Apologies in advance for the lack of a game-day directory atop today's blog. The daily list of start times, with links to webcast and/or radio streams will resume tomorrow.

PHANTOMS TAKE IT ON THE CHIN AGAIN, FALL TO 2-4-0

Phantoms head coach Terry Murray is someone who has made a lengthy career out of constantly preaching team defense and disciplined play in all senses of the term. In the early going of the 2012-13 season, those messages have been lost on the Adirondack club.

Last night in Glens Falls, the Phantoms got pummeled by the Rochester Americans, 6-2, in a penalty-laden game filled with cheap shots on both sides. Rochester ended up with 10 power play in the game, converting twice. The Phantoms power play continued its season-long struggle, going 0-for-7.

The Phantoms have been prone to slow starts in games thus far, and last night was no exception. The home side found itself trailing midway through the first period and then got pretty much buried in a horrendous second period.

Adirondack briefly showed signs of life early in the second period. After going off to the first intermission trailing just 1-0 (courtesy of goaltender Scott Munroe making 14 saves in the opening period), Sean Couturier set up Harry Zolnierczyk to knot the score at 1-1 just 32 seconds into the second period.

Unfortunately for the Phantoms, Marc-Andre Bourdon (who was guilty of undisciplined play all night) was sent off on a slashing penalty two shifts after the Harry Z goal. Rochester's Kevin Porter cashed in on the power play, and the Amerks regained a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game.

The game was filled with questionable hits and stickwork on both sides, which ended up working against the Phantoms on this night because they were never able to build any sustained momentum. There was too much special teams play and too many defensive breakdowns in between that allowed Rochester to expand its lead.

Rick Schofield, who got the game's first goal, added his second tally of the night at the 8:22 mark of the middle stanza. Before the second period ended, an Evan Rankin power play goal created a 4-1 advantage for the Amerks and the Phantoms were pretty much out of the game.

However, recent healthy scratch Mike Testwuide scored his first goal of the season in the third period, assisted by Couturier and Zac Rinaldo. With the score 4-2, the Phantoms soon had a power play opportunity with a chance to reduce the deficit to a single goal and set up a wild finish. It wasn't to be.

Adirondack had its seventh and final power play chance with 3:54 left in regulation. Nick Tarnasky went off for his second boarding penalty of the game; the first one was a major, the latter one was a minor. Murray pulled Munroe for a 6-on-4 attack. The strategy backfired, as defenseman Nick Crawford fired the puck from long distance -- with no possibility of an icing call on the penalty kill -- into the vacated cage to make the score 5-2 at 17:52.

With Munroe back in the net to close out the game, Tarnasky added insult to injury on the shift after he exited the penalty box. He scored with 1:03 remaining to make it a 6-2 final.

As was the case the previous evening with Cal Heeter, Munroe deserved a little better fate than his stat line indicates. He was peppered with 50 shots, stopping 45 of them. Munroe gave his team a chance early in the game and made a few tough stops to keep the deficit at two goals in the third period.

The Phantoms were a defensive disaster on the game. There was not nearly enough support on their side of the red line and no one among Bourdon, Brandon Manning, Danny Syvret or Erik Gustafsson played particularly well.

Likewise, Brayden Schenn has had back-to-back poor games. He has not been nearly assertive enough offensively in the last two games. On the bright side, Couturier played his best offensive game since opening night, breaking out of a four-game pointless drought. Rinaldo, who served a charging major in the second period, played better in Friday's game than last night's.

Murray made several lineup changes yesterday. Most notably,Eric Wellwood did not play, while Testwuide, Matt Ford and Tyler Brown all got back in the Adirodack lineup. After last night's hideous performance, I would not be surprised if there are additional lineup changes for today's game.

Today, the Phantoms are on the road for an afternoon game against the Syracuse Crunch. Game time is 3 PM eastern. The broadcast is available for free via the streaming Phantoms radio broadcast or you can purchase a streaming video webcast via AHL Live. A single-game webcast costs $6.99, with a variety of multi-game purchase options.

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TOLEDO CRUISES IN REMATCH WITH TRENTON

One night after the Trenton Titans handled the Toledo Walleye with relative ease at the Sun National Bank Center, the two teams rematched at the venue. This time around, it was Toledo that won rather handily. The Walleye rode three goals in the final period to a 5-1 decision.

Bensalem native Ray DiLauro scored the lone goal for the Titans. Rookie forward Marcel Noebels kept alive his streak of tallying points in every regular season game to date. His assist on the DiLauro goal gave the German forward eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in the seven regular season games played to date. Luke Pither also drew an assist on the third period power play tally. The goal made the score 4-1 at the time.

Defenseman Blake Kessel had a solid game for Trenton despite finishing minus-one on the night. He generated four shots on goal and created several breakout opportunities for the club.

Rookie goaltender Niko Hovinen served as the backup to New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood for the second straight game. Hovinen, who sustained a deep bruise near his right collarbone, is expected to be ready to start a game again by the time the team returns to game action.

The Titans are now idle until next Friday, when they host the Reading Royals. I will be covering that game live for HockeyBuzz as well as interviewing DiLauro before the game in conjunction with an article that will be published on the International Ice Hockey Federation's official site.

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BRYZGALOV SCRATCHED, DATSYUK DAZZLES

Earlier this morning, I provided in-game commentary on the CSKA Moscow- Sibir Novosibirsk game for Eurolivescores.com. CSKA won the game, 4-2.

Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has been a healthy scratch in each of the last four CSKA games. Once again, Rastislav Stana got the starting nod for CSKA with Ilya Proskuryakov dressing as the backup. Stana was scarcely tested in this game, needing to make just 14 saves for the win.

Today's game was extremely dull with the shining exception of the performance of Pavel Datysuk. He alone made the match worth watching.

