Operation Hat Trick Draws Sellout Crowd
A sellout crowd of 10,792 packed Atlantic City's Convention Hall on Saturday night for the Hurricane Sandy relief fundraiser between the Philadelphia/New Jersey team captained by the Flyers'
Scott Hartnell and the New York team captained by the Rangers' Brad Richards. Team Richards won the game 10-6.
Pittsburgh Penguins winger James Neal scored four goals for team captained by his former Dallas Stars teammate Richards. The "New York" side also got tallies from ex-Flyers forward Ville Leino (Buffalo Sabres), Brian Boyle (Rangers), Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators), Cherry Hill native Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks), Jeff Halpern (Rangers) and Mike Komisarek (Toronto Maple Leafs).
The Philly/New Jersey side got a pair of goals from former Flyers left winger Simon Gagne (Los Angeles Kings) and single goals from
Wayne Simmonds, ex-Flyer James van Riemsdyk (Toronto Maple Leafs), Andy Greene (New Jersey Devils) and David Clarkson (Devils).
Vezina Trophy winner Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding in goal for the Richards side, while Martin Brodeur wasn't able to stop much for the Hartnell team.
Throughout the game, attendees chanted "We want hockey!", "Bettman sucks!" and, at one juncture, "Crosby sucks!". Those were three sentiments that the combination of Flyers, Rangers and Devils fans in attendance could agree upon, along with heartily booing Vinny of Jersey Shore fame.
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PHANTOMS WIN THIRD IN A ROW
The Adirondack Phantoms are off to a 3-0 start in their six-game homestand. On Saturday night, the Phantoms held off the Hershey Bears, 3-1. Adirondack killed off seven penalties in the game, and managed to hold Hershey to 23 shots for the game. With their victory in this game, the Phantoms raised their record to 9-8-0; the first time since opening night the team has been above .500 on the season.
Adirondack got even strength goals from
Tye McGinn (5th of the season) and
Tyler Brown (1st). A late empty net goal by
Sean Couturier (6th of the season) sealed the victory.
Brayden Schenn notched a pair of assists for the Phantoms. Goaltender
Scott Munroe started, making 22 saves for the victory.
The defense-first system preached by
Terry Murray seems to be taking hold on his young Phantoms team. The team has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of the last nine games. Adirondack is 6-1-0 in those seven games. The only two games in which Adirondack got away from playing that way were successive 5-2 losses to Binghamton and Bridgeport.
Although neither
Erik Gustafsson nor
Harry Zolnierczyk figured in any of the Phantoms goals against Hershey, they were two of the best players on the ice for Adirondack in the game. On the down side, Gustafsson was whistled off for three minor penalties in the game. However, two came on marginal calls.
Marc-Andre Bourdon,
Danny Syvret and
Zac Rinaldo also played well for the Phantoms.
With the team building a winning streak, Murray has kept the lineup fairly stable over the last three games. As a result,
Eric Wellwood has remained a healthy scratch for the entire homestand to date. Other scratches on Saturday included former Bears forward
Matt Ford,
Shane Harper (who played both on Wednesday and Friday) and
Zack FitzGerald.
The Phantoms' homestand continues on Wednesday night wen the St. John's IceCaps pay a visit to the Glens Falls Civic Center. The teams split a pair of games in St. John's on Oct. 19 and 20.
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Titans Blanked by Greenville
The Trenton Titans were unable to solve Greenville Road Warriors goaltender Bryan Hince, falling 3-0 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 3,487 at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton. Hince recorded a 33 save shutout, while New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood turned back 37 of 39 shots in a losing cause.
The game remained scoreless until early in the third period, when Greenville's Scott Pitt put the Road Warriors ahead at the 4:55 mark. Trenton had an opportunity to tie the game on the power play shortly thereafter, but instead yielded a backbreaking shorthanded goal to Jeremy Gouchie. Marc-Olivier Vallerand tacked on a late empty-net goal.
