The Hamilton Street Heroes still haven’t solved the Hershey Bears, as they took a 5-2 beating Wednesday night at the PPL Center. Leaving Joe Snively open in front of the net seemed to be the bold strategy. It didn’t work out, Cotton. Enter tonight a hated Penguins team looking for revenge, from the beat down the Phantoms issued at their place last Friday. Since then the hated Penguins have gone 1-1 this past week.
Standings
| GP | GR | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | RW | ROW | GF | GA | STK | P10 | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 | 32 | 27 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 59 | 0.738 | 21 | 24 | 122 | 97 | 5-0-2-0 | 6-2-2-0 | 468 |
| 2 | 39 | 33 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 54 | 0.692 | 18 | 21 | 117 | 105 | 2-0-1-0 | 7-2-1-0 | 586 |
| 3 | 40 | 32 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 46 | 0.575 | 14 | 18 | 117 | 117 | 1-0-0-0 | 5-4-0-1 | 526 |
| 4 | 39 | 33 | 19 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 0.551 | 13 | 17 | 112 | 118 | 0-1-0-0 | 5-3-1-1 | 523 |
| 5 | 39 | 33 | 19 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 43 | 0.551 | 12 | 15 | 111 | 105 | 0-1-0-0 | 5-5-0-0 | 467 |
| 6 | 41 | 31 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 43 | 0.524 | 13 | 17 | 137 | 140 | 1-0-0-0 | 4-5-1-0 | 511 |
| 7 | 40 | 32 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 41 | 0.513 | 12 | 16 | 116 | 119 | 3-0-0-0 | 6-4-0-0 | 529 |
| 8 | 40 | 32 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 41 | 0.513 | 12 | 14 | 112 | 125 | 0-1-0-0 | 5-2-2-1 | 466 |
More About Wednesday
The improved Penalty Kill didn’t come to fruition as the Bears were able to get two power play goals. The top line of Brink, Lycksell and Anisimov were -2 each on the night.
Here’s how they lined up:
28 Lycksell 51 Anisimov 23 Brink
17 Wilson 91 Desnoyers 71 Foerster
24 Brooks 9 O’Reilly 42 Hodgson
20 Willman 18 J Cates 15 Bellerive
4 Zamula 47 Belpedio
44 Connauton 29 Wylie
37 Ginning 12 Attard
30 Ersson
*There have been no recent roster changes for the Phantoms
GAME DAY!
It’s “Flyers Night” at the rink tonight! Renowned PA Man Lou Nolan will be with us, as will renowned mascot Gritty. Fans are asked to dress in all-white as the team will be debuting a new “white out” jersey. Great.
Good seats are still available. By the way, did you know we’re charging a different ticket price each night of the week? For my seats it’s $39 on Wednesday but $45 on Friday and $46 on Saturday. And that’s before fees. That’s a good reason to renew my season tickets, right there.
Special Teams: The Phantoms 9th-ranked Home Power Play will face the hated Penguins 17th-ranked Road Penalty Kill. Meanwhile the hated Penguins 19-ranked Road Power Play will face the Phantoms 32-ranked Home Penalty Kill.
The Phantoms are 2-2-0-1 versus the hated Penguins this season, while the hated Penguins are 3-1-1-0 versus the Hamilton Street Heroes. That’s some close games, right there.
OFFICIALS
Referee Mike Dietrich (#15)
Referee Michael Zyla (#4)
Linesperson Ryan Knapp (#73)
Linesperson Tommy George (#61)
MEDIA KIT
What To Watch
- Watch for Ersson to start in goal again tonight
- Watch to see if that top line is still together and if they can be responsible in their own end. And, if they can score some goals.
- Watch to see who is in the net for the hated Penguins. I believe Tokarski is up with the real Pens in Pittsburgh. #31 Lindberg took the beating from the Phantoms last week. Tokarski beat Bridgeport this week, while Lindberg lost to Rochester. #37 Tommy Nappier is up from ECHL Wheeling.
- Watch to see a wallet fly out onto the ice. It me trying to pay off the Officials because we cannot afford to take any penalties whatsoever with our putrid abhorrent penalty kill unit. Quickest way to kill a penalty? Just let the puck go in the net. Probably.
- I haven’t seen the white-out jerseys yet. I probably won’t like them. Whatever. But they had better not come out in white pants or I’m leaving. Probably Service Electric will come with me because an all-white get-up is not going to play well on TV. The know the ice is white, right? (Unless we paint it orange for Flyers night, but now I’m just getting silly.)
- Watch for some fights. There were eight 5-minute fighting penalties called in the third period of last Fridays game, to go along with four of the 10-minute variety. I can’t believe that’s all just settled now.
- Bold Prediction: Phantoms win tonight for Gritty, 4-2. But are then too tired to play well against the Bears tomorrow and lose 8-1.
Looking Ahead
I hope you like Hershey. We’ve got them again tomorrow and then a third time on Wednesday. We’ll stay home for the fifth of the 5-game home stand next Friday, to face Providence. Then next Saturday head down to Hershey for one last game before the All Star Break.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207