The GREAT news is, we beat Hershey 5-2 and Bridgeport lost to Norfolk, so we have absolutely clinched a playoff berth as of tonight! OUTSTANDING!!!!
The aggravating news is that my game night recap got goofed up and I've only got the first two periods to show for it.
So I'll be proofreading those, then writing up the things I remember best about the third period. There were plenty of highlights to remember, for sure.
I am SO PROUD of this team. Did we ever come out like gangbusters in this game!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Pregame comments
Warmups just ended. I've already had to dry salt water off my glasses once. Sigh.
Sbisa is wearing #47.
Detailed posting will follow postgame, as my netboook's connectivity is spotty.
LET'S GO, PHANTOMS!!!
Sbisa is wearing #47.
Detailed posting will follow postgame, as my netboook's connectivity is spotty.
LET'S GO, PHANTOMS!!!
Today is the day :(
Today is the day I have dreaded for months. It's the final Phantoms regular season home game at the Spectrum.
And I do mean DREAD. As in, the Paul Simon song whose lyrics begin with, "April, come she will" saddened me when I heard it, because I knew the end of the season was in April.
Regardless of whether we clinch a playoff berth in the next two days, I am extremely depressed to witness the end of an era in my life. For 13 years I have derived a tremendous amount of enjoyment from attending Phantoms games. There have been times during those years when I was feeling so down, nothing much else could lift my spirits or get me going, and yet even through THAT I would look forward to Phantoms games.
So, playoffs or not, I know that this season is the last season, this game is the final regular season home game, and something I've set great store by for over a decade is coming to an abrupt and unwanted end in my life. And I feel a stupendous amount of grief for that loss.
So if I'm not quite myself in the immediate future, I apologize in advance and I will do my best not to take it out on the rest of the universe. But I feel as awful right now as I've ever felt after a bereavement. No exaggeration.
This post is going to both my regular blog and the Phantoms blog, as IMO it's relevant to both.
And I do mean DREAD. As in, the Paul Simon song whose lyrics begin with, "April, come she will" saddened me when I heard it, because I knew the end of the season was in April.
Regardless of whether we clinch a playoff berth in the next two days, I am extremely depressed to witness the end of an era in my life. For 13 years I have derived a tremendous amount of enjoyment from attending Phantoms games. There have been times during those years when I was feeling so down, nothing much else could lift my spirits or get me going, and yet even through THAT I would look forward to Phantoms games.
So, playoffs or not, I know that this season is the last season, this game is the final regular season home game, and something I've set great store by for over a decade is coming to an abrupt and unwanted end in my life. And I feel a stupendous amount of grief for that loss.
So if I'm not quite myself in the immediate future, I apologize in advance and I will do my best not to take it out on the rest of the universe. But I feel as awful right now as I've ever felt after a bereavement. No exaggeration.
This post is going to both my regular blog and the Phantoms blog, as IMO it's relevant to both.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Phantoms at Albany River Rats, 4-8-09; Third Period, OT, and Shootout
We started the first minute or so defending in our zone, to the point where I had to sit here and count the players to make sure that we were not on the PK. We are at 5 on 5.
Albany gets hit by the Delay of Game rule, giving us our third PP of the game. I would like to see our PP make a bit more noise on offense than we've done so far. Albany keeps finding ways to clear the puck out before we can really get set up.
Bingo/Syracuse is now at 2-2, as we are.
NICE steal by Matsumoto, once we are back at even strength, but once again Albany clears the puck before we can get set up in their end. At this rate, we are going to have to score right off a rush instead of getting set up and cycling. Which will be challenging if we don't get the heck out of our end. Warring with Albany in the neutral zone, as we have been doing, won't help much either.
Now we're waiting through a promo timeout for a neutral-zone draw. Kalinski tried to roof the puck, but it went out of play. Hence, the draw. We succeed in getting Peters to freeze the puck for an offensive draw, but we don't create chances from that. In this period, Albany has so far gotten the better of the chances.
HAHAHA, thank you Jon Kalinski for making a fibber out of me! So help me, he scored just as I was typing the above paragraph. LMHO, good job! Kukkonen put the puck on net and Kalinski fired the rebound home. Our announcer believes that JVR should get the secondary assist, but it appears to have been credited to someone else (Syvret, whom our announcer doesn't believe was on the ice at the time). 3-2 Phantoms, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the period!
Guenin blocks a shot. :) If there is a shots-blocked-per-game stat, Guenin surely leads the team, if not the league, in that category.
Someone needs to sit on Petruzalek... I am hearing his name an awful lot on this shift. He keeps passing the puck to other River Rats for scoring chances.
Peters robs Maroon twice. Both goalies are playing for keeps in these past few minutes. However, flipping Albany deflected a puck off our defenseman Bartulis and into the net to tie the game at 3-3. :headdesk: Drat.
We have 1:14 left in the period. Still 3-3. Syracuse has taken a 3-2 lead over Binghamton. GO CRUNCH! Their game has 6 minutes and change remaining, so the Crunch will have to hang onto their lead a bit.
We, meanwhile, are waiting through a Albany timeout to faceoff in their end.. AAA Peters makes an incredible save and hangs on for another offensive zone draw. We get some great opportunities but so far but Peters answered them all.
With under 5 seconds remaining, we get another faceoff in front of Peters. There goes the horn. We are going into OT, so we have gained a point out of this game so far. We lead in shots 40-29.
Come on, Phantoms -- we NEED THIS SECOND POINT. Let there be a purple-clad hero and let it be soon!
Ross/Sirianni are our first two forwardsm with Syvret and probably Guenin.
Laliberte and Matsumoto with Kukkonen and Bartulis are next. Curry/Ratchuk are with JVR and Kalinski.
We are at least halfway into the OT. Still 3-3. There is less than a minute remaining in Syracuse/Bingo and Syracuse is still ahead. PHOOEY, no they're not -- Bingo tied it with 4 seconds left and sent it into OT. So they are at 3-3 also.
Meanwhile, we spent most of the final minute buzzing around the River Rats net. No dice. Albany tried to return the favor in the waning seconds of the OT, but they were equally unsuccessful and we are going to a shootout.
Yet again, I feel compelled to mention that I BLEEPING LOATHE SHOOTOUTS. Just so you know.
'
Freaking Binghamton won. So we HAVE to win to stay ahead of the Senators.
