GLENS FALLS -- As the Adirondack Phantoms trickled out of the Civic Center on Friday, everyone sported some kind of winter garb - hat, jacket, everything but gloves. With snow in the forecast, those can't be long for the closet.
Yes, hockey weather has arrived here, and just in time for a weekend that's shaping up to have a midseason feel. Over the next three nights, the 1-2 Phantoms face three division rivals ahead of them in the early standings.
The gauntlet starts Friday night at home against defending Calder Cup champion Hershey and ends Sunday against a Bridgeport team that enters the weekend undefeated. In between, they welcome Albany for a rivalry game.
There's not much soft landing ground for a team looking to shake an inconsistent, and at times sloppy start.
It's not too early to call it an important weekend, forward Jon Matsumoto said, especially in light of how last season went down. After a sluggish start in '08-'09, the Phantoms needed a desperate rally to salvage their season.
"Last year we just made it by the skin of our teeth to the playoffs," Matsumoto said. "Any weekend can come back to bite us or make life difficult."
To paraphrase his philosophy: put points in the bank, no matter who they're playing.
Those won't come easy this weekend.
Hershey (3-1), which brought back most of it's Calder Cup winning team, won its first three games by a total of 13-2.
The team returned two 90 point scorers from last season, although one of those, Keith Aucoin, was recalled to Washington on Wednesday. The Phantoms will still have to worry about the other: Alexandre Giroux, who scored a league-high 60 goals last year.
Goalie Michal Neuvirth, the MVP of last year's playoffs, is set to make his season-debut against Adirondack.
"It's going to be a good measuring-stick for us to see where we stand," Phantoms coach Greg Gilbert said. "Playing against a team that executes like they do, (we're) going see how we've improved and what areas we've got to get better in."
One area where the Phantoms haven't measured up so far is special teams.
The Phantoms converted just 1 of 17 chances with the man advantage.
Hershey, meanwhile, hasn't allowed a goal on 17 penalty kills this season.
It won't get any easier against Albany. The Rats, who've won three straight since an opening night loss, have killed 15 of 15 power plays against them.
"I'd be concerned if we weren't creating chances, but we are and we're just not burying them," Gilbert said. "Now, it's just a matter of finishing those chances."
That's no solace for Matsumoto, who logs high minutes on the unit.
"That's one way to look at it, to find the silver lining in it," Matsumoto said. "But definitely at this level you need results. It's nice to say we're getting shots on net, but when it comes down to it, we need the results."
Defense will be another benchmark against those two high-powered clubs.
After a somewhat steadier defensive effort in a win over Springfield, the Phantoms gave up six goals in a loss to Syracuse on Saturday.
Alarmingly, for the second game in a row, the Phantoms allowed back-to-back goals within 33 seconds or less.
"I think we have to be a little more responsible when they score a goal, the next shift," Matsumoto said. "It's so important."
Unlike the win over Springfield, when they rallied from two goals down, they couldn't bounce back.
"I thought our compete level was better the previous night at home ..." Gilbert said. "We have to battle through those tight situations and hard-hitting games, and that's a lesson we have to learn and move on from."
Three tough chances to put that into practice are on the way.
Loose pucks: The Phantoms dressed seven defensemen - an unusual lineup arrangement - for each of their first three games. "It's not something I do often, and I'd like to get back to playing six 'D' and go with our 12 forwards," Gilbert said. "You might see a combination of that this weekend."
Posted in Sports, Hockey on Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:40 pm Updated: 10:07 am. | Tags: Phantoms, Tim Mcmanus, Ahl, Hockey
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