Here's the link to the Phantoms site's game recap. Last night was the first time in a while that I attended a game where the Phantoms didn't score a powerplay goal. Darn the Sens, they really had our number when they were shorthanded last night (to the point when they even put in a SH goal on us). Well, on to Friday and Saturday (Lowell and Norfolk), where I hope our PP goes back to its normal level of effectiveness.
Here's the box score, courtesy of the AHL site. Karlsson took *7* shots on us last night? Yikes. Hey, Ottawa, call him up! Preferably right before our next game against Bingo. ;)
Showing posts with label 500 wins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 500 wins. Show all posts
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Still no recap on the official site from Sunday's game
I have a feeling we're not going to see a recap posted on the Phantoms site for yesterday's game. Darn. Shutouts are my favorite games to read about.
Either that, or there are some glitches going on that are causing a major delay. I never remember seeing a game recap take this long to appear.
Either that, or there are some glitches going on that are causing a major delay. I never remember seeing a game recap take this long to appear.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Phantoms at Lowell: Third Period.
Lowell has come barging out of the gates to start the third. They spent pretty much the first minute of the period attacking in our zone, but we withstood the onslaught.
Fight: Parente nailed two of our guys with huge checks in this game. Gratton, now wearing 13 (as opposed to the 24 he had on during our home game), is our combatant. Boy, are a lot of roundhouses being thrown. Looks like it was relatively even to me, but they'll both probably be sporting some bruises in the aftermath.
Right on the following shift, freaking Lowell scored. There's 18:16 left in the period, and our lead is cut to 2-1. Time for us to get some energy going, because the fight and the goal are sure to fire up Lowell.
We're going on a PP less than a minute later, though, so it's time for us to start generating some momentum of our own.
Man, we got a little bit of something going at the very beginning of this PP, but since then, nada. Dumping the puck in has been less than effective, and we haven't managed to get ourselves set up since then. In fact, a defensive-zone turnover caused us to get a penalty, meaning that we'll be at 4 on 4 for 18 seconds.
Or will we? Lowell took a penalty during that brief 4-on-4, making it a not-so-brief 4-on-4.
Good grief. Here we go with Koharski. With 1:24 left in the 4 on 4, Syvret gets a penalty AND Downie gets a penalty simultaneously. So once again, we have three penalties at once an our third guy in the box won't start seeing the clock tick on his infraction until our first guy is done.
Most of this mess will see us at 4 on 3. There'll be about 12 seconds of 5-on-3 PK for us, and then 5-on-4 till the last minor on us expires.
Unless Koharski calls something the heck else in the freaking meantime. Who the heck knows WHAT the on-ice configurations will look like then? :headdesk: :headdesk:
Anyway, here we are, clearing the puck nicely several times in a row. Our two D are being great about getting right into position to help Aubin when the puck does go on net.
I don't think the penalty timekeepers know what's going on either, because they let Curry out of the sin bin when they shouldn't have done. We should have remained with three players on the ice, since we still had two guys serving penalties in the box. Instead we wound up at 4-on-4 briefly before someone realized there was a mistake.
We currently have FOUR players in the box. This is flippng ridiculous. It appears that we are going to have the clock reset back to the time that Curry's penalty expired. If they do that, they're also going to have to increase everyone's penalty time by the amount of time that Curry spent on the ice, approximately 6 seconds.
Kalinski gets a 2 on 1 shorthanded, but nothing much came of it. We have just killed the PK from Hell, so I'm really pleased with our performance there. We have 11:18 remaining in the period, and a 2-1 lead.
Now it's OUR turn to go on the PP, seconds after we return to even strength. Come on, guys, give us that dangerous PP that we've seen over the past several games!
I like DeSantis's shot from the blue line. It didn't go in, but it got into the vicinity of the net and gave us a nice opportunity before Caruso froze it. ROSS gets his own rebound, this time on the PP, and we lead 3-1 with 9:29 left. Downie's in the box, so he couldn't have gotten his third assist of the night this time around. Seems like that's the only way to keep him from assisting: put him in the penalty box. ;) That was Ross's third goal in two games with us.