Albany -- no
ROSS -- no 0-0
Albany -- no
SIRIANNI -- no 0-0
Albany -- no
MATSUMOTO -- YES Phantoms lead 1-0 after 3 rounds
Albany -- no
LALIBERTE -- no still 1-0
Albany -- yes so 1-1
MAROON -- no
At the end of five rounds, we are 1-1,
Albany -- yes
MATSUMOTO -- YES 2-2
Albany -- yes
ROSS -- YES 3-3
Albany -- yes
SIRIANNI -- YES 4-4
Albany -- yes
MAROON-- no
*%&#$@!!!!. We lose in the 9th round of the shootout. We are even in the standings with Binghamton.
Our next two games are on Friday vs. Hershey at home, and Saturday in Hershey. Binghamton's final two games are vs. Norfolk and Albany. We have the tougher road, but I am hoping that we will have extra determination going for us due to the fact that our stakes are higher. If Hershey loses, they might get a lower playoff seed. If we lose and miss the playoffs, not only is our season finished, so is our TEAM.
GO PHANTOMS!
Albany gets hit by the Delay of Game rule, giving us our third PP of the game. I would like to see our PP make a bit more noise on offense than we've done so far. Albany keeps finding ways to clear the puck out before we can really get set up.
Bingo/Syracuse is now at 2-2, as we are.
NICE steal by Matsumoto, once we are back at even strength, but once again Albany clears the puck before we can get set up in their end. At this rate, we are going to have to score right off a rush instead of getting set up and cycling. Which will be challenging if we don't get the heck out of our end. Warring with Albany in the neutral zone, as we have been doing, won't help much either.
Now we're waiting through a promo timeout for a neutral-zone draw. Kalinski tried to roof the puck, but it went out of play. Hence, the draw. We succeed in getting Peters to freeze the puck for an offensive draw, but we don't create chances from that. In this period, Albany has so far gotten the better of the chances.
HAHAHA, thank you Jon Kalinski for making a fibber out of me! So help me, he scored just as I was typing the above paragraph. LMHO, good job! Kukkonen put the puck on net and Kalinski fired the rebound home. Our announcer believes that JVR should get the secondary assist, but it appears to have been credited to someone else (Syvret, whom our announcer doesn't believe was on the ice at the time). 3-2 Phantoms, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the period!
Guenin blocks a shot. :) If there is a shots-blocked-per-game stat, Guenin surely leads the team, if not the league, in that category.
Someone needs to sit on Petruzalek... I am hearing his name an awful lot on this shift. He keeps passing the puck to other River Rats for scoring chances.
Peters robs Maroon twice. Both goalies are playing for keeps in these past few minutes. However, flipping Albany deflected a puck off our defenseman Bartulis and into the net to tie the game at 3-3. :headdesk: Drat.
We have 1:14 left in the period. Still 3-3. Syracuse has taken a 3-2 lead over Binghamton. GO CRUNCH! Their game has 6 minutes and change remaining, so the Crunch will have to hang onto their lead a bit.
We, meanwhile, are waiting through a Albany timeout to faceoff in their end.. AAA Peters makes an incredible save and hangs on for another offensive zone draw. We get some great opportunities but so far but Peters answered them all.
With under 5 seconds remaining, we get another faceoff in front of Peters. There goes the horn. We are going into OT, so we have gained a point out of this game so far. We lead in shots 40-29.
Come on, Phantoms -- we NEED THIS SECOND POINT. Let there be a purple-clad hero and let it be soon!
Ross/Sirianni are our first two forwardsm with Syvret and probably Guenin.
Laliberte and Matsumoto with Kukkonen and Bartulis are next. Curry/Ratchuk are with JVR and Kalinski.
We are at least halfway into the OT. Still 3-3. There is less than a minute remaining in Syracuse/Bingo and Syracuse is still ahead. PHOOEY, no they're not -- Bingo tied it with 4 seconds left and sent it into OT. So they are at 3-3 also.
Meanwhile, we spent most of the final minute buzzing around the River Rats net. No dice. Albany tried to return the favor in the waning seconds of the OT, but they were equally unsuccessful and we are going to a shootout.
Yet again, I feel compelled to mention that I BLEEPING LOATHE SHOOTOUTS. Just so you know.
'
Freaking Binghamton won. So we HAVE to win to stay ahead of the Senators.
Albany -- no
ROSS -- no 0-0
Albany -- no
SIRIANNI -- no 0-0
Albany -- no
MATSUMOTO -- YES Phantoms lead 1-0 after 3 rounds
Albany -- no
LALIBERTE -- no still 1-0
Albany -- yes so 1-1
MAROON -- no
At the end of five rounds, we are 1-1,
Albany -- yes
MATSUMOTO -- YES 2-2
Albany -- yes
ROSS -- YES 3-3
Albany -- yes
SIRIANNI -- YES 4-4
Albany -- yes
MAROON-- no
*%&#$@!!!!. We lose in the 9th round of the shootout. We are even in the standings with Binghamton.
Our next two games are on Friday vs. Hershey at home, and Saturday in Hershey. Binghamton's final two games are vs. Norfolk and Albany. We have the tougher road, but I am hoping that we will have extra determination going for us due to the fact that our stakes are higher. If Hershey loses, they might get a lower playoff seed. If we lose and miss the playoffs, not only is our season finished, so is our TEAM.
GO PHANTOMS!
Phantoms at Albany River Rats, 4-8-09; Second Period
How they think Szwez slashed the guy is beyond me... the long and short of it is that we are on the PK for the fourth time in the game.LOOK OUT oh what a save by Munroe! Nice clear, Kane! Now Matsumoto and McBain are grappling for the puck at the point. Matsumoto manages to drive both his adversary and the disk to the outside of the blue line. The penalty is killed, thank goodness.
There's a lot of end-to-end action going on right now. In the latest rush, Raduns carried it all the way in and took a shot. Clackson positioned himself at the crease's edge for any possible rebounds. Instead, an Albany defender dumped Clackson over the goalie into the net. The net came off its moorings, and Peters's goalie mask was dislodged, so play was stopped. Everybody's in one relatively intact piece, fortunately.
Hooray, time for a Phantoms PP. Let's see if we can do something with our second man advantage of the game.
