The Wilkes-Barre Penguins ‘A’ team beat the Phantoms ‘B’ team last night at the PPL Center to clinch the third seed in the AHL Atlantic in their final game of the season. This set forth the first-round playoff schedule for seeds 3-6 while seeds 7 and 8 (Bridgeport, Springfield) head home, and seeds 1 and 2 (Hershey, Providence) sit idle and await their first opponent from the first-round winners. The impending first round will see the Wilkes-Barre team face the Phantoms in a 1-1-1 format, with game one on Wednesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in the parking lot of the Wyoming Valley Mall, game two on Friday night at the corner of 7th and Hamilton in downtown Allentown, and game 3–if needed–Sunday afternoon back in Wilkes-Barre. In the other series, Hartford gets the pleasure of spending the week in Charlotte for all three games, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (if needed).
The winners in the first round will re-bracket with the lowest seed facing the powerful Hershey Bears and the next-highest seed facing the Providence Bruins. Both are 5-game sets which would usually be 2-3 in nature, but could possibly be 2-2-1 in the case of close-proximity opponents such as Phantoms/Bears, which would automatically be the match-up should the Phantoms advance.
About Last Night
Credit to Coach Lappy for getting his long bench involved and for assuring a home game for the Phantoms. The Penguins out-shot the Phantoms 24-21 and led the whole way to the 2-0 win as the Phantoms back-ups couldn’t find the net against Wilkes-Barre #2 netminder Ludovic Waeber. Phantoms young Russian puck-tamer Alexei Kolosov played well in his second opportunity in the AHL and showed improvement and poise in the game, per reports.
Here’s what the lines looked like:
28 Lycksell 91 Desnoyers 25 Miller
46 Brown 56 Gaucher 13 Furry
10 Polei 16 Avon 14 Wisdom
18 Gratton 39 Bouquot 3 Karashik
19 McDonald 2 Grans
6 Andrae 5 Samson
4 Zmolek 8 Millman
35 Kolosov (32 Sandstrom)
Scratches:
7 Louie Belpedio 9 Tanner Laczynski 12 Ronnie Attard 15 Massimo Rizzo 17 Garrett Wilson 20 Cooper Marody 22 Rhett Gardner 23 Bobby Brink 24 Adam Brooks 27 Samu Tuomaala 31 Parker Gahagen 37 Adam Ginning 40 Cal Petersen 98 Victor Mete
Discussion:
Good to see Andrae back out there after missing Friday night. Samu is injured, so not a surprise to give him another night off regardless of his current condition. Good to see the Penn State duo get in the game, Gratton and Bouquot. Lycksell, Gaucher and Grans wore ‘A’s for the game.
Transaction: F Massimo Rizzo (#15) joins on an ‘ATO’ after signing a two-year entry-level deal with the organization to begin next season. The Denver University product notched 10-34-44 in 30 games this season with his college team helping them win a national championship. It’s his second, as he won another with former college teammate Bobby Brink. His rights came from a trade with Carolina for David Kaše. The lefty-shot should be a good addition for the next couple seasons.
Goalie Watch
Friday night in the game they needed in Bridgeport, Peterson got the start. We have him penciled in as G1 for the playoffs for now. Kolosov got the backup opportunity Friday night and the start on Saturday as a springboard for next season, probably. Let’s give him G3. With Sandstrom getting the backup duties last night it’s tough to place the significance. We mentioned yesterday that he’s fallen from favor with the coaches and the organization it seems. I’m looking for Sandstrom/Gahagen this afternoon, and your starter is likely the G2, the backup the G4. Despite appearances it is likely to be Sandstrom’s spot–but I wouldn’t be shocked or disappointed if it goes the other way.
GAME DAY!
Charlotte is in town and I admit to thinking that if they were to be the first-round opponent and saving on travel money was oh-so important then they should just stay here and play. You have to respect the higher seed, I know, but the thought was firmly in my mind.
Originally the promotion for tonight was termed “Salute to Phans” but has now been given a new moniker, “Our Valley Our Home Night.” In any case, as a current or former season ticket holder for two minor league baseball teams, this hockey team, minor league soccer and arena football, I’ve yet to witness a “Fan Appreciation” which resulted in the majority of fans in attendance feeling appreciated. Let’s list some transgressions really quickly:
- poorly printed cheap TShirt with 13 sponsor logos (Phantoms)
- game-used equipment raffle, with less than 1% in attendance winning (IronPigs)
- big prize raffle winners–but they’re all at their first ever game (R-Phils)
- big discounts on concessions but not announced until mid-way through the game when everyone has already eaten. (IronPigs)
I don’t have the perfect answer–especially in an arena which hosts events all year long and the team doesn’t have final say over the concessions. But here’s a quick idea for a final game which doesn’t matter for the playoffs and you have back-ups available: Have the starting players, in ‘uniform’ either working around the concourse or just hanging out signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans. It’s something the Phillies used to do pre-season in years gone by. That plus a really nice giveaway which is available to almost all fans in attendance. The IronPigs are trying that this season with a last-game bobblehead, but it’s still well-limited in number. I know the Phantoms had “Season Ticket Nights” earlier in the season, and that was fine, but it did feel like it was mostly a sales push.
Charlotte is in town, as mentioned above. The Phantoms are 4-2-0-1 on the season versus Charlotte, but three of the wins are overtime wins. Show time is 3:05PM, with regular doors at 2:00 and Premier Members at 1:45PM.
Tickets for today’s contest are still available on both the primary and secondary markets. You can find them for as low as $7 on the secondary.
OFFICIALS
Referee Chad Ingalls (#39)
Referee Jeremy Tufts (#78)
Linesperson Shawn Oliver (#56)
Linesperson Kirsten Welsh (#10)
*Ingalls, Oliver and Welsh are from the crew that did last night’s game.
MEDIA KIT
What To Watch
- The Goalies, as above. Watch to see who starts and who backs-up. Make a note based on my prediction above for what we expect to see Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
- Watch to see if some of the guys who had last night off are out there this afternoon. The guys who returned from Philadelphia might want to stay sharp and reintegrate for chemistry–Attard, Ginning, Brink and Lycksell. However, Lycksell played the last two nights. Certainly you don’t want to wear anyone down or get anyone injured. One idea: Get the top two lines you plan for Wednesday out there, along with two other lines of players more likely to be backups. Then decide playing time as it goes, but you’re getting some chemistry with the “top two” groups. And, “top two” might mean lines 2 and 3, or wherever you as coach think you need to sharpen the chemistry. But most likely, you’ll see the guys who played Friday and Saturday sit in favor of whomever else is available and healthy, with no other rhyme or reason.
- No word on the nature of Samu Tuomalla’s injury from last weekend. I really want him back for the playoffs and for Scranton in particular, so no need to play him today unless he’s 100%. Still something to watch when the lineup is announced, though.
- Watch to see if newly signed Rizzo, on the ATO, gets a chance to skate.
- Watch for any unfortunate injuries or infractions which may impact our strength or ability for Wednesday.
- Watch to see if there’s anything meaningful about “our valley” or “our home.”
Up Next
It’s the playoffs baby. Hockey playoffs are the best playoffs of all the sports. The Hamilton Street Heroes will be in Wilkes Barre on Wednesday night, then right back here at the PPL Center for Friday night. Get your tickets now if you don’t already have them. The third and deciding game, if needed, would be in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday afternoon at 5:05.
If the Phantoms win, it’s on to Hershey. If the Penguins win, they head to a series with Providence, while Hershey gets the winner of two teams who play only in Charlotte.
See you at the arena–at least two more times,
@Kram207