Giroux is on the attack again. He stickhandled around a defenseman, but then lost the puck. He might have to start re-thinking some of the high-risk plays that he tries with the puck when he's right on top of the other team's defenders. I'm sure he'll learn over time when to try that and when to go for the safe play.
Now the Phantoms are clogging up the ice for all they're worth. We have 6:22 remaining in the game, and it seems we have every intention of making the Devils work their rumps off for every inch of ice they gain. Lowell just iced the puck twice in a row, which is curious, considering that they have to keep the same players on the ice for the ensuing faceoff.
Exactly a minute later, we are on the PP again as Giroux got hauled down to prevent him from having a clear path right to the net. Hmm, maybe we can let him attack however he darn well pleases, as long as he draws penalties. ;)
Parents flattens Ross, Gratton goes for Parente, but no fight happens. Parente dropped his gloves and stick, but play continued and Parente ended up back on the bench without equipment. (To which I reply, "What the Sam Hill was THAT?) However, later on the same shift, Gratton is now going to fight Fraser instead of Parente. They're both alterating short punches with some "haul off and punch" shots for all they're worth. Gratton gives up a noticeable amount of reach to Fraser. Darn, that was a long bout. As with the previous tilt, this one was relatively even. Both players doled out and withstood some big punches, but neither one appeared to be rocked to the point where one could say he lost the fight.
The Devils pull the goaltender in the last minute, but to no avail.
The Phantoms have just won for the 500th time in franchise history, as well as winning our 5th consecutive game after a five-game losing streak. Good job, guys!
Shots on goal at the end of the game: Phantoms 36, Lowell, 32.
Stars of the game:
#3. Vasyunov
#2. Downie
#1. Ross
The boxscore for the game can be found here.
The game recap is available on the Phantoms site: Ross Carries Phantoms to 500.
Fight: Parente nailed two of our guys with huge checks in this game. Gratton, now wearing 13 (as opposed to the 24 he had on during our home game), is our combatant. Boy, are a lot of roundhouses being thrown. Looks like it was relatively even to me, but they'll both probably be sporting some bruises in the aftermath.
Right on the following shift, freaking Lowell scored. There's 18:16 left in the period, and our lead is cut to 2-1. Time for us to get some energy going, because the fight and the goal are sure to fire up Lowell.
We're going on a PP less than a minute later, though, so it's time for us to start generating some momentum of our own.
Man, we got a little bit of something going at the very beginning of this PP, but since then, nada. Dumping the puck in has been less than effective, and we haven't managed to get ourselves set up since then. In fact, a defensive-zone turnover caused us to get a penalty, meaning that we'll be at 4 on 4 for 18 seconds.
Or will we? Lowell took a penalty during that brief 4-on-4, making it a not-so-brief 4-on-4.
Good grief. Here we go with Koharski. With 1:24 left in the 4 on 4, Syvret gets a penalty AND Downie gets a penalty simultaneously. So once again, we have three penalties at once an our third guy in the box won't start seeing the clock tick on his infraction until our first guy is done.
Most of this mess will see us at 4 on 3. There'll be about 12 seconds of 5-on-3 PK for us, and then 5-on-4 till the last minor on us expires.
Unless Koharski calls something the heck else in the freaking meantime. Who the heck knows WHAT the on-ice configurations will look like then? :headdesk: :headdesk:
Anyway, here we are, clearing the puck nicely several times in a row. Our two D are being great about getting right into position to help Aubin when the puck does go on net.
I don't think the penalty timekeepers know what's going on either, because they let Curry out of the sin bin when they shouldn't have done. We should have remained with three players on the ice, since we still had two guys serving penalties in the box. Instead we wound up at 4-on-4 briefly before someone realized there was a mistake.