OH, Ross made a beautiful move to bring the puck across the goalmouth and fire it, but Peters was ready for it and made a terrific save. Peters needs to be a star of the game if he keeps this up. Especially since Peters also managed to stop a shot that was deflected by a stick at point-blank range. Yeowza. Nice stop (dagnab it, lol).
We have reached the halfway mark of regulation time. The Phantoms still lead 1-0 and we are at even strength. Doggoned Binghamton, meanwhile, has tied their game at 1-1. C'mon, Crunch! Take the lead back!
Nice shot by Clackson, which created a rebound that the Rats managed to corral first. Unfortunately, that led to an odd-man rush into the Phantoms end, where Albany got a shot of their own and cashed in a rebound. Argh. 1-1.
We spent the next couple of shifts making a lot of noise in front of the Albany net, but so far we have not retaken the lead. However, we have dictated the majority of the play since the River Rats tied the score, so I am hopeful that we can be the next team to bury a puck. All we need to do is keep doing what we've done in the past few minutes of play. We currently lead on the shot clock 23-16 SCOOOOORE Bartulis! See what I mean? Outstanding! :) 2-1 Phantoms! Kukkonen made a huge cross-ice pass to Bartulis who suddenly pinched WAY in and fired the puck home, Our announcer said it appeared to be a set play, and from watching the replay of it, I believe him. Especially since Bartulis just got his second goal of the year in the 77th game of the season. So he's not normally what I'd consider an offensive D-man, to put it mildly.
Kalinski took a nice pass and went to crash the net with the puck. He did that a bit more effectively than he probably intended, as after getting the shot off he wound up colliding with Peters and the net. The goalie was bowled over, the net was knocked askew, Kalinski wound up in a pileup at the boards as the Rats didn't much appreciate seeing their goalie bumped into. The Phantoms joined in the conference, but the only penalty that came out of the scrum was Kalinski's two minutes for goaltender interference.
Blast. Rodney fires from the top of the slot and scores a flying-water-bottle goal to tie the game. 2-2.That was our 5th PK of the game. We need to do a better job of staying out of the box. I know this particular Zebra has come up with creative interpretations of the rules in the past (and present -- see the Szwez "slash" in the first period). But we can also avoid blatant infractions that any ref would be guaranteed to call.
In the final minute of the period, suddenly the River Rats have come to life and are buzzing around our net. Fortunately, the horn sounds and the period ends. The score is 2-2 and the Phantoms lead in SOG, 26-21. BInghamton and Syracuse remain at 1-1.
GO PHANTOMS! Win the third period handily!
There's a lot of end-to-end action going on right now. In the latest rush, Raduns carried it all the way in and took a shot. Clackson positioned himself at the crease's edge for any possible rebounds. Instead, an Albany defender dumped Clackson over the goalie into the net. The net came off its moorings, and Peters's goalie mask was dislodged, so play was stopped. Everybody's in one relatively intact piece, fortunately.
Hooray, time for a Phantoms PP. Let's see if we can do something with our second man advantage of the game.
OH, Ross made a beautiful move to bring the puck across the goalmouth and fire it, but Peters was ready for it and made a terrific save. Peters needs to be a star of the game if he keeps this up. Especially since Peters also managed to stop a shot that was deflected by a stick at point-blank range. Yeowza. Nice stop (dagnab it, lol).
We have reached the halfway mark of regulation time. The Phantoms still lead 1-0 and we are at even strength. Doggoned Binghamton, meanwhile, has tied their game at 1-1. C'mon, Crunch! Take the lead back!
Nice shot by Clackson, which created a rebound that the Rats managed to corral first. Unfortunately, that led to an odd-man rush into the Phantoms end, where Albany got a shot of their own and cashed in a rebound. Argh. 1-1.
We spent the next couple of shifts making a lot of noise in front of the Albany net, but so far we have not retaken the lead. However, we have dictated the majority of the play since the River Rats tied the score, so I am hopeful that we can be the next team to bury a puck. All we need to do is keep doing what we've done in the past few minutes of play. We currently lead on the shot clock 23-16 SCOOOOORE Bartulis! See what I mean? Outstanding! :) 2-1 Phantoms! Kukkonen made a huge cross-ice pass to Bartulis who suddenly pinched WAY in and fired the puck home, Our announcer said it appeared to be a set play, and from watching the replay of it, I believe him. Especially since Bartulis just got his second goal of the year in the 77th game of the season. So he's not normally what I'd consider an offensive D-man, to put it mildly.
Kalinski took a nice pass and went to crash the net with the puck. He did that a bit more effectively than he probably intended, as after getting the shot off he wound up colliding with Peters and the net. The goalie was bowled over, the net was knocked askew, Kalinski wound up in a pileup at the boards as the Rats didn't much appreciate seeing their goalie bumped into. The Phantoms joined in the conference, but the only penalty that came out of the scrum was Kalinski's two minutes for goaltender interference.
Blast. Rodney fires from the top of the slot and scores a flying-water-bottle goal to tie the game. 2-2.That was our 5th PK of the game. We need to do a better job of staying out of the box. I know this particular Zebra has come up with creative interpretations of the rules in the past (and present -- see the Szwez "slash" in the first period). But we can also avoid blatant infractions that any ref would be guaranteed to call.
In the final minute of the period, suddenly the River Rats have come to life and are buzzing around our net. Fortunately, the horn sounds and the period ends. The score is 2-2 and the Phantoms lead in SOG, 26-21. BInghamton and Syracuse remain at 1-1.
GO PHANTOMS! Win the third period handily!
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.
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.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Phantoms vs. Norfolk Admirals, 4-5-09
Scratches: Duchesne, Lehtivuori, Sloane, DeSantis, Klotz, Beaulieu, Kempe, Bellamy
Starting lineup: Munroe, Bartulis, Kane, Sirianni, Ross
The induction of Peter White into the Phantoms hall of fame took place prior to the game.
Matsumoto's line remains the same Szwez/Kalinski/JVR are also a line. The D pairs are the same as normal. The three remaining forwards are Raduns, Gratton, and Clackson and they are a line too.;
Two and a half minutes in, the Phantoms have the only shot on goal.
JVR parked at the crease's edge to try and screen the goalie/corral a rebound. Good thinking on his part. His line drew a penalty during that shift. So we are on the PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY with the Ross line, Syvret, and Kukkonen.
OMG OMG OMG Ratchuk does an end-to-end rush reminiscent of his first pro goal, and BURIES the biscuit for a 1-0 lead!
