February 24, 2010

GLENS FALLS, NY – Four different Phantoms registered multi-point games, but Maksim Mayorov’s shorthanded goal broke a 5-5 tie with 2:49 left in regulation as the Syracuse Crunch slipped past Adirondack 6-5 Wednesday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Adirondack took an early two goal lead in the first period; Andreas Nodl tipped a Jason Ward pass into the roof of the net at 5:26 and Jonathon Kalinski scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 16:31 on a backhand shot that beat Crunch goaltender Kevin Lalande over his catching glove. 62 seconds later Michael Bluden got Syracuse on the board with a wrist shot from the low slot, after he evaded defensive coverage behind the net. However, Stefan Legein scored his 22nd goal of the season at 19:09 to put Adirondack ahead 3-1 after the first period as he poked in the loose puck from Jared Ross’ spin-around wrist shot from in between the circles.

The Phantoms looked as though they were comfortably in the lead through the first ten minutes of the second period. Then in the span of 1:26 Syracuse scored twice to tie the game at 3-3 and blow the game wide open. Maksim Mayorov one-timed a Jared Aulin pass into the net on a two-on-one rush at 13:13, followed by Alexandre Picard jamming in his own rebound at the side of the net at 14:39 to draw level. The Crunch quickly gave away their momentum by getting into penalty trouble and David Laliberte put Adirondack back in the lead 4-3 with a back door goal on a beautiful crossing pass from Jon Matsumoto at 17:54 during a five-on-three power play. The closing seconds of the second period was even more chaotic. After the Crunch survived another Phantoms’ five-on-three power play, Derek MacKenzie stepped out of the penalty box and caught a long clearing pass at the red line and raced off for a shorthanded breakaway. However, goaltender Johan Backlund came charging out of his crease and hurled himself at MacKenzie just inside the blue line, taking out the puck and the man and erasing the scoring chance. Laliberte and Legein quickly combined to corral the loose puck and send it back up ice to Ross who skated in on the counter attack and beat Lalande low through the pads for a power play goal with 0.5 seconds left in the period to regain a 5-3 lead. As Ross lifted his arms in celebration Blunden took a shot at the Phantoms’ captain and, with the fans erupting in near pandemonium levels at the crazy end-to-end play, Patrick Maroon stepped in and fought Blunden, bringing all the players on the ice together for a post-goal scrum.

Maroon was given a two-minute roughing penalty, in addition to each player receiving five minutes for fighting, and 1:21 into the third period Tomas Kana scored on that carry-over power play to pull Syracuse back within one. MacKenzie thought he had tied the game with a shorthanded goal mid-way through the third period when his wrist shot appeared to rip right through the back of the net, but the referee conferred with his linesmen and the goal judge before ruling no goal. With time winding down MacKenzie eventually scored the tying goal as he combined with Picard at 15:44, although Picard picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty during the celebration for something he said to the referee. On the ensuing power play, the Phantoms turned over the puck at the blue line and MacKenzie raced off on a shorthanded two-on-one. Backlund game up with a great save to deny the wrist shot from the Syracuse captain, but with just 2:49 remaining in the third period Mayorov was in perfect position to sweep the rebound into the net for his second goal of the game, putting the Crunch their first lead of the entire game 6-5. The Phantoms pulled Backlund for the extra attacker with just over a minute left, but could not find the equalizer as they dropped a heart-breaker to their East Division rival.

Kevin Lalande made 20 saves on 25 shots to earn the victory and help Syracuse improve to 25-27-3-3 on the season. Johan Backlund stopped 18-of-24 shots and took the loss as the Phantoms lost their third straight game and fell to 26-28-2-2. Adirondack out-shot the Crunch 25-24 in the game and matched a season-high with three power play goals on seven chances; Syracuse was 1-for-2 with the man-advantage.

Adirondack continues its three-game home stand with two more games this weekend. Friday night, February 26th the Norfolk Admirals are in town for a crucial East Division battle at 7:30 pm and Saturday, February 27th the Phantoms host the Lowell Devils at 7:00 pm. During both games weekend Adirondack will be wearing special jerseys that celebrate the Olympics and the 30th anniversary of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey Gold Medal Team.

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. Don’t miss a minute of the exciting action of the Adirondack Phantoms 2009-2010 Season presented by Bud Light.

FINAL BOX SCORE

Syracuse Crunch 6 At Adirondack Phantoms 5 - Status: Final
Feb 24, 2010 - Glens Falls Civic Center

Syracuse 1 2 3 - 6
Adirondack 3 2 0 - 5

1st Period-1, Adirondack, Nodl 8 (Ward, Bourdon), 5:26. 2, Adirondack, Kalinski 7 16:31 (sh). 3, Syracuse, Blunden 7 (Reese, Holden), 17:33. 4, Adirondack, Legein 22 (Ross, Mormina), 19:09 (pp). Penalties-Curry Adk (holding), 15:00; Liffiton Syr (tripping), 18:20.

2nd Period-5, Syracuse, Mayorov 10 (Aulin, Mirasty), 13:13. 6, Syracuse, Picard 16 (Kana), 14:39. 7, Adirondack, Laliberte 13 (Matsumoto, Bourdon), 17:54 (pp). 8, Adirondack, Ross 7 (Legein, Laliberte), 19:59 (pp). Penalties-Holden Syr (roughing), 7:01; Ferguson Syr (holding), 16:23; MacKenzie Syr (hooking), 17:38; Mayorov Syr (slashing), 18:52; Blunden Syr (fighting), 19:59; Maroon Adk (roughing, fighting), 19:59.

3rd Period-9, Syracuse, Kana 12 (Regner, Picard), 1:21 (pp). 10, Syracuse, MacKenzie 16 (Picard), 15:44. 11, Syracuse, Mayorov 11 (MacKenzie), 17:11 (sh). Penalties-Lalande Syr (tripping), 12:54; Picard Syr (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:44.

Shots on Goal-Syracuse 4-8-12-24. Adirondack 9-9-7-25.

Power Play Opportunities-Syracuse 1 of 2; Adirondack 3 of 7.

Goalies-Syracuse, Lalande 18-15-2 (25 shots-20 saves). Adirondack, Backlund 18-13-2 (24 shots-18 saves).

A-2,642

Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Bryan Pancich (94), Mike Emanatian (69).