Chirps from Center Ice

So they outshoot their opponent 42-16 and lose it in the third period 4-3. They faced another goalie I never heard of and of course the kid plays out of his mind and befuddles the Penguins.

When it rains, it pours.

Here is how they lined up, Alex D’Orio opposed Garrett Metcalf:

First Period: Penguins outshot the Phantoms 16-6. It was good to see, especially with how they got pushed around by the Bears these last however many games they have played Hershey. Felix Robert opened the scoring with a low shot in the slot that beat Metcalf to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

But Linus Sandin scored a goal for Lehigh Valley on a power play that tied the game at one.

But for that blemish on the penalty kill, a decent first period for the Penguins.

Second Period: No scoring, Pens continued to pepper Metcalf.

Third Period: Phantoms get two goals, another from Linus Sandin and one from Cal O’Reilly, to go up 3-1. Refs let them play so there wasn’t many power play opportunities. Not that it would have mattered with the Penguins dead last power play.

Valtteri Puustinen got a goal with just under 4 minutes to play to make it 3-2. J.D. Forrest pulled D’Orio and Adam Clendening scored on an empty net to make it 4-2 but as fate would have it Alex Nylander would score to make it 4-3.

Amazing. They did everything possible to score in the first two periods and in the games last four minutes, score two and still lose.

Three Stars: 3) Garrett Metcalf (39 saves) 2) Felix Robert (goal, two assists) and 1) Linus Sandin (two goals)

The Good: The quantity of shots was a good thing to see.

The Bad: The quality of shots were a bad thing to see. Most were routine.

Turning Point: Felt like the next goal to be scored would win the game in the third period and it came to fruition with Sandin bagging one for the Phantoms.

As fate would have it the empty net goal by Clendening stands as the game winner. What’s that about luck again?

They get a chance at revenge Saturday against the Phantoms.