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Everything you need to know, as another rival comes to town. Check it out.

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“You can check-out any time you like,

But you can never leave! “

–Eagles

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Looking Back

So admit it. You left early Wednesday night. OK, but you at least thought about leaving. Or, maybe you had already checked out on the game.

I would have–had there been a third goal for the brown team. But a 2-0 lead in a game where the Phantoms were not playing poorly, I thought we had a chance and if we could grab a goal and then pull the goalie and….

Well, you know what happened. Trailing 2-0 with 8 minutes left, Straka found the top corner and popped the water bottle (I love that!). Then Danny Martel got one on a mini-breakaway and we were tied with 3 minutes to go! The OT was all Phantoms and eventually Cuz put one away. Another note: He wasn’t a star of the game, but Taylor Leier played a key role in setting up a couple of those late goals. Rise Up with a 3-2 OT win!

Cuz post-game interview:

Team Report

Stacking the points, but the Phantoms are still in the second-tier of teams in the division. Another win against the evil-axis of Hershey-WilkesBarre will go a long way towards a climb up the board. Nothing’s guaranteed, but don’t “check out” on this team just yet:

TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT

1 WBS 22 17 5 0 0 34 0.773 2 HER 24 12 6 1 5 30 0.625 3 BRI 25 15 9 1 0 31 0.620 4 LV 25 12 12 1 0 25 0.500 5 POR 21 10 10 1 0 21 0.500 6 HFD 24 10 12 2 0 22 0.458 7 SPR 23 10 12 1 0 21 0.457 8 PRO 23 8 10 4 1 21 0.457

Special Teams:

The middling Phantoms units are still improving even at this point in the season. They’re still not where they need to be, but aren’t a liability, either. The PK shut down Scranton’s PP six times the other day at the Mohegan.

Player Report

Forwards Cole Bardreau and Michael Parks are skating, and could be ready for game play as soon as tonight. Stay tuned and watch the warm-ups tonight.

Forward Tim Brent was a surprise injury-scratch Wednesday night. “Something he’s been dealing with” is all we know. Doesn’t sound serious, but we’ll see if he makes the start tonight.

D-men Christian Marti and Jesper Pettersson and Forwards Kevin Sundher and Chris Conner all remain injured. As far as I know, returns are not imminent.

Goalie Jason LaBarbera served as Stolie’s backup in Wednesday’s game. He’ll probably get a start here soon. Will it be tonight?

Andrew MacDonald remains with the Flyers.

We could get a roster move in advance of tonight’s game.

TEAM LEADERS

Points

Cousins 20

Straka 18

Conner 16

Goals

Straka 15

Martel 9

Cousins 7

Defenders

Alt +16

MacDonald +4

Drewiske +3

Penalty Minutes

Morin 40

Martel 25

Cousins 21

Goalies

Stolarz 10-5; 1.84 GAA; .936 Pct

LaBarbera 1-5; 4.15 GAA; .855 Pct

Knapp 1-0; 4.62 GAA; .828 Pct

Ouellette 0-2; 5.40 GAA; .842 Pct

Reading Report

They’ve been idle this week as they head up to Manchester for three games this weekend. The roster nonsense has caught up with them, as well, as they’ve dropped back to the middle of the pack in their division.

Anyone wanna head down there 1/2? It’s a Saturday game and there will be free hats! Hit me up…

GAME DAY!

The first-place Pens are in town after being humbled last weekend. They lost their first games of the season at home, back-to-back to the Phantoms and the Wolfpack. Then, to add insult, they headed down to Hershey and lost a third game to the Browns. They recovered nicely as they spanked Syracuse Wednesday night at Casey Place.

They’re a very deep team who have been getting healthy lately as well. Sources close to the Baby Pens suggest we’ll see Tristan Jarry in goal tonight, instead of Phantom-killer Matt Murray. It matters little, as both are really good between the pipes.

der Eishockeyzuschauer goes behind enemy lines for a full preview of the Baby Pens.

Puck Drop: 7:05PM

Doors: 6:00PM

Tickets and Parking: Many upper-level seats are still available for this game. Linden “Arena North” parking pass is also available with your ticket purchase, as of last night.

It is not clear if the “VIP Experience” is sold out or not. Give it a try if you like: (go to PPLCenter.com for link)

Broadcast: Video via Service Electric TV-2 and AHL-Live. Audio via AM-1470 and IHeartRadio, as well as phantomshockey.com. In the arena use FM 89.9 for real-time call.

Pregame: TV pregame is Live from Chickie’s at 6:30 while the Radio pregame goes on at 6:20.

Meal: The whole crew bagged on me Wednesday night (Yoga? Really?) so I worked my way through the Bell Hall beer list on my own. Had a tasty burger and some excellent service, to boot. Tonight we might need to grab something on the fly a bit–perhaps Crust or Timmy’s so that I can avoid the in-arena choices.

Promotion: It’s our second T-Shirt night of the season, and we go white again. It will be interesting to see if they go Large and Medium again this time–or back to the XL’s of last season. It’s the “ugly sweater” design depicted above.

What To Watch

Watch to see who starts in goal–as per usual. Stolie’s gonna need a break here soon, but I’m thinking it will be tomorrow versus Springfield.

Watch to see if any of the injured players return: Parks, Bardreau, Brent et al.

Watch to see if the Phantoms can continue to stifle the Pen’s Power-less Play

But the pairs are going to have to be on point. The Pens can score with all four lines, and you really don’t want to yield that many Power Play opportunities if you can help it. Watch our defense and see who’s “naughty” and who’s “nice.”

Straka had a mini-slump, but broke out late Wednesday. Is he back?

Leiersy is doing good work setting guys up and battling in the dirty areas. Watch him when he’s on the ice.

Sounds like Cousins is hungry to get back to the Flyers. As well he should be. He’s scored in both games since returning to the Phantoms. Can he keep that up?

I’m about ready for a hat trick. Or am I just looking forward to chucking bears tomorrow? Who knows, but if someone gets a hattie I’m thinking Martel. Or Cousins.

Coming Up

Tomorrow night is the ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ so bring those brand new stuffed toys. Also, bring your skates and you can go on the ice with the players after the game. You won’t be allowed on the ice without skates! It’s a great opportunity for selfies and autographs! The Springfield Falcons will be in town.

We’ve got another Wednesday game this coming week as the Pens will be right back here for a deja vu rematch. It will be Military Appreciation Night.

The five-game home stand concludes next Friday with the Brown Bears on Kiddo Winter Hat giveaway night.

See you at the arena,

@Kram209

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Categories: Kram's Korner - From the Club Level, Phantoms Hockey