| Rochester, NY- Trailing
2-0 with nine minutes left in the third period and
running on fumes in their fifth game in six days,
things were looking unpromising for the Adirondack
Phantoms. But Denis Hamel and Michael Ryan struck
for back-to-back goals one minute apart and the
Phantoms went on to win in the shootout in a 3-2
thriller Sunday evening in Rochester.
The exciting comeback victory extended Adirondack's
win streak to three as the Phantoms improved to
4-2 under the helm of new Head Coach Joe Paterson.
The Phantoms have won four of their last five as
well as six of their most recent eight games. Goalie
Brian Stewart won again in his third consecutive
start with a stellar 32 save performance on 34 shots.
He then went onto turn aside four of Rochester five
skaters in the shootout to cap the victory.
The Phantoms relied on the lanky rookie goaltender
to keep them in the game in the early going. Stewart
stopped 13 Rochester drives in the first 12 minutes
of the contest and made a total of 16 saves in a
scoreless first period. Stewart has made 93 saves
on 98 shots in his last four games including three
wins for a .948 saves percentage.
It looked as though the Phantoms would strike
first in the game when they had Rochester goalie
Jacob Markstrom scrambling in the middle of the
2nd period. Danny Syvret's shot from the point was
blocked down and Hamel backhanded the rebound hard
off the post on the close call. Just moments later
the Americans would fire it down ice to Jeff LoVecchio
who would capitalize on his breakaway opportunity
staking the home team to a 1-0 lead.
Kendall McArdle extended the Rochester advantage
to 2-0 in the middle of the third jamming one in
while he was falling in the slot.
An exhausted Phantoms team playing their fifth
game in six days pushed with everything they had
left for the comeback. Michael Ryan carried the
puck out from behind the Amerks goal and Rochester's
Michael Caruso took a holding penalty to stop him
from jamming it in. On the subsequent power play,
Denis Hamel would blast home a one-time slapshot
from the right-wing wall after a give across from
Danny Syvret. Hamel's 12th of the year and 302nd
of his career at 12:44 of the third would get the
Phantoms on the board.
Exactly one minute later, Ben Holmstrom would
nicely take Eric Wellwood's feed from behind the
goal and dish to the cutting Ryan who swooped from
right to left across the crease to get around Markstrom
and rifle home his second goal of the weekend and
fifth of the season. The resurgent Phantoms had
tied the game at 2-2 with 7:16 to go after they
had trailed 2-0 just a little over a minute earlier.
Both teams had their chances through the rest
of the third and into overtime including a couple
of open net opportunities on the Phantoms end that
appeared to be thwarted by hustling Phantoms D.
Michal Repik scored in the second round of the
shootout to give the Americans the early 1-0 lead
but Greg Moore an Luke Pither scored back to back
in the second and third rounds to put Adirondack
up 2-1 and Brian Stewart would go on to stop the
rest of the Rochester shooters in order including
Kendall McArdle in the fifth round to finish it
off.
Now it's time for a well deserved day off for
the Phantoms players who concluded their busiest
portion of this season's schedule with a flourish.
Notes: Scratches for the game included Marc-Andre
Bourdon, Stefan Legein, Shane Harper, J.P. Testwuide,
and Johan Backlund. Greg Moore scored in the shootout
but his four game goal scoring streak officially
came to a close. The win at Rochester begins a stretch
of four straight road games for the Phantoms. Adirondack
is 2-0 in shootouts this year with both victories
coming this weekend.
Upcoming Games:
Wednesday, January 5, 7:00 - Adirondack Phantoms
at Albany Devils
Friday, January 7, 10:00pm - Adirondack at Abbotsford
Heat
Saturday, January 8, 10:00pm - Adirondack Phantoms
at Abbotsford Heat
Friday, January 14, 7:30pm - Hershey Bears at Adirondack
Phantoms
Don't be left out! Tickets for all Phantoms games
are on sale now. Discount rates are available for
groups of 15 or more. Save off the individual ticket
price by asking the Phantoms about their great group
rate packages.
The AHL is celebrating their 75th anniversary season
and is the top development league for the NHL. More
than 85 percent of today's NHL players are American
Hockey League graduates and more than 6 million
fans attend AHL games every year.
Come watch future NHL stars and up-and-coming Flyers
prospects with exciting Adirondack Phantoms hockey!
A variety of ticket packages for all the fast-paced
action are on sale now. The Phantoms selection of
discount ticket packages includes 3-packs, 6-packs,
12 and 22 Select Plans, full season plans and Flex
Packs. Choose the plan that works best for you!
Get your tickets at the Phantoms office inside the
Glens Falls Civic Center, online at ticketmaster.com,
or by calling the Phantoms at 518-480-3355.
Adirondack Phantoms 3 (SO) at Rochester Americans
2 - Status: Final SO
Sunday, January 2, 2011 - Blue Cross Arena
Adirondack 0 0 2 0 - 3
Rochester 0 1 1 0 - 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lehtivuori Adk
(holding the stick), 9:51; Rinaldo Adk (fighting),
14:26; LoVecchio Rch (fighting), 14:26; Wilson Rch
(holding the stick), 20:00.
2nd Period-1, Rochester, LoVecchio 4 (Timmins,
Wilson), 9:47. Penalties-Thomas Rch (tripping),
2:45.
3rd Period-2, Rochester, McArdle 9 (Taylor, Duco),
9:45. 3, Adirondack, Hamel 12 (Pither, Syvret),
11:44 (PP). 4, Adirondack, Ryan 5 (Wellwood, Holmstrom),
12:44. Penalties-Timmins Rch (tripping), 2:14; Bordson
Adk (hooking), 5:21; Caruso Rch (holding), 10:46;
Moore Adk (high-sticking), 15:21.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout - Adirondack 2 (Ryan NG, Moore G, Pither
G, Wellwood NG), Rochester 1 (Jenks NG, Repik G,
Battaglia NG, Thomas NG, McArdle NG).
Shots on Goal-Adirondack 8-11-8-4-1-32. Rochester
16-11-4-3-0-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 1 / 4; Rochester
0 / 3.
Goalies-Adirondack, Stewart 3-5-0 (34 shots-32 saves).
Rochester, Markstrom 11-14-1 (31 shots-29 saves).
A-2,731
Referees-Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Derek Sylvester (76), Peter Feola (33).
|