After recoding points in each of his first eight games, rookie forward
Marcel Noebels has gone pointless in the last eight. Fellow rookie
Andrew Johnston, who scored a goal on Friday before getting boarded and badly cut late in the game, remained in the lineup on Saturday. Johnston was minus-two with two shots on goal.
Head coach
Vince Williams' team has lost eight of its last 11 games. The Titans have scored two or fewer goals in eight of those games (winning one, losing seven) and have not scored more than three goals in a game since Oct. 26.
Trenton (7-8-0-1) has a road game on Wednesday against the Wheeling Nailers (4-8-2-1).
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Hat Trick for Sestito
Flyers' tough guy forward
Tom Sestito registered a hat trick and an assist for the EIHL's Sheffield Steelers as the team blew out the Braehead Clan, 7-2, on Saturday. Former Flyers prospect Colin Shields also scored for Sheffield.
For the season to date, Sestito has eight goals, 16 points and 69 penalty minutes in 14 games. The team is right back in action on Sunday.
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Saturday Roundup: Junior and Collegiate Prospects
* Defenseman
Fredric Larsson did not record a point, took a minor penalty for interference and was even (+1, -1) in Brynäs' 6-3 win over Mora.
* Right winger
Derek Mathers had no points, took an interference minor and was minus-two as the woeful Peterborough Petes got thrashed 8-2 by the Sarnia Sting.
* Center
Nick Cousins had one even strength assist and was minus-one in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' 5-3 loss to the Barrie Colts.
* Left winger
Taylor Leier was in action for the Portland Winterhawks against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Portland won handily, 8-2. Leier, who has gone pointless in the last three games after a five-game point streak, did not figure in any scoring or penalties.
* Defenseman
Shayne Gostisbehere did not record a point in Union College's 2-0 win over Penn State. He had two shots on goal and was not on the ice for either of the Union goals. The two teams rematch on Sunday.
* Goaltender
Anthony Stolarz earned his first collegiate shutout and first win, as University of Nebraska-Omaha thrashed Alabama-Huntsville, 8-0. Stolarz made 20 saves in the victory, 16 of which came in the opening 40 minutes. UN-O exploded for five goals in the third period.
* Defenseman
Reece Willcox and the Cornell Big Red downed Michigan by a 5-1 score at the inaugural Frozen Apple game at Madison Square Garden. Willcox earned a power play assist in the game, as he held in a clearing attempt at the point and teammate Greg Miller knocked in the rebound of Willcox's initial shot. The freshman defenseman was even in the game and was credited with one blocked shot.
* Right winger
Michael Parks remained sidelined by the leg injury that has limited him to one period of one regular season game this season. Parks' University of North Dakota teammates went down, 5-2, in their rematch game with Notre Dame.
* Defenseman
Nick Luukko did not record a point in Vermont's 5-1 loss to Minnesota. The sophomore was credited with one shot on goal and an even plus-minus.
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SUNDAY SCHEDULE -- All times in EST
FLYERS IN EUROPE
* KHL:
Ruslan Fedotenko and HC Donbass Donetsk are on the road against Ak Bars Kazan. Game time is at 8 AM. A free webcast will be
available here.
* DEL:
Danny Briere and Eisbären Berlin play host to EHC Red Bull Munich.
Claude Giroux (neck/head) remained sidelined for Eisbären. Game time is 8:30 AM. Live in-game updates will be
available here.
* EIHL:
Tom Sestito the Sheffield Steelers are in Scotland to play the Edinburgh Capitals. Game time is 1 PM. Live in-game updates will be
available here.
JUNIOR AND COLLEGIATE PROSPECTS
* OHL:
Scott Laughton and
Colin Suellentrop will be in action for the Oshawa Generals as their team plays host to the Niagara IceDogs. Game time is 2:05 PM. A free radio stream is
available here. Alternatively, you can
purchase a live webcast for $6.99.
* NCAA:
Shayne Gostisbehere and Union College rematch with Penn State. Game time is 4:00 PM. There will be a
free audio stream available and a webcast is available for $7.50 purchase from the same site.
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