamboni tunnel is). The SOG are now Phantoms 5, Pens 6. The Penguins have not shot on our goal since the last time I posted the shot totals.

DeSantis just got a blast on goal from the top of the left faceoff circle. IT's possible that Curry-the-goalie was screened on the play, but a rebound came way out to a Pens defender. Kukkonen and DeSantis are our on D, and Kukkonen just had a nice keep-in. With 42 seconds in the PP remaining, after Curry-the-goalie froze the puck and there was a little conference of skaters at the goalmouth, we're changing lines to get some fresh legs out. Curry-the-Dman and Ratchuk are out with matsumoto, Nodl, and Maroon. First Nodl, then Maroon stationed himself at the crease for rebounds. By the end of the PP, the SOG were even at 6 each.

With 2:22 left, it's OUR turn to kill a penalty. Again. Banfield is in Whistle Mode tonight, apparently. Kalinski goes.

Kane and Ross are out with Guenin and Kukkonen. Kane fed Ross in the neutral zone, but the Pens defender who had stayed back managed to bat the puck off to the side. Next, Nodl and Matsumoto are with Bartulis and Curry. We made a nice clear all the way to the far boards. (Good to see us get deep clears of the puck... When we fail to do that, it never turns out well. Never.) Blasted pain in the caboose Pesonen. AGAIN. He got the onlyt wo goals in regulation time on Wednesday, and he got one just now on us with 50.8 seconds remaining in the period. 1-0 Bad Guys. Pittsburgh, CALL THIS GUY UP. Geesh. This time, he had a bouncing shot that knuckled on Munroe with a bounce six inches in front of the goal.

At the end of the first period, the Penguins have the only goal of the game, and the SOG are Phantoms 7, Penguins 10.