I didn't even have time to type in that we were shorthanded, with Bartulis off, before Laliberte and Matsumoto break in and score SH Laliberte from Guenin and Matsumoto, ALLL RIIIIIIGHT!!!
This was followed by a superb save by Munroe when the Admirals get the puck into our end – Muny is pumped to do HIS part to earn us that playoff spot, too. :)
Matsumoto makes another break Shorthanded, or at least we were shorthanded when he started rushing the puck. It was a 1-on-2 break, and the Admirals defenders included hooking among their attempts to keep him from scoring. So we get another PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY. Ross's line goes out with Curry and Ratchuk. We proceed to get a switch, as Kane goes up the tunnel holding his wrist. JVR comes out to replace him.
We go to 4 on 4 for 1:20 as Sirianni gets called for interference. That leaves Ross and JVR out with Kukkonen and Bartulis for the start of the 4 on 4. Kukkonen, BTW, still has jaw protection attached to his helmet Net up, Matsumoto/Laliberte with Syvret/Guenin as we go to the SH situation. Then Raduns/Kalinski.
Good, Kane and the trainer return to the bench.
Kalinski goes barreling up the ice on a 2 on 1 as our penalty expires. We got a couple of chances out of it, but no goal. Norfolk's goalie made a great save to keep the score at 2-0.
Aaaaw, JVR narrowly missed getting his first pro goal – he was breaking in on goal With Intent, but no dice this time. If he keeps that up, though, we'll see that pro point before the game is out.
Boy, did Ratchuk move fast to get to a loose puck near our net. We have had games in this season where we haven't gotten to stray disks first, but this is not turning out to be a night like that. Great!
LALIBERTE!!!! From Matsumoto and Maroon! Matsy's shot created a rebound that went way off to the side, but Laliberte was there to slam it over the prone goalie.
We proceed to get the Battle of the #15s, as Clackson and Brookbank go. Clackson gets the extra two for roughing. Gratton will sit in his stead. It was a somewhat long tilt that had Brookbank trying to pin Clackson in close and throw head shots. Clackson gave up a lot of size and reach, but apparently not much strength, because he fought out of the bear hug and got in some punches of his own. Brookbank seemed to throw more than Clackson, if we want to go by punch count, but I would say the quality of the shots was about even. I would say
“draw”, or :”slight edge, Brookbank”.
Raduns, Kalinski, Guenin, and Syvret are out on the PK for the final minute of the period.
At the end of the period, the teams are back at even strength, the Phantoms lead 3-0, and the SOG are Phantoms 12, Admirals 10.
WTH? A center-ice scrum that eventually separated into just Gratton and Henley looked fightish, till Henley.... turned and skated away mid-fight. If he was trying to make Gratton get the Betteann 17 (two for instigation and a ten-minute misconduct on top of the 5 for fighting), the ploy failed. All he got was booed and the players got coincidental majors.
I'm still not sure what triggered that outburst, though, really. All I know is that both Clackson and Gratton are in the sin bin at the moment, and I'm not too happy about it. I don't want to see shenanigans going on out there with our two best fighters in the box. Fortunately, though, Clacker should be done with his two-minute extra penalty soon. His waltz partner is already finished with his fie minutes and came out at the last stoppage in play.
Szwez is on the ice with Kalinski and JVR. Which tells me, among other things, that we are letting our other most physical guy be out there while we await Clackson's return.
Maroon was denied on a POINT BLANK shot by a superb save. No matter what the demeanor of his teammates, their netminder Kowalski most definitely came to play.
Ross made a slick play, looking like he was about to crash the net with the puck, only to jam on the brakes and let the defender go past him. He got a clear shot on goal off, but unfortunately an Admiral was in better position to get to the resulting rebound before Sirianni could fire it home. Nice move, though. :)
Here we go on a PK, as Szwez gets called for hooking. Ross and Kane proceed to break out in a 2 on 1. We don't get a shot but we come darn close and we kill some time off the clock into the bargain.
Back at our end, Guenin blocks a shot.
Next up: Matsumoto/Laliberte with Bartulis and Kukkonen.
The Admirals appear to have tried to turn it on during this period, as they went from being outshot to outshooting us. As the period ends Kane shoots on a 2-on-0 and Kowalski makes the save. The score remains 3-0 Phantoms. SOG are Phantoms 17, Admirals 24.
Yikes, Laliberte and an Admiral I can't identify crashed into one another and the boards at the blue line and both went down stunned. Laliberte got up slowly, but the Admiral got some assistance from the trainer before getting up. What do you know, it's #15, Brookbank, who also got called for roughing. However, someone else is serving his penalty (Buck), so we will have to see if Brookbank returns to the game.
POSTAGE, dang it. We had a few chances so far during this PP, but the most recent one found iron. Then Norfolk made a shorthanded rush, at which point Guenin blocked a shot.
Surprise, we get another PP moments after the previous one ends. Let's try this again, shall we? We got some more opportunities in this man advantage, but all we did was close the gap on the shot clock a bit more. With 10:4 remaining in the period, the SOG are now Phantoms 25, Admirals 28.
BOY did Guenin ever block a shot. That's at least the third time he has laid out flat on the ice to cut off a shooting lane. This time, he swept his stick and cleared the oncoming puck out of harm's way.
On Norfolk's next attempt, our defender took the body and the puck slid gently in toward Munroe all by itself. He easily sticked it aside.
Our rush with 8:01 remaining in the period resulted in yet another penalty against Norfolk, so let's see about cashing in this latest PECOOOOO POWER PLAY. We start with th Matsumoto line, Curry, and Ratchuk. Yiii... on our next shift, Kukkonen's shot from the top of the slot nearly nailed Kane at the crease's edge. Fortunately, everyone was in one intact piece by the end of that sequence. Ross's line is out with Syvret and Kukkonen... as the PP expires, Kalinski, Szwez, and JVR are out with Curry and Ratchuk. With 5:34 remaining, SOG are even at 28-28.
Just as we reach the final minute of the period, Guenin gets called for slashing. So we get to wrap up this game on the PK. At least we can ice the puck at will. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Kukkonen, and Bartulis are out.
Or we could go to 4 on 4 instead, with 36.2 remaining. Ross and JVR are out with Ratchuk and Curry.
