Phantoms dominate in Game 1 win over Penguins

The Phantoms kicked off their postseason last night with a pretty commanding 5-2 win over their big in-state rivals in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last night, forcing them into an elimination position already as we head back to home ice for tomorrow\'s game. There\'s a lot that was clicking well for them in this game, and a lot that can be dug into, but here are some things that stood out from the game -- from up in the press box and down in the arena\'s underbelly for postgame.

Notes from the rafters

Reinforcements step up

We expected that the reinforcements that the Phantoms got back through the last month or so of the season -- both in the form of new guys (Grebenkin, Luchanko, Bump) and returnees from the Flyers (Lycksell, Abols, Andrae) -- were going to give the Phantoms a notable boost in the postseason, but all of them made their presence known to a pretty immediate degree in this one, in a way that we almost didn\'t dare to predict. That is, with the first goal for Lycksell (from Andrae), the second for Bump (from Luchanko), and the third for Abols (from Grebenkin), each of these additions were able to get themselves on the board before we even made it all the way through the second period. It was a big statement made by these players, that they\'re ready to hit the ground running, and the scoring depth that that presence offered paid immediate dividends. The Phantoms\' offense looked the best it has in recent memory last night, and their relentless approach to creating chances from start to finish was a huge reason for their dominance in this one.

Goaltending great

Of course, on the flip side, the other key reason for the success they found in this one was the play of Parker Gahagen.

Gahagen came into the postseason on a run of solid play, and despite the differences in pedigree between him and Cal Petersen, there\'s no doubt that he earned himself that start in Game 1. And he certainly didn\'t make the Phantoms regret that decision — the Penguins didn\'t make this one easy on the Phantoms (despite what the final score might suggest) and there were shifts where they were pouring on dangerous looking chances, but Gahagen had their number. All told, he stopped 28 of the 30 shots they threw at him, and combining his solid form with the sound support he was getting in front of him from his defenders to block the few shots that he wasn\'t able to immediately track, the complete effort was little short of stellar.

Killing it

The Phantoms found themselves up against it early in the second period, as they were nursing a one-goal lead, but having to defend it tooth and nail with an extended stint on the penalty kill. And it was a situation -- as their head coach said postgame -- that you never want to put yourselves in against a team like the Penguins, where on the same play, somehow Oscar Eklind took a slashing penalty while Jett Luchanko took one for interference, giving the Penguins a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play to work with, and then saw themselves immediately back on the kill when Luchanko took another interference penalty right out of the box. But, despite the difficulty of the situation, the penalty killers were perfect, coming up with some huge blocks of both shots and passing lanes in front of the net to keep the Penguins stifled, and making them pay for some lacks of crispness with a few well-timed clears. It was a huge effort to put out a fire, and it proved to be a massive momentum swing for the Phantoms, as their offense took off from there.

Stirring the pot

There was a lot of praise thrown around after this one -- from head coach Ian Laperriere, who said he \"loved everyone\'s game\" last night, and from Gahagen, who expressed some gratitude to his defensemen for their willingness to get in front of shots in front of him (some of which he wasn\'t exactly sure where they were) -- but what stands out even more in a tight rivalry matchup we saw, of course, was the shade.

Bump didn\'t mince words when it came to his thoughts on the defensive effort that the Penguins put up against them. \"They don\'t like to defend,\" he said \"soft defenders I think, in my opinion, so just working them down low, they don\'t like to do that at all, so keep them below the hashmarks and I think they\'ll open up from there.\"

A comment like this speaks to Bump\'s confidence level in his new environment, to be sure, but also to how well he\'s assimilating into this rivalry, right from the jump. He\'s playing in a way that\'s translating well to the playoffs -- keeping his pace up, remaining engaged physically, and getting to the net for dangerous chances — but he\'s also getting right into the spirit of the thing as well. After all, it was just this season, between just these two teams, where both coaches were ejected from a game for barking at each other on the benches, so it\'s clear that there\'s no love lost here between anyone on these teams, and Bump is clearly matching that vibe.

Bits and bobs

All good for Richard

It was nice to see Richard get involved with this game, jumping right back into this tough matchup with ease, in general, to be sure, but particularly after it looked like he took kind of a big spill at the end of practice on Tuesday. It\'s the playoffs, and guys will gut it out regardless, but after losing Alexis Gendron last weekend in what was effectively a meaningless game, we get a little nervous around here. Glad there was nothing to worry about.

Mixing it up

In a matchup where there is certainly no love lost, we expected things to be pretty spirited and physical, but we didn\'t necessarily expect Ethan Samson to be the first one (and also the second one) pulled into a roughing situation, but he was. And while he certainly wasn\'t the only one mixing it up at some point in this game, the fact that he was pulled in early sent a clear message -- everyone in this matchup, from the bigger fighters to the skill guys, is engaged and certainly not shying away from the physical demands.

Goaltender watch

The goaltending matchup is one that we\'ll want to keep an eye on going forward, as Penguins goaltender Joel Blomqvist was pulled from the game before the third period last night after tweaking something, their head coach confirmed after the game. He might be good to go for Friday, time will tell, but if not, we might be looking at Taylor Gauthier (who gave up two goals on seven shots last night) getting the start, or them having to call up someone from their ECHL squad. Something to monitor, for sure.

Talking Points