The Phantoms lost Wednesday night in a game where the team looked disorganized and at times disinterested. The power play was so bad that it harkened back to the days when der Eishockeyzuschauer (RIP) and I would stand at center ice and yell, “Decline the penalty!” Springfield has been playing some good hockey, though, as we discussed in the pre-game column. And, the Phantoms did have a nice bunch of dangerous-area shots which they couldn’t get to go. Still: 0-5 on the power play while allowing a shortie and a power play goal. Not a great showing for the special teams.
It’s hockey. It goes this way sometimes and it’s not the end of the world. But maybe this is where we find out what our new coach is made of. Six games in a row at home (0-1 so far) with the first three against the bottom of the division. It’s time to generate some consistency and some quality play. There’s talent here. Let’s see what Snowden can do with it.
Highlights
Records and Standings
Record: 13-10-1-2
Standings: 4th place, Hershey charging
Home: 6-3-0-1
Away: 7-7-1-1
Recent: 3-6-0-1 in our last 10
Overtime: 3-1
Shootout: 2-2
Friday: 4-4
Saturday: 7-1-0-2
Sunday: 0-2-1
[Sunday 3/3: 0-1-1]
Wednesday: 2-3
October: 5-3-0-1
November: 5-3-1-1
December: 2-4
White “Home” Jerseys: 6-3-0-1
Black with Orange “Road” Jerseys: 4-3-1-1
Orange “Alternate” Jerseys: 3-2
“Black-Out” Jerseys: 0-1
“Faux-Back” Keystone Black: 0-1
Post-Game Fan Event Game: 1-0
Player Update
No moves of note. D Egor Zamula put on waivers by Philadelphia. Let’s see if he makes it down.
Lines Wednesday Night:
21 Bump 25 Pederson 52 Barkey
90 Richard 23 Dorwart 22 Robertson
72 Gendron 56 Gaucher 12 Kaplan
17 Wilson 74 Wisdom 36 Boulton
37 Ginning 82 Guenette
19 McDonald 59 Bonk
4 Murchison 15 Kyrou
35 Kolosov (Backup: 64 Bjarnason)
Not feeling the nicknames today. Kyrou kind of responsible for that first goal–he’s cooled; perhaps he needs a break. Bonk still gaining acceptance. Boulton willing to fight to stay in Allentown rather than Reading.
GAME DAY!
It’s Friday Night Dollar Dogs tonight! Dollar dogs until the end of the first period.
Show time is 7:05 with the puck dropping around 7:15PM. All gates at 6PM with Premier Member entrances open early at 5:45PM.
Good seats still available for this game. A few good deals on the secondary market if you can get to them.
Not a lot going on downtown tonight, compared with tomorrow. Traffic and parking should be manageable.
Post-Game: Sources tell us that post-game Chickie’s raffles on Fridays and Saturdays will be no more. A new promotion is planned but has not been announced.
Bridgeport: 10-12-1-1 and in 7th place in the AHL Atlantic. They are 5-5 in their last 10 and got crunched by Syracuse 5-0 at home on Wednesday. No rest advantage. Hogberg and Tikkanen net duo could be formidable if they’re playing well. Season series is 1-0 Lehigh Valley.
Media Kit
Officials
Referees: Ben Betker (#42), Mike Dietrich (#15) Linesperson: Kirsten Welsh (#10), Jud Ritter (#34)
What To Watch
- Look for Bjarnason in net. Both goalies have been fine. Bjarny had a nice game up in Rochester last time out.
- We didn’t get them on Wednesday, but watch out for holiday-them warm up or game jerseys. They could be coming, although we don’t know for sure.
- Power Play: Let’s talk about the special teams separately. They need to play with more physicality and more urgency on the man-advantage. Win pucks, keep pucks, hold the zone, all of that. Tilt the ice and act like it’s time to eat.
- Penalty Kill: Stay organized and don’t lose shape. Don’t get cute with the puck. Be disruptive and recover.
- Coaching: Watch to see how the team responds to the home loss to a lesser opponent on Wednesday. It might tell us something about Snowden and his staff.
- How does the crowd look? Man, they’re selling this teddy toss tomorrow like crazy, which is fine, but it’s already one of the more popular games. Wednesday is tough and we’ve been over the Happy Hour thing, but it seems like there’s room for growth in some of the non-featured games.
- Watch to see if Chickie’s is even open after the game. Or if anybody cares.
- Do we still get the free slice with three goals? Maybe collect that during the daylight hours. Be safe out there, folks.
Up Next
Teddy toss tomorrow. Let’s bring the stuffies!
After Christmas, we have Saturday night next weekend as well as a Sunday matinee. Six in a row at home ends with another matinee on New Year’s Eve.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207
Featured Image and goal sequence above, but Jack Mitroka