And there we go – the game is over, we've won our remaining game in hand, and now it's the Phantoms who are in 4th place by one point. We have a game in Albany on Wednesday, one at home on Friday vs. Hershey on Friday, and a game in Hershey on Saturday. Count them all as must-wins for us to control -our own destiny and secure that final playoff berth.
GO PHANTOMS!
Starting lineup: Munroe, Bartulis, Kane, Sirianni, Ross
The induction of Peter White into the Phantoms hall of fame took place prior to the game.
Matsumoto's line remains the same Szwez/Kalinski/JVR are also a line. The D pairs are the same as normal. The three remaining forwards are Raduns, Gratton, and Clackson and they are a line too.;
Two and a half minutes in, the Phantoms have the only shot on goal.
JVR parked at the crease's edge to try and screen the goalie/corral a rebound. Good thinking on his part. His line drew a penalty during that shift. So we are on the PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY with the Ross line, Syvret, and Kukkonen.
OMG OMG OMG Ratchuk does an end-to-end rush reminiscent of his first pro goal, and BURIES the biscuit for a 1-0 lead!
I didn't even have time to type in that we were shorthanded, with Bartulis off, before Laliberte and Matsumoto break in and score SH Laliberte from Guenin and Matsumoto, ALLL RIIIIIIGHT!!!
This was followed by a superb save by Munroe when the Admirals get the puck into our end – Muny is pumped to do HIS part to earn us that playoff spot, too. :)
Matsumoto makes another break Shorthanded, or at least we were shorthanded when he started rushing the puck. It was a 1-on-2 break, and the Admirals defenders included hooking among their attempts to keep him from scoring. So we get another PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY. Ross's line goes out with Curry and Ratchuk. We proceed to get a switch, as Kane goes up the tunnel holding his wrist. JVR comes out to replace him.
We go to 4 on 4 for 1:20 as Sirianni gets called for interference. That leaves Ross and JVR out with Kukkonen and Bartulis for the start of the 4 on 4. Kukkonen, BTW, still has jaw protection attached to his helmet Net up, Matsumoto/Laliberte with Syvret/Guenin as we go to the SH situation. Then Raduns/Kalinski.
Good, Kane and the trainer return to the bench.
Kalinski goes barreling up the ice on a 2 on 1 as our penalty expires. We got a couple of chances out of it, but no goal. Norfolk's goalie made a great save to keep the score at 2-0.
Aaaaw, JVR narrowly missed getting his first pro goal – he was breaking in on goal With Intent, but no dice this time. If he keeps that up, though, we'll see that pro point before the game is out.
Boy, did Ratchuk move fast to get to a loose puck near our net. We have had games in this season where we haven't gotten to stray disks first, but this is not turning out to be a night like that. Great!
LALIBERTE!!!! From Matsumoto and Maroon! Matsy's shot created a rebound that went way off to the side, but Laliberte was there to slam it over the prone goalie.
We proceed to get the Battle of the #15s, as Clackson and Brookbank go. Clackson gets the extra two for roughing. Gratton will sit in his stead. It was a somewhat long tilt that had Brookbank trying to pin Clackson in close and throw head shots. Clackson gave up a lot of size and reach, but apparently not much strength, because he fought out of the bear hug and got in some punches of his own. Brookbank seemed to throw more than Clackson, if we want to go by punch count, but I would say the quality of the shots was about even. I would say
“draw”, or :”slight edge, Brookbank”.
Raduns, Kalinski, Guenin, and Syvret are out on the PK for the final minute of the period.
At the end of the period, the teams are back at even strength, the Phantoms lead 3-0, and the SOG are Phantoms 12, Admirals 10.
WTH? A center-ice scrum that eventually separated into just Gratton and Henley looked fightish, till Henley.... turned and skated away mid-fight. If he was trying to make Gratton get the Betteann 17 (two for instigation and a ten-minute misconduct on top of the 5 for fighting), the ploy failed. All he got was booed and the players got coincidental majors.
I'm still not sure what triggered that outburst, though, really. All I know is that both Clackson and Gratton are in the sin bin at the moment, and I'm not too happy about it. I don't want to see shenanigans going on out there with our two best fighters in the box. Fortunately, though, Clacker should be done with his two-minute extra penalty soon. His waltz partner is already finished with his fie minutes and came out at the last stoppage in play.
Szwez is on the ice with Kalinski and JVR. Which tells me, among other things, that we are letting our other most physical guy be out there while we await Clackson's return.
Maroon was denied on a POINT BLANK shot by a superb save. No matter what the demeanor of his teammates, their netminder Kowalski most definitely came to play.
Ross made a slick play, looking like he was about to crash the net with the puck, only to jam on the brakes and let the defender go past him. He got a clear shot on goal off, but unfortunately an Admiral was in better position to get to the resulting rebound before Sirianni could fire it home. Nice move, though. :)
Here we go on a PK, as Szwez gets called for hooking. Ross and Kane proceed to break out in a 2 on 1. We don't get a shot but we come darn close and we kill some time off the clock into the bargain.
Back at our end, Guenin blocks a shot.
Next up: Matsumoto/Laliberte with Bartulis and Kukkonen.
The Admirals appear to have tried to turn it on during this period, as they went from being outshot to outshooting us. As the period ends Kane shoots on a 2-on-0 and Kowalski makes the save. The score remains 3-0 Phantoms. SOG are Phantoms 17, Admirals 24.
Yikes, Laliberte and an Admiral I can't identify crashed into one another and the boards at the blue line and both went down stunned. Laliberte got up slowly, but the Admiral got some assistance from the trainer before getting up. What do you know, it's #15, Brookbank, who also got called for roughing. However, someone else is serving his penalty (Buck), so we will have to see if Brookbank returns to the game.
POSTAGE, dang it. We had a few chances so far during this PP, but the most recent one found iron. Then Norfolk made a shorthanded rush, at which point Guenin blocked a shot.
Surprise, we get another PP moments after the previous one ends. Let's try this again, shall we? We got some more opportunities in this man advantage, but all we did was close the gap on the shot clock a bit more. With 10:4 remaining in the period, the SOG are now Phantoms 25, Admirals 28.
BOY did Guenin ever block a shot. That's at least the third time he has laid out flat on the ice to cut off a shooting lane. This time, he swept his stick and cleared the oncoming puck out of harm's way.
On Norfolk's next attempt, our defender took the body and the puck slid gently in toward Munroe all by itself. He easily sticked it aside.
