The Hated Penguins arrived in downtown Allentown on Thursday and enjoyed a night out at the downtown restaurants and bars before beating the Phantoms at the PPL Center last night. This was the first regular-season appearance this season for the Pittsburgh affiliate. While they are in third place in the division they have had an up and down season which has been propped up somewhat by some excellent goaltending.
It didn’t feel like the classic WBS Pens play in the first period. It felt somewhat sloppy and disjointed. But, some flat play by the Phantoms defense and some good luck for the Pens and they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. In the second, it looked more like the Pens of old–but the Phantoms defense was up to the task by now and the good guys got two goals back. We had a game going into the third and sure enough we got the tying tally. Shots were heavily to the Phantoms but of course they don’t count as goals. One more time with less than two minutes left, the Phantoms defense fell asleep. The puck came across the middle and Sandstrom couldn’t save it. Pens sneak out of town with all the points.
Highlights:
Lines and Pairs Last Night
23 Brink 22 Gardner 27 Tuomaala
16 Avon 24 Brooks 20 Marody
17 Wilson 91 Desnoyers 13 Furry
10 Polei 56 Gaucher 14 Wisdom
6 Andrae 2 Grans
98 Mete 5 Samson
37 Ginning 12 Attard
32 Sandstrom (31 Gahagen)
Scratches
3 Adam Karashik
7 Louie Belpedio
9 Tanner Laczynski
19 Wade Allison
** Belpedio, Laczynski and Allison are all injured to some degree. Wilson left the game with a leg injury. Look for a move from Reading if those players all remain as scratches. 11/7 is also a possibility. Maybe the Bellerive trade was ill-advised?
Mired In Mediocrity
The Phantoms are now 17-16-5-1 and more firmly in 7th place in the division and out of playoff contention presently. The lowly Bridgeport Sound Islanders will keep us from ever being in last place.
As these are our first post-mid-season home games, in yesterday’s preview I laid out the changes we’d need to see for this team to rise up the rankings and put themselves in position to make some noise in the playoffs. You can click back and read it if you like, but I’ll list those changes more succinctly here, along with what happened last night:
- Take Advantage of the Schedule: With all of our games against the Bridgeport junior squad left and 11 versus Wilkes Barre (three in this home stand!) there will be plenty of opportunities to grab points. Last night the Phantoms failed to get points against a very beatable Penguins team.
- The Phantoms Need Better Goalie Play: The league even lists “Empty Net” as a possible goalie leader for the Phantoms. The Flyers have their own problems given Carter Hart’s absence from the team, so help is not on the way. Dudes need to play better. Last night there were saves Sandstrom could have made. There were also some tough shots and some luck and a bunch of poor defense. Let’s see what ECHL recall Parker Gahagen can do tonight.
- The Phantoms Need Chemistry and Effort To Counteract Flyers Sabotage: If the Flyers come back to earth a bit they might start making wild roster moves. We need to be ready. Last night the Phantoms went down 3-0 but didn’t give up. That’s a good sign. I’m worried we might have lost our Captain to injury. That would hurt.
- The Phantoms Need To Be A Better Home Team: The Phantoms have a winning record at home and on the road–barely. They need to grab some home-ice advantage. The Phantoms lost a winnable game last night.
- The Phantoms Need To Cut Down On Penalties–Especially The Lazy And Sloppy: The Phantoms have been among the most-penalized team in the AHL this season and that doesn’t help the goalie play problem. It should be correctable. The Phantoms gave up only one power play last night, compared to three by the Penguins. That’s a start.
- The Phantoms Need To Win More Overtime Games: OverTimeLosses need to turn into wins to grab the extra standings points. The team avoided overtime last night by losing in regulation. That is not the way.
GAME DAY!
It’s a ‘white out’ night tonight. It’s also Racing Night–they wore their racing warm-up jerseys last night pre-game–and there will be a knit cap giveaway for the kiddos. Service Electric continues their ‘warm up’ drive for new and gently used coats, blankets and winter gear.
