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The Phantoms drop the second game at the Amercan Cup.Game two of the American Cup, the USHL's first foray into the Rochester, NY area was pretty much the same tone as the first - something random. We hoped the Phantoms would wake up a little after a slow start and overall dull performance in the first game and it seemed like that was the case... until it wasn't.

The Gamblers outshot the Phantoms 11-9 in the scoreless first but neither team really had much going in the opening period. The Phantoms opened the scoring at 5:31 of the second when Gamblers netminder Aaron Randazzo stopped Evan Werner on a breakaway but was prone and unable to stop the rebound from Adam Ingram, who tied the Phantoms all-time point scoring streak at 14 games. TJ Schweighardt made it 2-0 a little less than 3:00 later at 8:29 when TJ Schweighardt blasted a point shot on the powerplay and Randazzo had no idea because Winter Wallace was parked directly in front of him.

The Gamblers responded shortly after. A Phantoms offensive zone turnover on a 2-on-1 lead to a quick transition by the Gamblers and a Ryan Greene breakaway that he deked and went around a sprawling Kyle Chauvette at 10:05. Greene tied it at 14:20 when he was left alone in the slot, between two Phantoms defenders, and Matt BeBoer centered a pass to him for a easy one-timer. The Phantoms retook the lead late when Evan Werner got his first USHL goal. Taking advantage of the Gamblers losing possession of the puck exiting their zone, Werner stole the puck from behind the Gamblers in the high slot and went forehand to backhand and roofed the puck over Randazzo at 19:40. Shots were 11-9 Phantoms in the second period and the score 3-2 going into the third.

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The Phantoms drop game one of the USHL American Cup to the Green Bay Gamblers.Welcome to Rochester. The first game of the USHL American Cup came without much fanfare and then went, mostly the same way it came. This might be a good thing since the Phantoms seemed to show up a little late and never fully recovered. 

The Gamblers got on the board quick, just 0:26 into the game, Jarred Crespo parked in front of Kyle Chauvette, redirected a shot by Damien Carfagna from the point. A too many man penalty lead to the Gamblers taking a 2-0 lead, Ethan Straky falling as he shot a laser through traffic and over the glove of Chauvette at 11:53. The Phantom's halved the lead at 17:44, Kenta Isogai winning the puck on the boards behind the net to Stivin Sardarian, who set up Winter Wallace in front for his second goal of the season. Shots were 8-7 Phantoms after the first but the score was 2-1.

The only goal of the second was for the Gamblers at 6:37. Phantoms defenseman TJ Schweighardt had carried the puck in deep but lost possession to the Gamblers who hurried up ice. Kenta Isogai was forced to defend Cameron Lund in a 1-on-1 situation and Lund managed to beat him and then Chauvette cleanly. The Phantoms outshot the Gamblers 11-4 in the middle frame.

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Category: Opinion and Editorial
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Well, once again I apologize for missing a preview and a recap. It was Chicago, and we know how those go anyway. This week the Phantoms (8-8-0-2) are back on the road against the Green Bay Gamblers (6-10-0-1) as both teams travel to Rochester, NY for the inaugural USHL America Cup. Since it really hasn't been that long since the Phantoms 7-2 rout of the Gamblers in Green Bay a couple weeks ago, this isn't going to be a normal preview. Plus, I have to pack so I think I'll change up the format a bit.

The Gamblers are a team on a bad slide. Last week they got their first win in 8 games, a 5-2 victory over the hapless NTDP U17s only to give up a 5-2 loss to the same U17s the next night. I am really hard pressed to come up with anything that I didn't cover in Week 8 and feel I may have over estimated the Gamblers a bit. Matt DeBoer wasn't mentioned last time and I was mildly surprised by his speed and skating ability. He is the son of Vegas Golden Knights head coach and former NHL player Pete DeBoer, and his brother Jack played 2 seasons with the NTDP. So it isn't that I wasn't expecting a certain degree of skill, but he exceeded that by more than a little. 

One of the notable changes for the Gamblers will be the addition of Wisconsin native, '03 forward Trey Zagrzebski from the OHL's Barrie Colts. In the shortened 19-20 season, Zagrzebski only recorded a goal and and assist in 43 games for Barrie. Last season, due to the OHL shutdown, he played in the USPHL's Premier division, opting to play in his home state for the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings. Sure he put up over 2 points per game, 23g and 26a in 24gp, but this isn't even the top tier of Tier III league. This season in Barrie, he only dressed for 3 games and had 1 assist. Maybe playing closer to home will help him but this doesn't seem like a huge addition from my view.

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