Our rush with 8:01 remaining in the period resulted in yet another penalty against Norfolk, so let's see about cashing in this latest PECOOOOO POWER PLAY. We start with th Matsumoto line, Curry, and Ratchuk. Yiii... on our next shift, Kukkonen's shot from the top of the slot nearly nailed Kane at the crease's edge. Fortunately, everyone was in one intact piece by the end of that sequence. Ross's line is out with Syvret and Kukkonen... as the PP expires, Kalinski, Szwez, and JVR are out with Curry and Ratchuk. With 5:34 remaining, SOG are even at 28-28.
Just as we reach the final minute of the period, Guenin gets called for slashing. So we get to wrap up this game on the PK. At least we can ice the puck at will. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Kukkonen, and Bartulis are out.
Or we could go to 4 on 4 instead, with 36.2 remaining. Ross and JVR are out with Ratchuk and Curry.
And there we go – the game is over, we've won our remaining game in hand, and now it's the Phantoms who are in 4th place by one point. We have a game in Albany on Wednesday, one at home on Friday vs. Hershey on Friday, and a game in Hershey on Saturday. Count them all as must-wins for us to control -our own destiny and secure that final playoff berth.
GO PHANTOMS!
Today's game blog will be sent postgame
My goal is to attend the auction postgame, so I will be sending the blog post after that.
The fans booed the "One Game Left" announcement when the banners were updated.
It's currently the first intermission and we lead 3-0 in a feisty game. GO PHANTOMS!!!
The fans booed the "One Game Left" announcement when the banners were updated.
It's currently the first intermission and we lead 3-0 in a feisty game. GO PHANTOMS!!!
Phantoms and Phantoms Phan Club at Norfolk Admirals 4-4-09
Hooray! When we stopped at the rest area on the way home, I figured out why my freaking wireless internet was acting up.
So here, without further ado, is the blog file from Saturday night's game.
----
Here we are at Scope Arena, Section 213. It's in the penalty-box-side corner which, IIRC, we defend twice. That's fine by me... I've always preferred spending time in the general vicinity of my team's netminder, ever since the days when I had an immense case of hero-worship for Bernie Parent. :)
Here come the Admirals, and wouldn't you know it? They're warming up on our end of the ice. Shoot. Oddly enough, they entered the ice from a door at the other end of the arena, near the Zamboni tunnel, and skated all the way to this end to warm up. Meanwhile, the Phantoms entered the ice from a door that's pretty much directly in front of our section, and skated down to the opposite side of the ice to warm up. Bizarre,
I hadn't realized, until Mark read through the Admirals' game program, that this is Norfolk's final home game of the season. Their remaining games, including the one in Philly tomorrow night, are all on the road.
I brought only the smaller of my two SLR lenses with me. Some arenas are fussy about people carrying cameras with detachable lenses, and I figured that I would rather reduce the odds of getting into a debate with guards at the door. As it turned out, it was a non-issue anyway as the guard did not go through the bag with a fine-tooth comb.
'
I see Jeff Szwez warming up with the team. Last night, he was absent from the lineup. Also on the ice for pregame -warmups are Josh Gratton and Josh Beaulieu. I know that we are allowed to warm up with one or two more players than we actually dress, so I will hold off on predicting who's in tonight's game until the scratches are announced.
Scratched: 2 6 8 12 23 24 36 37 Liquorice, Sloane, DeSantis, Klotz, Kempe, Bellamy, Hersley, Kalinski – that was unexpected, to put it mildly.)
Starting lineup: Aubin, Guenin, Syvret, Kane, Sirianni, Ross
Yep, this is definitely the end where we SHOOT twice. Why the teams' benches are on the opposite end of the rink from the entrances they use is utterly beyond me.
]Syvret and Kane come in on a 2 on 1, and YEAAAH we score on the very first shot of the game! Kane from Syvret and Ross. Fantastic! Norfolk proceeds to buzz around our net in an attempt to equalize the score. But Aubin is up to the challenge.
Eeee, we just executed a pas in front of our own net that must have made Fred Shero turn over in his grave. One of his maxims was to never have a cross-ice pass in front of your own net. First of all, one of our guys had to et creative to keep an Admiral from picking off the puck in the slot, and second, Aubin was wandering off to one side so the net was wide open.; Gaaah. My blood pressure. Fortunately, nothing bad came of it.
Nor did any mishaps occur courtesy of the Admiral who took the puck in his own neutral zone and started hustling up the middle. Syvret and I think Ratchuk combined to chase him down and bat the puck off his stick from behind. Nice D by our boys, and as an added benefit, no penalty-worthy maneuvers were committed.
Oh, Clackson came a hair's breadth from scoring from the very top of the crease. Only the quick thinking of an Admiral defender, who blocked the shot attempt with a strategically-placed stick, kept he puck from going on net at ooint-blank range.
OK, go figure... Kalinski was announced as a scratch, yet there he is on the ice with Szwez and JVR. Someone goofed up the list of scratches. I suspect it was Beaulieu's name, and not Kalinski's, that should have been announced.
OH OH OH how did we not score into the wide freaking open goal? Helenius was behind the net, only to have the puck decide to be uncooperative and go to a Phantom out in front. A Norfolk defender made what we all know was a save, though it will go on record as a blocked shot. However, we get the puck back and SCOOOOORE the next time around! Curry from Clackson and Ross! 2-0 Phantoms!'
'
SOG with 6:57 remaining in the period are even at 6-6.
With just under a minute left in the frame, Brookbank goes for interference and we get the first PP of the game. We have had only one SOG since we scored the second goal, while Norfolk has had 9.
We actually spent most of that final 55.5 seconds in our own end, but eventually the period ended with the Phantoms leading 2-0. We will have about 1:05 of powerplay time remaining at the start of the second period. SOG: Phantoms 7, Admirals 15.
We are on a delayed penalty right now and it is taking forever for a Phantom to get control and stop play. And BLOODY HADES, don't you know that the Ads get repeated scoring chances until one goes in? Aubin was down and someone was able to flip the puck over his outstretched glove. Aw, it was our old pal Zingoni. Gee, amigo, spare a thought for your former team, would ya? ;)
Well, at least we don't have to kill a penalty, Though e had a hair-raising moment soon after getting scored on whee t looked like Aubin's angle was off and something might sneak n at the post. Fortunately, that one stayed out.