We currently have FOUR players in the box. This is flippng ridiculous. It appears that we are going to have the clock reset back to the time that Curry's penalty expired. If they do that, they're also going to have to increase everyone's penalty time by the amount of time that Curry spent on the ice, approximately 6 seconds.
Kalinski gets a 2 on 1 shorthanded, but nothing much came of it. We have just killed the PK from Hell, so I'm really pleased with our performance there. We have 11:18 remaining in the period, and a 2-1 lead.
Now it's OUR turn to go on the PP, seconds after we return to even strength. Come on, guys, give us that dangerous PP that we've seen over the past several games!
I like DeSantis's shot from the blue line. It didn't go in, but it got into the vicinity of the net and gave us a nice opportunity before Caruso froze it. ROSS gets his own rebound, this time on the PP, and we lead 3-1 with 9:29 left. Downie's in the box, so he couldn't have gotten his third assist of the night this time around. Seems like that's the only way to keep him from assisting: put him in the penalty box. ;) That was Ross's third goal in two games with us.
Giroux is on the attack again. He stickhandled around a defenseman, but then lost the puck. He might have to start re-thinking some of the high-risk plays that he tries with the puck when he's right on top of the other team's defenders. I'm sure he'll learn over time when to try that and when to go for the safe play.
Now the Phantoms are clogging up the ice for all they're worth. We have 6:22 remaining in the game, and it seems we have every intention of making the Devils work their rumps off for every inch of ice they gain. Lowell just iced the puck twice in a row, which is curious, considering that they have to keep the same players on the ice for the ensuing faceoff.
Exactly a minute later, we are on the PP again as Giroux got hauled down to prevent him from having a clear path right to the net. Hmm, maybe we can let him attack however he darn well pleases, as long as he draws penalties. ;)
Parents flattens Ross, Gratton goes for Parente, but no fight happens. Parente dropped his gloves and stick, but play continued and Parente ended up back on the bench without equipment. (To which I reply, "What the Sam Hill was THAT?) However, later on the same shift, Gratton is now going to fight Fraser instead of Parente. They're both alterating short punches with some "haul off and punch" shots for all they're worth. Gratton gives up a noticeable amount of reach to Fraser. Darn, that was a long bout. As with the previous tilt, this one was relatively even. Both players doled out and withstood some big punches, but neither one appeared to be rocked to the point where one could say he lost the fight.
The Devils pull the goaltender in the last minute, but to no avail.
The Phantoms have just won for the 500th time in franchise history, as well as winning our 5th consecutive game after a five-game losing streak. Good job, guys!
Shots on goal at the end of the game: Phantoms 36, Lowell, 32.
Stars of the game:
#3. Vasyunov
#2. Downie
#1. Ross
The boxscore for the game can be found here.
The game recap is available on the Phantoms site: Ross Carries Phantoms to 500.
Phantoms at Lowell, Second Period
We've got some back-and-forth action going in the first three minutes of the second period. Jason DeSantis made a nice play to break up a pass when Lowell got a 2-on-1. I'm not particularly happy because we seem to be spending more time on defense in our own end, as opposed to being on the attack.
However, even as I type this, we get a PP. It would have been nice to see us turn the tide in our favor with the man advantage, but no such luck this time around. Now were back at even strength, and we're right back in front of Aubin for a spell. Ratchuk made a nice play to block a shot, then clear the puck.
Gratton buries a Lowell player, but later in the same shift he gets nailed by another Devil in retaliation. No fights have broken out so far, but both teams have proven that they're willing to throw the body.
OH, darn it, with about 12 minutes to go in the period, we just had a huge offensive flurry; however, the combination of Caruso's circus saves and the crossbar kept the game scoreless. Rats, that was easily our best opportunity of the game so far.
MAROON scores! The Phantoms got a 3-on-2 going and it appears that Maroon managed to get his shot to deflect off a Devil's stick. Assists are from Downie and Syvret. Downie is an absolute assist-generating machine this year. :) Moments after the ensuing center-ice faceoff, the Phantoms got a PP.