Tonight’s game will be available for free on AHL.tv as part of their free weekend.
Doors 5:45 STH, 6:00 public. Show 7:05, Hockey 7:20
Good seats still remain for this even, but anticipate a large crowd perhaps more than 6893 announced last night. On the secondary market, most seats are priced in the “unserious” range, but there are some deals to be had if you’re not picky about where you sit.
O Canada! Toronto is in town! Longtime readers know about my disdain and disgust for anything Devils. I really don’t like the New Jersey NHL team nor any of their affiliates from Albany to Binghamton to Utica. It’s ugly hockey and I find it tiresome to watch. However, I feel the opposite about Toronto. While I have no particular feeling at all about the NHL team, over the past 10 years I’ve really enjoyed and admired the way the AHL team plays the game. I don’t know if I will still feel that way later tonight, but we’ll see. I always look forward to the Toronto visit for some reason.
From Phantoms Media:
Sixth-place Toronto (16-13-6) has certainly had its ups and downs in the North Division but the Marlies have won three of four since snapping a seven-game losing streak via an 8-0 thrashing of the Belleville Senators. They cruised to a road sweep of the Charlotte Checkers last weekend by 5-2 and 4-1 victories as they began an eight-game swing through the United States that takes them to Cleveland and then Allentown with future stops in Hershey, Wilkes-Barre and Utica. Former Phantom and Flyer Kieffer Bellow (16-12-28) has thrived since joining on a PTO in November and is now with the Marlies full-time on an AHL contract. Dennis Hildeby (9-6-3, 2.21, .918) is fifth in the AHL in GAA and will represent the Marlies at the AHL All-Star Classic.
Head coach John Gruden is in his first season with the Marlies and is the father of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Jonathan Gruden. Assistant coach Eric Wellwood played 164 games for the Adirondack Phantoms from 2010-13 scoring 34-32-68 and also 31 games for the Flyers scoring 5-5-10 for a combined 195 games in the Flyers organization. Wellwood’s career ended prematurely via a skate slice of his Achilles’ heel in an Adirondack Phantoms game at Bridgeport in April, 2013. Wellwood is in his first season with the Marlies after he had previously been head coach of Newfoundland in the ECHL.
The Toronto Power Play is 20th overall in the league, but is better on the road. Their Penalty Kill is top 10 in the country, and even better on the road.
The Phantoms beat Toronto 2-1 up in Canada back in November.
OFFICIALS
Referee Mason Riley (#79)
Referee Michael Zyla (#4)
Linesperson J.P. Waleski (#14)
Linesperson Patrick Dapuzzo (#57)
MEDIA KIT
Photo: Jack Mitroka
What To Watch
- Watch to see if Parker Gahagen can play better than Sandstrom did last night. His numbers are better, you know, in a small sample of AHL appearances this season.
- Look for juicy rebounds though. My observation watching ‘Hagen this season is that he often leaves pucks out in the dangerous areas for second chances.
- Watch to see if the defense can stop losing track of guys in front of the net. That would be helpful.
- Watch to see if one of those forwards can get healthy. If not, watch for a move from Reading or an 11/7 scenario.
- The Marlies are on a long roadie through the US. They could be fatigued from travel but this isn’t the end of their trip yet. Watch to see if they look fresh.
- Bobby Brink, fresh down from the Flyers, scored last night. Watch to see how Brinker looks tonight. He’s wearing #23.
Up Next
Enjoy Toronto because it’s about to be a fist full of Pennsylvania teams. Tonight is game two of a six-game home-stand wrapping around the AHL All Star festivities in San Jose.
Wenesday: Happy Hour with Hershey
Next Weekend: Hershey and Wilkes-Barre Friday and Saturday for 10th Anniversary Weekend
The Following Friday (2/9): Wilkes-Barre again
See you at the arena,
@Kram207