Sirianni clangs one loudly off the post while trying to break in 2 on 2 with Ross. Drat. But at least it got us into the Norfolk end for a while. That goal against was the result of spending way too much time on D and not enough time on the attack.
SOG with 13:09 left in the period: Admirals 17, Phantoms 10.
Argh. Not only are we going on a PK, but it appears that we are going on a two-man disadvantage. What the flying leap is going on here? Kalinski goes for unsportsmanlike conduct and Curry goes for interference.
Blast. There goes the tying goal. 2-2. IMO, it's BOGUS to call unsportsmanlike conduct call at a time like that, IMO, but what can you do? We still are at a 5-on-4 PK.
OK, we did kill the rest of that penalty, but the score remains 2-2. SOG are Admirals 23, Phantoms 11.
Whoa, Clackson nearly gave us the lead again with another shot attempt from just outside the crease, No dice... THIS time. If he keeps crashing the net like that, those pucks re going to tart going in for him.
Eeeeee yi yi yi, did we dodge a bullet when a Norfolk bomb of a shot hit the post with about 3 and a half minutes left in the frame! Hey, if we can get b ounces like that around our own net, it's time to test the bounces that we get in front of Norfolk's net. We have spent too much darn time at this end in this period.
Surprise, we have a PP . We were nearly 30 seconds into the man advantage before the announcement was made. OK, now it's REALLY time to test the bounces in front of the Ads' net! GO PHANTOMS!
GRRR we had a mad scramble in front of Helenius but it came to naught.
Blah, another PK on the way with 37 seconds left in the period. Maroon goes for tripping.
At the end of the second period, the score is 2-2, the SOG are Admirals 26, Phantoms 21, and the Phantoms have 1:23 of PK time remaining when the third period begins.
We killed the infraction, and a few minutes later Sirianni's shot found iron. Gack. Still 2-2.
What in the blue blazes is going on? The ref's arm was up, but nobody has ny idea who the infraction was against. BOTH goalies attempted to head to the bench for an extra attacker. Finally we find out that the Admirals are the team going shorthanded, We need to hit the NET with these attempts. AAH, like THAT! SCOOORE on the PP abnd the Phantoms take the lead back! :) Boyd KANE from Syvret and Ross (who has three assists tonight).
Ohhhh, SO CLOSE to doubling the lead, but the dratted puck wouldn't cooperate during a huge goalmouth scramble in front of Helenius. Eeee. Still 3-2 Phantoms.
We have a little tweaking going on... Raduns is out with Szwez and Kalinski.
A nice stop by Helenius keeps the Ads within a goal.
JVR is out with Matsumoto and Laliberte; that's DEFINITELY a line tweak, and a significant one. What
s up with Maroon?
The Ross line is its normal grouping.
I think I see Maroon on the end of our bench, but that doesn't bguarantee that he'sb well enough to play. Or maybe coach just wants to see what JVR is made of. We hae 5:27 left in the period and SOG are Ads 33, Phantoms 28.
We are seeing a WHOLE LOT of the Ross and Matsumoto lines (the latter with JVR in place of Maroon). Coach definitely wants his top forwards out at crunch time. Syvret and Guenin, and Kukkonen/Bartulis, are in heavy rotation as well. Hee, so of course now he makes a fibber out of me and sends out the Kalinski/Szwez/Raduns. ;) That's OK.
There goes Helenius with a minute and a half left. The Phantoms call timeout with 29.1 seconds left in the period.
Laliberte puts the game on ice with an ENG with 0.4 seconds left! Phantoms win 4-2!
Binghamton also won, so we are still one point behind them. However, we have our game-in-hand on Sunday, in our third contest in three days against Norfolk. So here's to seeing us take that contest and pull ahead of the Senators!
Go Phantoms!
So here, without further ado, is the blog file from Saturday night's game.
----
Here we are at Scope Arena, Section 213. It's in the penalty-box-side corner which, IIRC, we defend twice. That's fine by me... I've always preferred spending time in the general vicinity of my team's netminder, ever since the days when I had an immense case of hero-worship for Bernie Parent. :)
Here come the Admirals, and wouldn't you know it? They're warming up on our end of the ice. Shoot. Oddly enough, they entered the ice from a door at the other end of the arena, near the Zamboni tunnel, and skated all the way to this end to warm up. Meanwhile, the Phantoms entered the ice from a door that's pretty much directly in front of our section, and skated down to the opposite side of the ice to warm up. Bizarre,
I hadn't realized, until Mark read through the Admirals' game program, that this is Norfolk's final home game of the season. Their remaining games, including the one in Philly tomorrow night, are all on the road.
I brought only the smaller of my two SLR lenses with me. Some arenas are fussy about people carrying cameras with detachable lenses, and I figured that I would rather reduce the odds of getting into a debate with guards at the door. As it turned out, it was a non-issue anyway as the guard did not go through the bag with a fine-tooth comb.
'
I see Jeff Szwez warming up with the team. Last night, he was absent from the lineup. Also on the ice for pregame -warmups are Josh Gratton and Josh Beaulieu. I know that we are allowed to warm up with one or two more players than we actually dress, so I will hold off on predicting who's in tonight's game until the scratches are announced.
Scratched: 2 6 8 12 23 24 36 37 Liquorice, Sloane, DeSantis, Klotz, Kempe, Bellamy, Hersley, Kalinski – that was unexpected, to put it mildly.)
Starting lineup: Aubin, Guenin, Syvret, Kane, Sirianni, Ross
Yep, this is definitely the end where we SHOOT twice. Why the teams' benches are on the opposite end of the rink from the entrances they use is utterly beyond me.
]Syvret and Kane come in on a 2 on 1, and YEAAAH we score on the very first shot of the game! Kane from Syvret and Ross. Fantastic! Norfolk proceeds to buzz around our net in an attempt to equalize the score. But Aubin is up to the challenge.
Eeee, we just executed a pas in front of our own net that must have made Fred Shero turn over in his grave. One of his maxims was to never have a cross-ice pass in front of your own net. First of all, one of our guys had to et creative to keep an Admiral from picking off the puck in the slot, and second, Aubin was wandering off to one side so the net was wide open.; Gaaah. My blood pressure. Fortunately, nothing bad came of it.