Downie and Syvret are also on our first PP shift. Giroux sped right between two Devils to get the puck to Downie -- how he didn't lose the puck on that high-risk maneuver, I don't know. Unfortunately, all that effort wound up with Caruso making the save and freezing the puck for a faceoff.
We're at even strength and darn if the Lowell audio hasnt gone to commercial even though play is in progress. GRRR... fortunately, nothing especially significant happened.
Now one of the Devils tries to split our D. The three of them end up making contact, the Devil takes a spill, and we end up shorthanded. What a pity the Lowell telecast doesn't do replays, because I'd like to have seen that play again.
The Devils are passing a lot, but they're not making a lot of attempt to direct the puck onto the net. Finally, Hersley snares a the puck and clears it.
Now it's our turn to spend the final minute of the period in Lowell's end, ad SCORE! ROSS scores with exactly two seconds remaning in the period. NICE WORK, gents. This is the result of bearing down and continuing to battle until the horn sounds. That approach just earned us a 2-goal lead.
The announcers are mentioning that Lowell's Caruso is their newly-appointed starting goalie, after Scott Clemmensen was called up to NJ for the next 3-4 months due to Martin Brodeur's injury.
Incidentally, the intermission Chuck-a-Puck looks like it has garnered a generous number of participants, no matter that there are not a lot of people in the stands. I'm not sure what the prize is for chuck-a-puck in Lowell, but whatever it is, it's apparently popular.
SOG at the end of the second period: Phantoms 27, Lowell 19.
However, even as I type this, we get a PP. It would have been nice to see us turn the tide in our favor with the man advantage, but no such luck this time around. Now were back at even strength, and we're right back in front of Aubin for a spell. Ratchuk made a nice play to block a shot, then clear the puck.
Gratton buries a Lowell player, but later in the same shift he gets nailed by another Devil in retaliation. No fights have broken out so far, but both teams have proven that they're willing to throw the body.
OH, darn it, with about 12 minutes to go in the period, we just had a huge offensive flurry; however, the combination of Caruso's circus saves and the crossbar kept the game scoreless. Rats, that was easily our best opportunity of the game so far.
MAROON scores! The Phantoms got a 3-on-2 going and it appears that Maroon managed to get his shot to deflect off a Devil's stick. Assists are from Downie and Syvret. Downie is an absolute assist-generating machine this year. :) Moments after the ensuing center-ice faceoff, the Phantoms got a PP.
Downie and Syvret are also on our first PP shift. Giroux sped right between two Devils to get the puck to Downie -- how he didn't lose the puck on that high-risk maneuver, I don't know. Unfortunately, all that effort wound up with Caruso making the save and freezing the puck for a faceoff.
We're at even strength and darn if the Lowell audio hasnt gone to commercial even though play is in progress. GRRR... fortunately, nothing especially significant happened.
Now one of the Devils tries to split our D. The three of them end up making contact, the Devil takes a spill, and we end up shorthanded. What a pity the Lowell telecast doesn't do replays, because I'd like to have seen that play again.
The Devils are passing a lot, but they're not making a lot of attempt to direct the puck onto the net. Finally, Hersley snares a the puck and clears it.
Now it's our turn to spend the final minute of the period in Lowell's end, ad SCORE! ROSS scores with exactly two seconds remaning in the period. NICE WORK, gents. This is the result of bearing down and continuing to battle until the horn sounds. That approach just earned us a 2-goal lead.
The announcers are mentioning that Lowell's Caruso is their newly-appointed starting goalie, after Scott Clemmensen was called up to NJ for the next 3-4 months due to Martin Brodeur's injury.
Incidentally, the intermission Chuck-a-Puck looks like it has garnered a generous number of participants, no matter that there are not a lot of people in the stands. I'm not sure what the prize is for chuck-a-puck in Lowell, but whatever it is, it's apparently popular.
