10-12-09: Phantoms Fend Off Sharkies To Remain In First Place - Message Board Central

Post Info

TOPIC: 10-12-09: Phantoms Fend Off Sharkies To Remain In First Place

Press Release

Date: Oct 13, 2009

10-12-09: Phantoms Fend Off Sharkies To Remain In First Place	Permalink

One week after suffering their first defeat of the season, the West Michigan Phantoms returned to the cornfield in Cedar and were able to battle hard and skate away with a 4-2 victory over the Sharkies. Despite the Phantoms and Sharkies being held scoreless in the opening period behind some outstanding goaltending, the second period would be filled with plenty of red-lighters. The Phantom's Tim Czycyk began the second period scoring, as the 2003 Catholic Central grad would tally his fifth of the season just 1:28 into the middle stanza (assisted by Trent Kik) to put the yellow shirts on top 1-0. Seven minutes later, the Sharkies would answer as their offensive surge would force the Phantoms into a frenzy in their own zone. A Sharkie forward stationed inside the left circle would launch a quick-release of the one-timer and the ensuing puck would fly over the shoulder of the Phantom netminder to tie the game at 1-1. On the following face-off, the Phantoms would storm right back into the lead as Tim Czycyk would tally his second of the game 34 seconds following the Sharkies strike (assisted by Trent Kik) to restore the Phantom's single goal grip at 2-1. Late in the second period, the Sharkies would again capitalize on some Phantom misfortune. A Skarkie forward would split the Phantom defensive combination of Justin Calkins and Brian Doctor and skate in on a breakaway and with just 1:22 remaining in the second period net the goal to even the contest at 2-2. Following the second period, the Sharkies were playing the Phantoms hard outshooting the yellow shirts 20-17. In the third period, the Phantoms would again restore their lead. Following a face-off win by Tim Czycyk, the Phantoms Trent Kik would receive the puck and blast a bullet towards Jeff Pacific in the Sharkies goal. The Kik bullet would catch the goaltender off-guard as the puck would find the opening low-stick side to put the Phantoms out front at 3-2. Midway into the final period, the Phantoms Justin Calkins would put the Phantoms short-handed, as the Muskegon native would become a little too physical against the left-wing Phantom boards and be sentenced with a two minute minor for roughing. With the Sharkies on the power-play, they would receive an extra boost and begin to dig in hard in an attempt to attain the equalizer. Despite a few glorious chances, the Phantom defensive pairing and 26 season veteran goaltender Kevin Wootton would hold the Sharkies scoreless on their power play opportunity. Following a very successful penalty kill by the Men of Phantom Nation, the momentum shifted back to the Phantoms and two minutes later the Phantoms would jump into their first two-goal lead of the game. Tim Czycyk would complete his first hat-trick of the season and net his team leading seventh goal of the campaign with just 3:23 remaining in regulation (assisted again by Trent Kik) to give the Phantoms a 4-2 lead. With time running out for the Sharkies, they would again be presented with another perfect opportunity to swim back into the game. With the puck deep inside the Phantom zone, the Phantoms Justin Calkins would attempt to back-hand the puck off the boards and out of the zone. However, too much curve on the blade of the stick would send the puck out of play inside the Phantom zone and with just 2:13 remaining in the game the Sharkies would again be on the power play. With the opposition lifting their goaltender Jeff Pacific for the extra attacker, the Sharkies would skate 5-on-3 for nearly the balance of the game. Some spectacular defensive effort by the Phantom Blue Line Patrol combined with the amazing crease work of the Phantom netminder, the Phantoms would work together to kill off the massive assault by the Sharkies. The Phantoms would go on to finish out the contest and take claim to a hard fought 4-2 decision. The victory marks the fourth win by the Phantoms this season and gives the Phantom squad a 4-1 record at the half-way mark of the regular season. On the contest, the Sharkies blasted 31 shots towards the Phantom netminder, while the Phantoms registered 24 shots of their own. On the 96KBPS.com Internet Radios Crime Watch, the Sharkies were ticketed on a single minor for two minutes, while the Phantoms were sentenced on three minors (two of which in the third period) for a total of six minutes. The Phantoms played without the services of Matt Mead (in Detroit watching the Lions loose another) and Chuck McCloud (equipment issue). The team will return to action on October 18^th to face-off against the Roman Empire . The schedule for the October 18^th game, as well as the following two games is posted on Schedule portion of the Phantom website. __________________

Page 1 of 1 sorted by

Tweet this page

Post to Digg

Post to Del.icio.us

Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse