The Hamilton Street Heroes return home to try to close out the abbreviated 3-game first-round series in the 2025 Calder Cup Tournament. The Phantoms took game one up in the Wyoming Valley, 5-2 on Wednesday night. There were contributions all around as the team really took care of business.
Highlights:
Around here, this column was taken to task for a section of the Playoff Preview which described how the Phantoms might lose. That section, of course, came after the section about how the Phantoms could win. How dare we accept the possibility of defeat? Well, first, you don’t anger the Hockey Gods with false bravado. Apparently, Alex Bump didn’t get that memo:
Bulletin board material? #LVPhantoms F Alex Bump began & ended his media availability after Game 1 taking shots at the #WBSPens defensemen. “Their D didn’t want to play the hard game.” “Like I said, they don’t like to defend. Soft defenders, in my opinion.”
The Other Side
Penguins-affiliate updates:
- F Emil Bemstrom required surgery and isn’t participating in this series.
- G Joel Blomqvist left Wednesday’s game with an undisclosed injury (feelings hurt?) and G Sergei Murashov was pulled out of the Wheeling series with Norfolk in the ECHL Kelly Cup to help out.
GAME DAY!
Event Time: 7:05PM; Doors: 6:00PM; Hockey: 7:17PM
Good seats still remain for this game. There are not a lot of deals to be had with ticket prices. If purchasing from the arena, you can add parking during that process.
It is an ‘orange out’ so please wear your favorite orange jersey/shirt/hoodie to the game. Rally towels will be handed out at the doors.
MEDIA KIT (Playoffs)
MEDIA KIT (Regular Season)
OFFICIALS
Referee Stephen Hiff (#46)
Referee Adam Tobias (#16)
Linesperson Ryan Jackson (#84)
Linesperson Kirsten Welsh (#10)
Scouting the Refs: Tobias gets low marks for being whistle-happy and participating in “ref show.”
What To Watch
- Watch for who starts in net. This is the playoffs and I’ll ride the hot hand. Plus, Gahagen has been good all season and should be afforded this opportunity.
- Watch for which jersey we sport. We wore the whites on the road on Wednesday, I think it comes down to the orange (“orange out” after all) or the black-out which we used a bunch down the stretch. We’d vote for the black around here, but smart money is on the orange. Each has a winning record on the season, although not by as much as the white.
- The win on Wednesday is consistent with the season numbers, which had the Phantoms at 9-1 on Wednesdays this year. Fridays the team plays around .500 puck, so that doesn’t give me any feeling about tonight. Sundays have been a house of horrors, but none of those Sundays were after having had Saturday off, so a trip back up the turnpike is for sure undesirable, but not the end of the world.
- Watch for the Penguins affiliate to come out guns blazing. The Phantoms might need to withstand that barrage for a few minutes. Also, give the refs a chance to insert themselves into the game without giving them a reason to penalize the good guys. The first period is going to be very important even if it isn’t definitive. You can lose this game in the first period, but you can’t win it.
- Try to solve Murashov. The Russian goalie who had been undefeated on the AHL level for so long this season did lose three in a row down the stretch, at Charlotte, at Cleveland and home versus Hershey. He should get the start tonight with Gauthier backing up. Not sure what happened to Filip Larsson–ahh, “undisclosed injury.”
- Watch for playoff intensity. We also think there will be a fight. Smith is the guess, but we don’t rule out Wilson.
- Watch to see if the Phantoms PK can continue to stymie the power play of the penguins affiliate. That was a big key on Wednesday, to fight off man-advantage and 5-on-3 scenarios without letting them score.
- Scoring predictions: I think Luchanko gets a goal. I think a defenseman gets a goal–let’s say Samson. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Wisdom get on the score sheet one way or another.
- Watch to see if Gendy can get out there. I’m not sure where I’d put him, though, because I want to keep Bump out there. Maybe flip Bump to the other side and scratch Eklind?
- At some point the Flyers need to have Brink, Bump and Bonk on the same line, right?
Up Next
First, if the orange and black cannot win tonight, we’re playing a rubber match in the parking lot of the Wyoming Valley Mall on Sunday at 6PM.
Win, and await the results of the Springfield/Providence series. Springfield is up 1-0 and if they close out the upset and we do the same? It means Charlotte here for two this week before we head south. If we can close it out but Providence comes back? That means we head to Hershey for two and expect playoff hockey at home next weekend.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207