SOG at the end of the second period: Phantoms 27, Lowell 19.
Phantoms at Lowell, First Period
Wow. I'm looking at my computer screen at an astonishingly empty arena. The lower bowl can't possibly have more than a few hundred people seated in it. Problem One is that the game is taking place on a weeknight -- those games are a harder sell than weekend games, no matter where in the AHL you're discussing. However, even knowing that we've got a Wednesday game going, I'm rather surprised at the number of unoccupied seats.
There's no score with 13:07 remaining in the period. Even the Devils announcers are making a point of complimenting the Phantoms' shot blocking. I can't say I'm surprised, because we really do make a point of preventing pucks from reaching the net. This goes double for Guenin, who's limped off the ice a few times during this young season after interposing himself between a shot and the net. Fortunately, he's always come back.
We have a nice little offensive press going now. We've had a few shots on goal, but even more significant to me is the fact that we were highly effective at preventing Lowell from taking or clearing the puck. With 11 minutes and change remaining in the period, we are going on the PP and we are outshooting Lowell 7-0.
Oh, boy, welcome to our first shot-against: a SH near-breakaway where the Devil had a perfectly clear opportunity to put the puck on net. Aubin, fortunately, was up to the challenge. Yikes, let's have no more of those, shall we? Otherwise, we did generate some chances on the PP, but nothing major. Lowell seems to be getting their act together -- they're getting in position to intercept passes and clear out the puck.
Our own first PK came shortly after we returned to even strength. Lowell got into an offensive mode and we wound up taking a penalty while defending the net.
We're waiting to face off, actually, because there's some repair work being done to Aubin's crease. They already worked on that portion of the ice once already, but apparently, it's still not right.
Oh, for Pete's Flipping Sakes, we're on a TWO-man penalty kill now, because the puck deflected off a Phantom and over the glass. Geesh, what a stupid flipping rule.
Ross takes the puck away as soon as we go down two men, and rushes it into Lowell's end to kill some time.
Eek, now not only did a Devil get banged up during our 5-on-3, we're getting ANOTHER blankety-blank penalty. Downie and Bartulis are in the box already, and now Guenin is getting called for slashing. This minor won't even start moving until we get one of our other guys back.
BTW, we have Terry Koharski as the ref. His games always seem to be a penalty-fest, or at least the Phantoms games he calls tend to have lengthy box scores.
Downie gets out of the box and hightails it down the ice with the puck -- DiSalvatore of Lowell made a fantastic defensive play, sticking right with him and not allowing him to get a full breakaway or a shot off. Whoever from Lowell turned the puck over to us owes DiSalvatore a dinner for saving his backside, because Downie has scored or assisted on exactly that sort of play multiple times in his short AHL career.
Yet again, Aubin gets up quickly after going into a butterfly. I'm pleased, particularly since the Devils still had the puck and were still trying to create offense. That's the kind of situation during which we were giving up goals during that early-season losing streak. This time, the puck remained outside our net.
Now it's the Devils who are about to kill a penalty. We really need to cash this in ASAP, because Lowell is interspersing shifts of looking lost with shifts of looking pretty solid. We need to take advantage of those shifts where the Devils are disorganized. We looked good on the early part of the PP, but unfortunately we didn't look good enough to see a puck go into Lowell's net.
Oh, good GRIEF, the final minute of this period is hair-raising. We're at even strength again, and the Devils are BUZZING. Aubin looked good in keeping the game at 0-0. I don't like to see us suddenly get running around in our own end, particularly not after we spent a lot of the early part of the period on the attack.
We were saved by the bell this time around. Time for us to regroup during the first intermission and come back out the way we started the first period, rather than the way we ended it.
Shots on goal at the end of the first period: Phantoms 10, Lowell 10.
P.S. It came out during the intermission interview that Bellamy is injured. I'm not sure what the injury is. Beaulieu is also still hurt with a training-camp injury.
