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This is Episode 36 of the Dump & Chase Podcast. The Covelli Centre is alive again! Recaps, previews, and impressions of the new protocols. Check it out!

 

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Category: Opinion and Editorial
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The Phantoms hit the road this week for three games in Chicago.Ready to Roll! - The Phantoms hit the road this week for three games in Chicago.
OK, we have a weekend of home games under our belts, some players returning from injury/illness, and a lot of positives heading in this weekend. The Phantoms (2-3-0-0) look to keep moving forward this week against Chicago (6-2-0-0), but once again the Steel look like one of the top teams in the league with 8 players on the NHL's first scouting list. We also get an extra game this trip, the first makeup of one of the previously postponed games, so we'll have 3 games in 3 days. At least they are all in the same city.

On offense, the Steel lost a few big names that we won't miss. Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Sam Colangalo, and Mathieu De. St. Phalle are among names we got sick of hearing called the last couple seasons that we won't hear this season. The bad news is they still have a lot of firepower. The top returning point scorer from last season - and this season's second overall scorer in the league - is Sean Farrell (6g, 10a), a 4th round pick of the Montreal Canadians in the 2020 NHL draft. Farrell has played a lot in the USHL, more than 120 total games dating back to the 17-18 season with the NTDP. He's a smart player with his head up always looking to make a play, and this season he seems to be finishing the play more.

Leading the team and the league in scoring is Matt Coronato (8g, 10a). Coronato, now in his second season, is a NHL CSS B-ranked skater who has tremendous speed and uses it to drive the play up ice. He is a big catalyst for the Steel. In terms of pure goal scoring, I think the leagues 3rd overall scorer Mackie Samoskevich (3g, 10a) will be a top contender. Samoskevich is a crafty '02 with a CSS A-ranking, amazing hands, vision, and a wicked shot. I think he'll live up to his CSS rating eventually, let's not be the ones to help him.

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Category: Game Recap
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Better defense, better offense, and a Ben Schoen hat trick earn the Phantoms their first win at home this season.The Phantoms Fight Back! - Better defense, better offense, and a Ben Schoen hat trick earn the Phantoms their first win at home this season.
Well, two home games in the books, and this time we recorded our first home win of the 20-21 season. These little milestones seem so much larger this year. This game was special in that we saw the return of some familiar names, including Ben Schoen, who's return to the ice was a week or so sooner than we anticipated. The question was if he would make an significant impact so soon after returning to the ice. Yeah, you know the answer to that. 

Facing the same opponent as the night before, the Muskegon Lumberjacks, the Phantoms needed to do two things different from Friday to get back in the win column - play better defense and play better offense. That's simple, right? Everything said, our defense wasn't that bad Friday, save for the amount of shots on net. The Phantoms showed they got that point in the first. The Phantoms held the 'Jacks to just 5 shots on goal, a huge improvement over the night before. However, the Phantoms only mustered 5 shots themselves and the first period ended with the same score as it started, 0s across the board.

The 'Jacks scored first, early in the second. On a powerplay that carried over from the first period, Christophe Tellier hit Dylan Wendt with a pass in the low slot. Wendt deflected the puck in through some traffic in front and trickling through Phantoms netminder Kyle Chauvette at 1:31. The Phantoms would respond late in the frame. Georgi Merkulov lugged the puck up ice deep into the Muskegon zone where he laid a pass back to Jack Malone in the right faceoff circle. Malone one-touch passed the puck to Cole Burtch on the other side of the ice for a  one time shot that the 'Jacks goalie, Christian Stoever, could not stop at 16:52. The 1-1 score held into the intermission with the shots 9-8 in favor of Muskegon in the middle frame.