In a game so poorly officiated that it leaves no doubt why the NHL fired (then unfortunately for hockey fans re-hired) referee Rob Martell, the Crunch recorded a come-from-behind 2 to 2 tie with the Philadelphia Phantoms. Philly scored early in the first, with Kirby Law getting his third goal of the year, assisted by Mark Greig and Petr Hubacek. That would be the lone goal of the period, with the Phantoms out-shooting the Crunch as well, 13-10. At the 3:19 mark of the second, Crunch rookie Andrej Nedorost scored his third of the season, unassisted. At 8:27, a scrum broke out to Crunch goaltender J.F. Labbe's left along the boards, resulting in penalties only to the Crunch as David Ling picked up two minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct. Players from both teams were jostling each other, and as this was right in front of my seat, I saw no reason to single out Ling. The Phantoms took advantage of the power play opportunity, with Mike Lephart getting his third of the season, assisted by Crunch nemesis John Slaney and Guillaume Lefebvre. The Phantoms entered the game as the league's third most penalized team, but did not pick up their first penalty until the 19:53 mark of the second, when Law was caught for interference. The period ended with the Phantoms up 2 to 1, still out-shooting the Crunch 24-16. Early in the third, things got very interesting. Crunch LW Jody Shelley took a right jab at Phantom defenseman Dan Peters during a scrum in front of Philly goaltender Maxime Ouellet. Peters promptly responded with a flagrant high stick to Shelley's face, splitting the burly Crunch winger's lower lip open. As the Crunch appealed to referee Martell for a penalty, Jesse Boulerice and Craig Brunel left the Phantom bench for a line change and immediately started jawing with Shelley. This led to a number of words and gestures by the three players, with Shelley and Brunel finally being given misconducts by Martell. As the players were being escorted to the penalty box, Brunel dropped his gloves and challanged Shelley, who promptly shed his own mitts. The linesman who was escorting Shelley maintained control of the Crunch player as Jody offered no real resistance to the official, but the official with Brunel was man-handled by the Phantoms winger not once but twice, ending up losing his grip on the Phantom, as well as his balance on the ice, on both occasions. Both players received game misconducts to go with their earlier misconducts, with the league needing to take a long look at the actions of Brunel during this incident. He clearly left the bench to instigate an fight during a stoppage, as well as man-handled the official, both of which are clear violations of league rules. The Crunch would tie the score with just 72 seconds remaining. As Labbe left the ice for the extra attacker, Chris Nielsen scored his first of the season for the Crunch, assisted by Duvie Westcott and Crunch captain Sean Pronger. Nielsen was sent down by the parent Columbus Blue Jackets earlier in the week on a conditioning assignment as he rehabs from an early season injury. The period ended tied at 2, with the Phantoms holding a 34-24 lead in shots-on-goal. Neither team scored in overtime, although both had chances. Martin Spanhel was pulled down entering the Philly zones he cleared the defense, leading to an odd-man rush the other way with the shot ringing off the metal behind Labbe and out of the net. As the final horn sounded, Ling took a jab at Greig in front of the Philly net, which led to another stick incident by Peters, who slashed Ling twice on the legs. Ling was given a minor for slashing while Peters was given a 10-minute misconduct. Both teams were credtited with a single shot in the overtime period. Philly was 1 for 5 on the power play while the Crunch were scoreless in their one chance. Greig was third star, Labbe second, and Nielsen first star of the game. Derrick Walser was voted defenseman of the game. On a down note, the Crunch had two more players suffer injuries that will affect their availability for the up-coming road trip. Defenseman Dan Watson sufferd a head injury early in the first and will be gone seven to ten days, while Nedorost suffered a hip flexor in the third and will be listed as day to day. With the third degree seperated shoulder suffered by defenseman Darrel Scoville Friday against Cleveland, the Crunch will have to make a move to bring in at least one more defenseman. Review by KC  Crunch start a four game road trip on Tuesday against Milwaukee, then to Cincinnati for games Wednesday and Friday, ending the trip Saturday with an early afternoon game in Cleveland. Next home gamll be Friday, November 30 against the Hershey Bears.view by KC