Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Phantoms are not doing well this season. They sit in the bottom of the conference which is definitely not a good sign for hockey fans flocking to the AHL Affiliate.  But they did manage to beat the St. John Ice Caps last Wednesday night in a 3-2 hockey game.

The Phantoms got the lead first with a power play goal from Manning off the assists from Syvret and Couturier. The Ice Caps failed to score on them in the first, but did get the first goal in the second to tie the game. Machachek scored on the power play opportunity early in the period assisted by Meech and Mouillierat.

Wellwood bit back with help from Couturier (again on the assist) and Dinman to give Adirondack the lead once again.  Again not for too much longer as the Ice Caps scored once again. Mouillierat was again on the assist alongside Jaffray but the goal was scored by Redmond.

The Phantoms put the game to rest finally in the third period five minutes in. Schenn got the unassisted goal to win the game.

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-US PRESSWIRE

After coming off a 3 game win streak, the Phantoms prove that all things must come to an end. On Wednesday night the St. John’s Ice Caps defeated them in a close 2-3 hockey game.

There was no scoring from either team in the first period, although there were quite a lot of penalties. No fights in this game again, but the Phantoms are still taking some bad penalties like Rinaldo’s elbowing misconduct at the end of the period which cost him ten minutes.

The Phantoms did start out well as they scored the first goal at the back end of the second. Unfortunately, the Ice Caps were right behind them and tied the game before the end of the period. There were a few tripping and hooking penalties in the last period and the Ice Caps took advantage of these Power Play opportunities with back to back PP goals to give them the early lead of 3-1.

At that point the Phantoms knew they were in trouble. They had about ten minutes left to re-surge their game. Bordson got the second Phantoms goal with the help of Gustafsson and Holmstrom with five minutes left in the game. Although his efforts were great, the Phantoms were still down by one much needed goal. They were unable to redeem themselves in the last few minutes of the game and fell to the Ice caps 2-3.

Although the Phantoms are still making bad decisions on the ice that leads to bad penalties, they are not doing completely terrible this season. They are still the 4th seed and have more opportunities to improve as the season continues.

Thanks for reading!

You can follow me on twitter @dmvasso

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-US PRESSWIRE

While the Phantoms are no longer in Philly, us Philly fans are still a bit interested in the AHL team. Especially with this awful NHL lockout that has no end in site.  Seriously the only difference between the two lockouts is that the Phantoms no longer play at the Spectrum (since it no longer exists).

Well okay, the situation is a bit different, but it’s still not looking good for NHL fans. So if you’re life consists of eating, sleeping, and crying about the lockout, just start paying attention to the AHL.  It looks like the Phantoms actually stream their games live on their website so we can actually watch hockey! (whether or not it actually works all the time, I don’t know from personal experience. Yet)

The Phantoms are maintaining their spot as the 3rd seed and are now 2-2-0, having played two more games this weekend. During opening weekend they beat the Portland Pirates 6-3 and then lost in a shutout against the Springfield Falcons. This weekend they played back to back games against St. John’s Ice Caps, logging both a win and lose. So they are doing okay, but it could be better. Also it is still very early in the AHL season so their record is sure to change (hopefully for the good) in the next coming weeks.

On Friday they logged another L in a 1-2 game against the Ice Caps. Then yesterday they came back to win another game 4-3. The Ice Caps got on the board first when Albert scored the first goal of the game in the first period. It looked like it was going to be their game again in the beginning of the second as Telegin scored the second goal, but that’s when the Phantoms managed to tie it up. First with a goal by Brandon Manning assisted by Syvret and Couturier (names that Flyers fans should recognize) and then a second goal by Harper.

In the third period we got to see some more Flyers rookies in the mix as Zac Rinaldo scored the third Phantoms goal assisted by Bordson and Sean Couturier followed with scoring the game winning goal assisted by Holmstrom. The Ice Caps were able to score one last goal of the game at the end of the third period making this game a close call for the Phantoms.

Interestingly enough two of the three stars of this game are familiar names. Brayden Schenn was given the first star and Zac Rinaldo the third. Yes you read that last part correctly. As a rookie in the NHL Rinaldo has really shown a somewhat Carcillo character on the ice as an enforcer for the Flyers and he has spent a good deal of his time in the penalty box. To see him on the scoreboard more and getting recognized for his goals and not his fights is pretty cool. It also shows that perhaps the young rookie is starting to mature, which is exactly why signing away the Flyers rookies to the AHL affiliate was a good idea. They are ready to show their potential and they want to be back in the NHL when the NHL is back.

Thanks for reading.

You can follow me on Twitter @dmvasso