Not only did the Detroit Red Wings' star show why he is one of the top players in the world on the offensive side of the puck (one goal, two assists), he also plays his usual stellar defense.

In the third period of the game, Datsyuk made one of the best backchecking plays you will ever see. On the sequence, Datsyuk closes the gap on a Sibir forward, lifted the attacker's stick and gently directed the loose puck with his skate to an awaiting teammate for a rush the other way.

CSKA next returns to action on Wednesday. They'll host Metallurg Novokuznetsk.

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SIMMONDS IN ACTION TODAY

In his home debut for HC Bili Tygri Liberec, Wayne Simmonds scored on a second period penalty shot after assisting on a goal in his first shift of the opening period. Unfortunately for his team, that's about all that went right in a 6-2 loss to HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice.

Today, the Liberec White Tigers are on the road to take on Pirati Chomutov. Game time is at 11:30 AM eastern U.S./Canada time. A free webcast stream is available here.

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READ AND COMPANY DOWN DIF

Flyers forward Matt Read has been a little snakebitten offensively over the past week. After racking up 10 points in his first five games for Södertälje SK, he has gone without a point in each of the last three games. However, it has not been for a lack of creating and receiving scoring chances. That's just how it goes sometimes. The points will come again if he continues playing the way he did yesterday.

On Saturday, Read's SSK team captured a home-ice win against the once-mighty and now fallen Djurgårdens IF Stockholm team. Read played an excellent two way game, and his line with New York Rangers forward Carl Hagelin and French national team winger Damien Fleury had Gabriel Landeskog's line frustrated all day.

Landeskog, who has struggled of late along with the rest of the DIF team, did not record a point in the game. It would be hard for any player to look good with the way his entire team has played of late, but Landeskog is definitely a player who is much better suited to the North American game.

SSK built a 2-0 lead after two periods only to see DIF come back in the final period. Robert Carlsson restored the lead for Södertälje with just 1:33 remaining in regulation. Hagelin grabbed a late empty net goal to seal the victory.

Game highlights of yesterday's match are available here (scroll to the bottom of the page). Södertälje, which has won seven of its last eight games but struggled on the road this season, has an away game in Västerås on Tuesday.

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QUIET GAME FOR SESTITO, STEELERS

The Sheffield Steelers saw their winning streak come to an end, losing 3-0 yesterday to the Belfast Giants one day after Sheffield handed the Northern Irish club a 5-1 defeat on home ice.

Tom Sestito, who had been tossed out of each of his two previous games, stayed out of the penalty box in this game. He was unable to capitalize on several scoring chances.

Sestito has gone without a point in the last three games. For the season to date, he has three goals, three assists and 86 penalty minutes in seven games. The Steelers return to action on Wednesday when they host the Coventry Blaze.

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JUNIOR AND COLLEGIATE PROSPECT UPDATES

* Sophomore defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere sustained a lower-body injury in Union College's 2-2 tie against UConn on Saturday night. On the play, Gostisbehere was trying to skate through multiple defenders; a play that worked in a previous game. Union head coach Rick Bennett told beat writer Ken Schott after the game, "That’s what happens when you don’t want to keep it simple.” The injury is NOT considered serious, and Bennett said the player should be fine. The team's next game is on Friday against RPI.

* Goaltender Anthony Stolarz struggled in two periods of action for University of Nebraska - Omaha and was replaced by John Faulkner at the start of the third period in a 3-2 loss to Bemidji State. Stolarz allowed three goals on 13 shots. The freshman goalie continued to struggle with rebound control and puck tracking. The first two goals he allowed weren't especially bad, but the third one was a play where Stolarz left himself in no position to make a save. Game highlights are here.

* Enforcer prospect Derek Mathers did not record a point in Peterborough's 3-1 win over the Saginaw Spirit. He took a coincidental roughing minor penalty with Saginaw's Brandon Prophet in the first period. Peterborough plays Colin Suellentrop and the Oshawa Generals today at 2 PM. Oshawa's Scott Laughton will serve the second game of his 10-game suspension.

* Per a report in The Columbian yesterday, Taylor Leier (undisclosed injury) is considered questionable today for his Portland Winterhawks team when the club takes on the Tri-City Americans. Game time at 8 PM eastern. Leier missed Portland's last game.

* Center Nick Cousins is tied for 2nd in scoring in the Ontario Hockey League, with 22 points (7 goals, 15 assists) in 15 games. Today, his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds team is on the road to play the Guelph Storm. Game time is at 2 PM eastern.

* Swedish defenseman Fredric Larsson did not play yesterday or today for the Brynäs J20 team with an upper-body issue. He is expected to return on Wednesday. Brynäs defeated Timrå earlier today by a 6-3 score.

* Russian defenseman Valeri Vasiliev did not record any points or penalty minutes for MHK Spartak today in a 3-2 win over Atlant Moscow. He was credited with one shot on goal and was even in the plus-minus department.

* Freshman defenseman Reece Willcox did not record a point or a penalty in Cornell's 3-2 win over Colorado College on Saturday night. He was credited with one shot on goal in the third period.

* Sophomore winger Petr Placek did not record a point but was credited with five shots on goal in Harvard's season-opening 5-0 win over Bentley. He was plus-one.

* Sophomore forward Michael Parks has not appeared in a regular season game yet this season for the University of North Dakota. Yesterday, the team tied Alaska-Anchorage, 3-3. Per a UND Hockey blog on Oct. 25, Parks will be out a few more weeks, stemming from a lower-body injury originally sustained in an exhibition game against the University of Manitoba on October 6.

* Sophomore defenseman Nick Luukko scored his first goal of the season and had a plus-two rating in the University of Vermont's 2-2 tie with Merrimack on Saturday night. Luukko was credited with five shots on goal.

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