Nor did any mishaps occur courtesy of the Admiral who took the puck in his own neutral zone and started hustling up the middle. Syvret and I think Ratchuk combined to chase him down and bat the puck off his stick from behind. Nice D by our boys, and as an added benefit, no penalty-worthy maneuvers were committed.
Oh, Clackson came a hair's breadth from scoring from the very top of the crease. Only the quick thinking of an Admiral defender, who blocked the shot attempt with a strategically-placed stick, kept he puck from going on net at ooint-blank range.
OK, go figure... Kalinski was announced as a scratch, yet there he is on the ice with Szwez and JVR. Someone goofed up the list of scratches. I suspect it was Beaulieu's name, and not Kalinski's, that should have been announced.
OH OH OH how did we not score into the wide freaking open goal? Helenius was behind the net, only to have the puck decide to be uncooperative and go to a Phantom out in front. A Norfolk defender made what we all know was a save, though it will go on record as a blocked shot. However, we get the puck back and SCOOOOORE the next time around! Curry from Clackson and Ross! 2-0 Phantoms!'
'
SOG with 6:57 remaining in the period are even at 6-6.
With just under a minute left in the frame, Brookbank goes for interference and we get the first PP of the game. We have had only one SOG since we scored the second goal, while Norfolk has had 9.
We actually spent most of that final 55.5 seconds in our own end, but eventually the period ended with the Phantoms leading 2-0. We will have about 1:05 of powerplay time remaining at the start of the second period. SOG: Phantoms 7, Admirals 15.
We are on a delayed penalty right now and it is taking forever for a Phantom to get control and stop play. And BLOODY HADES, don't you know that the Ads get repeated scoring chances until one goes in? Aubin was down and someone was able to flip the puck over his outstretched glove. Aw, it was our old pal Zingoni. Gee, amigo, spare a thought for your former team, would ya? ;)
Well, at least we don't have to kill a penalty, Though e had a hair-raising moment soon after getting scored on whee t looked like Aubin's angle was off and something might sneak n at the post. Fortunately, that one stayed out.
Sirianni clangs one loudly off the post while trying to break in 2 on 2 with Ross. Drat. But at least it got us into the Norfolk end for a while. That goal against was the result of spending way too much time on D and not enough time on the attack.
SOG with 13:09 left in the period: Admirals 17, Phantoms 10.
Argh. Not only are we going on a PK, but it appears that we are going on a two-man disadvantage. What the flying leap is going on here? Kalinski goes for unsportsmanlike conduct and Curry goes for interference.
Blast. There goes the tying goal. 2-2. IMO, it's BOGUS to call unsportsmanlike conduct call at a time like that, IMO, but what can you do? We still are at a 5-on-4 PK.
OK, we did kill the rest of that penalty, but the score remains 2-2. SOG are Admirals 23, Phantoms 11.
Whoa, Clackson nearly gave us the lead again with another shot attempt from just outside the crease, No dice... THIS time. If he keeps crashing the net like that, those pucks re going to tart going in for him.
Eeeeee yi yi yi, did we dodge a bullet when a Norfolk bomb of a shot hit the post with about 3 and a half minutes left in the frame! Hey, if we can get b ounces like that around our own net, it's time to test the bounces that we get in front of Norfolk's net. We have spent too much darn time at this end in this period.
Surprise, we have a PP . We were nearly 30 seconds into the man advantage before the announcement was made. OK, now it's REALLY time to test the bounces in front of the Ads' net! GO PHANTOMS!
GRRR we had a mad scramble in front of Helenius but it came to naught.
Blah, another PK on the way with 37 seconds left in the period. Maroon goes for tripping.
At the end of the second period, the score is 2-2, the SOG are Admirals 26, Phantoms 21, and the Phantoms have 1:23 of PK time remaining when the third period begins.
We killed the infraction, and a few minutes later Sirianni's shot found iron. Gack. Still 2-2.
What in the blue blazes is going on? The ref's arm was up, but nobody has ny idea who the infraction was against. BOTH goalies attempted to head to the bench for an extra attacker. Finally we find out that the Admirals are the team going shorthanded, We need to hit the NET with these attempts. AAH, like THAT! SCOOORE on the PP abnd the Phantoms take the lead back! :) Boyd KANE from Syvret and Ross (who has three assists tonight).
Ohhhh, SO CLOSE to doubling the lead, but the dratted puck wouldn't cooperate during a huge goalmouth scramble in front of Helenius. Eeee. Still 3-2 Phantoms.
We have a little tweaking going on... Raduns is out with Szwez and Kalinski.
A nice stop by Helenius keeps the Ads within a goal.
JVR is out with Matsumoto and Laliberte; that's DEFINITELY a line tweak, and a significant one. What
s up with Maroon?
The Ross line is its normal grouping.
I think I see Maroon on the end of our bench, but that doesn't bguarantee that he'sb well enough to play. Or maybe coach just wants to see what JVR is made of. We hae 5:27 left in the period and SOG are Ads 33, Phantoms 28.
We are seeing a WHOLE LOT of the Ross and Matsumoto lines (the latter with JVR in place of Maroon). Coach definitely wants his top forwards out at crunch time. Syvret and Guenin, and Kukkonen/Bartulis, are in heavy rotation as well. Hee, so of course now he makes a fibber out of me and sends out the Kalinski/Szwez/Raduns. ;) That's OK.
There goes Helenius with a minute and a half left. The Phantoms call timeout with 29.1 seconds left in the period.
Laliberte puts the game on ice with an ENG with 0.4 seconds left! Phantoms win 4-2!
Binghamton also won, so we are still one point behind them. However, we have our game-in-hand on Sunday, in our third contest in three days against Norfolk. So here's to seeing us take that contest and pull ahead of the Senators!
Go Phantoms!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Heading Home :)
The Phantoms won a heck of a game in Norfolk, but I'm having issues trying to post the game writeup. I'll post it when I get home, either in a few hours or tomorrow.
Go Phantoms! :)
Go Phantoms! :)
A little self-promotion
This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.
Getting close!
We just passed a sign that read "Norfolk 70 miles". It's not quite 4 hours since we left (at 8:30 AM).
It's a beautiful day, but windy as all heck. Philly was windy, MD was windy, and I won't be surprised if Norfolk has high winds as well.
It's a beautiful day, but windy as all heck. Philly was windy, MD was windy, and I won't be surprised if Norfolk has high winds as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
