February 27, 2010

GLENS FALLS, NY – For the second straight night Johan Backlund turned in a stellar goaltending performance, while Jared Ross and Patrick Maroon scored shootout goals as the Adirondack Phantoms beat the Lowell Devils 3-2 Saturday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

For the second night in a row Adirondack wore special ADK jerseys that were the exact design of the gold medal-winning 1980 USA Men’s Hockey Team sweaters and for the second straight night the spirit of the Miracle On Ice squad was with the Phantoms. 4:05 into the game Jason Ward scored on a pretty centering pass from Andreas Nodl for his 12th goal of the season. At 14:30 Stefan Legein made it 2-0 Adirondack with his team-leading 23rd goal of the year, combining with Patrick Maroon on a give-and-go play that led to Legein sliding a backhand shot past a sprawling Mike McKenna in the Lowell net. The Phantoms lost some of their momentum when Matt Taormina put the Devils on the board with a heavy slap shot from the blue line for a five-on-three power play goal with 16.9 seconds left in the frame.

The second period was a defensive battle with few offensive chances from either team. When those chances arose both McKenna and Phantoms goalie Johan Backlund stood tall in their nets. Once again Lowell chipped in a late goal, this time it was Stephen Gionta who scored at 18:12 just after a Devils power play expired to tie the game at 2-2.

No scoring came in the third period, which was even tighter and more nerve-wracking for the 4,023 fans at the Civic Center. Both goaltenders made game-save stops in overtime, although the Phantoms out-shot the Devils 5-2 in the extra session.

Captain Jared Ross got things started for the home side by scoring on a wrist shot through the five-hole of McKenna as the first shooter. The 1-0 lead held until the fourth round when Gionta, Lowell’s captain, froze Backlund with a fake-shot and tucked the puck around the Swedish netminder. But Patrick Maroon was not about the let the Devils steal the victory. As the very next shooter, Maroon sped in with the puck and blazed his shot over McKenna’s catching glove to put Adirondack ahead 2-1. Backlund then denied Brad Snetsinger at the other end to secure the victory as he was mobbed by his teammates.

Johan Backlund recorded his 20th win of the season by stopping 26-of-28 shots in 65 minutes of action and then blocked 4-of-5 in the shootout to help Adirondack improve to 28-28-2-2 on the year. Mike McKenna finished with 30 saves on 32 shots in regulation and overtime, but made 3 saves on 5 shootout attempts as Lowell dropped to 31-22-4-4. The Phantoms out-shot the Devils 33-28 in the game and went 0-for-2 on the power play; Lowell was 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.

The Phantoms return to action on Wednesday, March 3rd as they travel to Ontario for a 7:30 pm face off with the Hamilton Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum. Adirondack’s next home game is on Friday, March 5th at 7:30 pm against the Rochester Americans at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

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

Lowell Devils 2 At Adirondack Phantoms 3 (SO) - Status: Final SO
Feb 27, 2010 - Glens Falls Civic Center

Lowell 1 1 0 0 - 2
Adirondack 2 0 0 0 - 3

1st Period-1, Adirondack, Ward 12 (Nodl, Kalinski), 4:05. 2, Adirondack, Legein 23 (Curry, Maroon), 14:30. 3, Lowell, Taormina 9 (Halischuk, Murphy), 19:43 (pp). Penalties-Davison Low (slashing), 15:57; Legein Adk (hooking), 17:54; Sestito Low (roughing), 19:18; Matsumoto Adk (roughing, roughing), 19:18.

2nd Period-4, Lowell, Gionta 13 (Walter, Murphy), 18:12. Penalties-Stephenson Adk (slashing), 8:08; Marshall Adk (slashing), 9:15; Davis Low (high-sticking), 11:09; Laliberte Adk (hooking), 16:08.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout - Lowell 1 (Walter NG, Halischuk NG, Davis NG, Gionta G, Snetsinger NG), Adirondack 2 (Ross G, Laliberte NG, Ward NG, Matsumoto NG, Maroon G).

Shots on Goal-Lowell 5-12-9-2-0-28. Adirondack 9-10-8-5-1-33.

Power Play Opportunities-Lowell 1 of 5; Adirondack 0 of 2.

Goalies-Lowell, McKenna 18-11-4 (32 shots-30 saves). Adirondack, Backlund 20-13-2 (28 shots-26 saves).

A-4,023

Referees-Nygel Pelletier (41).
Linesmen-Robert St. Lawrence (10), Frank Murphy (29).