WBS Penguins Drop 1st Preseason Game

Photo of tonight's preseason game came courtesy of Michael Cignoli of the Saratogian.

In a game that wasn't on the radio or streamed online, the updates were few and far between.

The Penguins lineup featured eight guys on a tryout. Notable guys like Keven Veilleux, Zach Sill, Geoff Walker, Bryan Lerg, Joey Mormina and Carl Sneep were given the night off. Chad Langlais was also scratched.

Here's a quick recap of tonight's game, which was played in a rather small rink of an area high school in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Phantoms took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a power play goal from Garret Klotz. The Penguins had appeared to tie it in the waning seconds of the period but an incidental contact with the goaltender infraction against Brian Gibbons negated the tying goal.

The Phantoms extended their lead to two in the middle frame, with a 5-on-3 power play goal from Eric Wellwood. The first real scrap of the game also occurred in the second period, with Adirondack's Tye McGinn dropping the gloves with Penguins' Brandon DeFazio.

Another power play goal for the Phantoms in the third period made it 3-0. Luckily the Penguins ruined Jason Bacashihua's shutout bid with 2.7 seconds left on a goal from forward Chris Barton.

All in all, the score and result doesn't mean too much in the grand scheme of things. The Penguins didn't give up anything at even strength, which is a good thing.  But they also allowed three power play goals and were unable to score on one of their own.

The Penguins will practice at their home venue, the Mohegan Sun Arena, tomorrow afternoon and prepare for three games in three nights starting at home Friday against the Hershey Bears. They'll travel to Hershey for Saturday night's game and then back home for Sunday's rematch against these same Phantoms.

Other interesting notes were the two players wearing the assistant captain "A" on their jersey for the Penguins. Michael Cignoli of the Saratogian pointed those out as being forwards Ben Street and Devin DiDiomete.

Thanks again for the updates provided by Tim McManus and Michael Cignoli tonight!