Phantoms at Albany River Rats, 4-8-09; First Period

The Phantoms are starting Scott Munroe tonight with Syvret, Guenin Ross, Kane, and Sirianni,

Bartulis/Kukkonen with Matsumoto/Laliberte/Maroon are next.

JVR!!!! His first pro goal!!! Freakin' beauty of a play -- he beat out the defenseman to get in front of the goal, shot, took the rebound and buried it. OH yeah! :)

The Phantoms go shorthanded and the farging video is freezing. Syvret kept a puck out, and from the sound of it, he made a save that will go into the stats as a blocked shot. But we all know it's a save. ;)

We had a PP of our own shortly afterward, and while we didn't score, we got some high-quality opportunities. If we keep that up, we will be adding to the goal tally.

Again, just as the teams return to full strength, there's another penalty. This time it's against the Phantoms. Guenin goes for cross-checking.

NICE stop by Munroe! Late in the PK, Matsumoto was only kept from a breakaway by the opposite-side Albany defender, who shadowed Matsumoto all the way and managed to break up a scoring chance without incurring a penalty. NICE play by McBain.

However, the teams are back at full strength, and Kalinski/Szwez nearly teamed up for a goal. Unfortunately for us, Peters added another couple of circus saves to his total tonight. The game remains 1-0 Phantoms.

With 5:13 left in thbe period, the Phantoms lead the River Rats in shots, 11-8.

Syracuse has taken a 1-0 lead over Binghamton. GOOD. Keep it up, Crunch!

The Phantoms wound up on a PK for six seconds before Nygel Pelletier whistled a River Rat for tripping AND Kukknen for interference... how Kukkonen could have interfered with anyone while he was the one getting tripped is an interesting mental exercise.

We ended the period at a 4 on 3 disadvantage. There'll be some more PK time remaining at the start of the second period.

The Phantoms lead on the scoreboard 1-0, and on the shot clock 12-8.