February 13, 2010

PORTLAND, ME – The Adirondack Phantoms erased a 4-1 second period deficit, but came up short as Derek Whitmore scored a power play goal with nine minutes left to lift the Portland Pirates to a 5-4 victory Saturday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The Pirates came in riding a seven-game winning streak and carried their recent strong form right at the opening face off. Three minutes in Portland grabbed the lead on a power play goal from defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani, beating screened goaltender Johan Backlund inside the right post on a slap shot from the right point at 3:04. The Pirates carried the momentum for almost the entire period, but Adirondack scored against the run of play to tie the game at 1-1 when David Laliberte made a drop pass to Sean Curry in the high slot and the Phantoms’ defenseman rifled his one-timer off the inside of the right corner post and in at 11:21. Portland responded late in the frame as Tyler Ennis and Felix Schutz scored 1:24 apart to open up a 3-1 lead.

Early in the second period Ennis sent Mark Mancari off on a breakaway and the Pirates’ leading scoring tucked his shot off the left post and in to open up a 4-1 advantage at 4:03. It may have appeared to be turning into a Portland runaway, but the Phantoms had other ideas as they began to chip away at the lead. First, Stefan Legein became the first Adirondack player this season to score 20 goals when he fired home a pass from Mika Pyorala to beat goaltender Jhonas Enroth at 6:30. Pyorala then made a great individual play by blocking a clearing attempt by Enroth and then batting the still airborne puck into the open net for a power play goal at 9:38. Adirondack’s comeback was complete at 14:48 as Patrick Maroon created another turnover on the forecheck and backhanded the puck through Enroth’s legs to tie the game at 4-4.

The third period was very close until the Phantoms took back-to-back penalties. They killed off the first Pirates power play, but were then whistled for another infraction 30 seconds later and during the ensuing power play Portland forward Derek Whitmore knocked in a rebound to give the home side a 5-4 lead at 11:01. Adirondack pressed to equalize and forced Enroth into making his best save of the night, flashing his catching glove to rob defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon’s one-timer from the hash-marks which was ticketed for the top right corner of the net. The Phantoms pulled Backlund with just under a minute left and receive a late power play with 35 seconds remaining, but had two good chances denied by the Portland goaltender before time expired.

Jhonas Enroth stopped 20-of-24 shots in the game to record his 22nd win of the season, helping Portland improve to 29-16-5-2 and extend their winning streak to eight games in a row. Johan Backlund finished with 34 saves on 39 shots, but took the loss as Adirondack dropped back down to 0.500 (24-24-2-2). The Pirates out-shot the Phantoms 39-24 in the game and went 2-for-4 on the power play; Adirondack was 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.

The Phantoms are back home on Sunday, February 14th as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a Valentine’s Day game at 3:00 pm at the Glens Falls Civic Center. During Sunday’s game Scoville Jewelers will announce the grand prize winner of their Most Romantic Moment contest.

There is no better way to watch Phantoms Hockey than by sharing it with a group of your family and friends. Bring a group of 15 or more people to the Glens Falls Civic Center and qualify for incredible discounted ticket prices off the regular box office rates. For more information about group tickets, contact the Phantoms at (518) 480-3355 or online at www.phantomshockey.com.

FINAL BOX SCORE

Adirondack Phantoms 4 At Portland Pirates 5 - Status: Final
Feb 13, 2010 - Cumberland County Civic Center

Adirondack 1 3 0 - 4
Portland 3 1 1 - 5

1st Period-1, Portland, Gragnani 5 (Ennis, Mancari), 3:04 (pp). 2, Adirondack, Curry 3 (Laliberte, Maroon), 11:21. 3, Portland, Ennis 17 (Mancari, Larsen), 17:04. 4, Portland, Schutz 9 (Wanvig), 18:30. Penalties-Bodrov Adk (hooking), 2:44; Rank Por (slashing), 9:05.

2nd Period-5, Portland, Mancari 21 (Ennis), 4:03. 6, Adirondack, Legein 20 (Pyorala, Ross), 6:30. 7, Adirondack, Pyorala 2 9:38 (pp). 8, Adirondack, Maroon 8 14:48. Penalties-Mormina Adk (interference), 6:47; Wanvig Por (tripping), 8:45.

3rd Period-9, Portland, Whitmore 11 (Larsen, Ennis), 11:01 (pp). Penalties-McCormick Por (hooking), 2:53; Clackson Adk (holding), 7:17; Legein Adk (roughing), 9:57; Schutz Por (delay of game), 19:25.

Shots on Goal-Adirondack 5-12-7-24. Portland 16-9-14-39.

Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 1 of 4; Portland 2 of 4.

Goalies-Adirondack, Backlund 16-11-2 (39 shots-34 saves). Portland, Enroth 22-14-1 (24 shots-20 saves).

A-5,318

Referees-Francis Charron (46).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Chris Libett (19).