There's no score with 13:07 remaining in the period. Even the Devils announcers are making a point of complimenting the Phantoms' shot blocking. I can't say I'm surprised, because we really do make a point of preventing pucks from reaching the net. This goes double for Guenin, who's limped off the ice a few times during this young season after interposing himself between a shot and the net. Fortunately, he's always come back.
We have a nice little offensive press going now. We've had a few shots on goal, but even more significant to me is the fact that we were highly effective at preventing Lowell from taking or clearing the puck. With 11 minutes and change remaining in the period, we are going on the PP and we are outshooting Lowell 7-0.
Oh, boy, welcome to our first shot-against: a SH near-breakaway where the Devil had a perfectly clear opportunity to put the puck on net. Aubin, fortunately, was up to the challenge. Yikes, let's have no more of those, shall we? Otherwise, we did generate some chances on the PP, but nothing major. Lowell seems to be getting their act together -- they're getting in position to intercept passes and clear out the puck.
Our own first PK came shortly after we returned to even strength. Lowell got into an offensive mode and we wound up taking a penalty while defending the net.
We're waiting to face off, actually, because there's some repair work being done to Aubin's crease. They already worked on that portion of the ice once already, but apparently, it's still not right.
Oh, for Pete's Flipping Sakes, we're on a TWO-man penalty kill now, because the puck deflected off a Phantom and over the glass. Geesh, what a stupid flipping rule.
Ross takes the puck away as soon as we go down two men, and rushes it into Lowell's end to kill some time.
Eek, now not only did a Devil get banged up during our 5-on-3, we're getting ANOTHER blankety-blank penalty. Downie and Bartulis are in the box already, and now Guenin is getting called for slashing. This minor won't even start moving until we get one of our other guys back.
BTW, we have Terry Koharski as the ref. His games always seem to be a penalty-fest, or at least the Phantoms games he calls tend to have lengthy box scores.
Downie gets out of the box and hightails it down the ice with the puck -- DiSalvatore of Lowell made a fantastic defensive play, sticking right with him and not allowing him to get a full breakaway or a shot off. Whoever from Lowell turned the puck over to us owes DiSalvatore a dinner for saving his backside, because Downie has scored or assisted on exactly that sort of play multiple times in his short AHL career.
Yet again, Aubin gets up quickly after going into a butterfly. I'm pleased, particularly since the Devils still had the puck and were still trying to create offense. That's the kind of situation during which we were giving up goals during that early-season losing streak. This time, the puck remained outside our net.
Now it's the Devils who are about to kill a penalty. We really need to cash this in ASAP, because Lowell is interspersing shifts of looking lost with shifts of looking pretty solid. We need to take advantage of those shifts where the Devils are disorganized. We looked good on the early part of the PP, but unfortunately we didn't look good enough to see a puck go into Lowell's net.
Oh, good GRIEF, the final minute of this period is hair-raising. We're at even strength again, and the Devils are BUZZING. Aubin looked good in keeping the game at 0-0. I don't like to see us suddenly get running around in our own end, particularly not after we spent a lot of the early part of the period on the attack.
We were saved by the bell this time around. Time for us to regroup during the first intermission and come back out the way we started the first period, rather than the way we ended it.
Shots on goal at the end of the first period: Phantoms 10, Lowell 10.
P.S. It came out during the intermission interview that Bellamy is injured. I'm not sure what the injury is. Beaulieu is also still hurt with a training-camp injury.
The Phantoms' next win will be the 500th for the franchise, Phantoms press release regarding Raduns and Kane's callup
The Phantoms franchise currently has 499 wins. They're looking for the 500th, and they're embarking on the attempt to reach that milestone as of tonight.
Here's the article about it on the Phantoms website.
Also, the Phantoms site has announced the recalls of Nate Raduns and Boyd Kane.
Here's the article about it on the Phantoms website.
Also, the Phantoms site has announced the recalls of Nate Raduns and Boyd Kane.
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