“Hockey’s a funny game.You have to prove yourself every shift, every game. It’s not up to anybody else.You have to take pride in yourself.”
– Paul Coffey
About Last Night
The Phantoms took the loss last night by a 5-2 tally. They went down 3-0 early as they were still getting their skates under them. I thought those first couple were a little soft–but then I really didn’t see them because folks were wandering up and down the aisles. It’s opening night for everyone I guess.
The Phantoms played well, though. They were able to break out of their zone and move the puck through the neutral zone all night. They held their zone OK a fair few times. They got pucks to the net. It all could have been better of course. When they did get a goal and start to push to get back in the game, they got a nice greasy score which was waved off. Someone breathed on the goalie, evidently.
The quality of play was there, overall, and the special teams didn’t embarrass themselves. While it’s rarely about moral victories and such, it wasn’t a demoralizing and disappointing loss despite the massive scoreboard deficit. Marody and Tuomaala had the goals–two guys I’m looking for good things from this season. Samu’s goal was on a power play, where the Phantoms were 1/5 on the night. Not great and they did look poor at times–but something to build on. Cleveland was 0/0 on the power play as the Phantoms didn’t play a sloppy or dirty game at all–another plus. And, that’s one way to make your penalty kill look good!
Last night’s preview (HERE) had some Bold Predictions. In retrospect, perhaps not bold enough. But still, it’s how things look from over here at this juncture.
Players
Here’s how they lined up last night:
28 Lycksell – 9 Laczynski – 19 Allison
13 Furry – 91 Desnoyers – 27 Tuomaala
17 Wilson – 22 Gendron – 20 Marody
46 Brown – 56 Gaucher – 14 Wisdom
98 Mete – 7 Belpedio
37 Ginning – 12 Attard
5 Samson – 2 Grans
40 Petersen (31 Gahagen)
Scratches: 3 Karashik 10 Polei 15 Bellerive 24 Brooks 29 Gendron
With the quick turnaround for today’s game, I expect to see a fair few of those scratches, as well as the netminder Gahagen, in today’s lineup. If not, we start digging into early season injuries and doghouse status and such.
Player Spotlight: #98 LHD Victor Mete
Mete was originally drafted by Montreal in the 4th round of the 2016 draft. He quickly became a regular for the Canadiens from the 2017-18 season through the 2019-2020 season. Since then, injuries and bouncing to Ottawa and Toronto has kept him limited as an NHL player. Last season he played only 11 games for the Leafs and 6 for the Marlies. He stands only 5’9″ but skates very well and his scouting report lists “hockey sense” as one of his top qualities.
He looked good last night, flashed some of that puck-driving skill joining the attack and trying to help generate some offense. He was one of the last players sent down by the Flyers and is an asset to this Phantoms team as long as we have him out on the ice.
GAME DAY!
Good seats are still available for today’s match, both through the arena and on the secondary sites. Doors open at 12:00 for season tickets and 12:15 for the public. It’s the second game of “Opening Weekend” perhaps they have some towels left to give out again?
AHL.tv is free this weekend, they tell me, if you can’t make it today, don’t get Service Electric, and wanna catch the game at 1PM before tuning in to football at 4PM.
Parking is the usual suspects and the same price, but I got reports of some bad traffic last night. Leave a little extra time as folks learn the patterns this season, and avoid as much of 7th and Linden as you can.
Restaurant Spotlight: Reports of food quality in the arena are even worse than in the past. It’s been bad ever since the Eagles concert (RIP Glenn Frey). For that reason I will try to provide some reviews of the eateries around the arena to grab a bite before (or after) the game. I know that’s not possible for everyone given time and funds, but the concession quality inside the arena makes it the way to go if you can. We’ll have another review in this space next weekend. For today, check Sunday hours before setting out as this is an unusual game time.
Post Game: Last night was the first Chickie’s Post Game “event” with puck, stick and jersey raffles. Did anyone go? How was it? Did they have enough staff to serve folks?
Belleville Senators are in town! Our old friend Brennan Saulnier returns. The Senators beat Hershey 3-0 last night with a regular goal, a power play goal, and an empty net. If their defense is good enough to shut down the defending champions in their own place? Phantoms could have some trouble scoring again today. But, it’s a weird game time and they’re on the road, so anything can happen.
MEDIA KIT: (rosters, etc. see yesterday’s post for easy printable roster)
OFFICIALS:
Referee Beau Halkidis (#48)
Referee Liam Maaskant (#62)
Linesperson Robert Peterkin (#51)
Linesperson Ryan Knapp (#73)
What To Watch
- Watch for lineup changes from last night, and any player who is conspicuous by his absence
- Watch to see how Gahagen does in net. He has only 12 games of AHL experience over 6 or 7 seasons, but his numbers in the ECHL are really good
- Watch for a fight again. I missed last night; I think I was in the rest room. Saulnier is not afraid to drop them so there’s some potential there.
- Watch to see if the penalty kill plays today, and how they look. Watch to see if the power play can be organized and under control.
- The defensive pair of Ginning and Attard were a combined -5 yesterday. That’s not ever the whole story, but it is something to watch.
Up Next
The Phantoms head out on the road to begin a 3-in-3 next weekend. The home game will be Sunday, this time a 3:05 start to ruin as much football watching as possible.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207
Follow on Twitter/X @TopLevelMinors
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