Syracuse, NY-The Adirondack Phantoms equaled a season best with five goals Sunday evening in a 5-2 victory at the Syracuse Crunch. Adirondack improved to 4-0 against their East Division rivals in 2010-11.

Kevin Marshall (2), Stefan Legein (3), Luke Pither (7), Rob Bordson (2) and Ben Holmstrom (8) all scored for Adironack as 11 different players appeared in the scoring column. Johan Backlund playing in his second game since returning from a November 28 injury picked up the win, his first in over two months.

It is the third time this season the Phantoms have scored five goals in a game and the second time against Syracuse. Adirondack scored five in their first win of the season at Albany. And they also scored five at the Crunch in a 5-2 win on December 10. Interestingly, all three times the Phantoms have lit it up for five goals have come in road games.

Nick Bonino staked the Crunch to an early 1-0 lead but Marshall got it back just 62 seconds later when he blasted a slapper from the right point after Danny Syvret's centering feed was deflected to him.

Stefan Legein scored his first goal since November 11th wristing a shot from the right circle between the legs of Crunch netminder J.P. Levasseur. The late second period goal was created by Ben Holmstrom's pass from the Phantoms line and would give the Phantoms the lead for good. It was Legein's second game back since his injury November 20th.

A little over a minute later Denis Hamel would rifle a slapper off Levasseur and Luke Pither would take advantage of the long rebound for his 7th of the year. The Phantoms led 3-1 at the second break.

Syracuse made it interesting with roughly six minutes remaining when their talented rookie Kyle Palmeiri banked a shot from behind the goal-line off the right leg of Backlund pulling the Crunch to within 3-2.

Adirondack regained the two goal lead with four minutes left when Michael Ryan would hustle in behind the Crunch goal and steal the puck from Mat Clark. Ryan fed Bordson in the slot to shoot home his first ever goal as a Phantoms and second of the season. Bordson began the year with the Crunch where he scored one goal in 15 games. He was traded to the Flyers organization in late November along with Danny Syvret in exchange for Patrick Maroon and David Laliberte. Ben Holmstrom added an empty netter in the last minute to close the scoring.

Speaking of Maroon and Laliberte, they were paired on a line together and had a handful of quality chances but the Phantoms defense did a stellar job for the most part keeping them in check.

Johan Backlund made his best save the game in the closing seconds of the first period to preserve a 1-1 tie when Maroon chipped it forward to Laliberte right in front. Backlund snapped out his left-leg to make the impressive stop and keep his former teammate out of the net. It was somewhat reminiscent of the late game the Phantoms played here on December 28 when Nic Riopel robbed former teammate Patrick Maroon midway through the 3rd period to keep the Phantoms up by one goal.

Adirondack returns to Syracuse on January 29th for the last visit of the season to the Onodonga County War Memorial. The Crunch haven't played in Glens Falls since the Phantoms' home opener on October 15th but will return to the GFCC for games on February 4 and February 16.

The Phantoms outshot the Crunch 32-26. Adirondack went 0-for-4 on th epower play while holdin Syracuse to 0-for-5.

The Phantoms travel to Philadelphia next Friday to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center. The Penguins are the top team in the AHL at 32-9-0. The Phantoms host the affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, the North Division front-running Hamilton Bulldogs, in Glens Falls next Saturday night at 7pm.

Phantoms notes: Scratches for the game included Marc-Andre Bourdon, Matt Clackson and Zac Rinaldo. The Phantoms are 4-2-2 in 2011. Adirondack pulled to within 7 points of the Crunch, the next closest team in the East Division standings.

Sunday, January 16, 4:00pm - Adirondack Phantoms at Syracuse Crunch
Friday, January 21 7:00 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs Adirondack Phantoms (at Philadelphia)
Saturday, January 22 7:00 - Hamilton Bulldogs at Adirondack Phantoms
Sunday, January 23 5:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Wednesday, January 26 7:00 - Binghamton Senators 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 5 at Syracuse Crunch 2 - Status: Final
Sunday, January 16, 2011 - Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter

Adirondack 1 2 2 - 5
Syracuse 1 0 1 - 2

1st Period-1, Syracuse, Bonino 3 (Palmieri, Deschamps), 8:02. 2, Adirondack, Marshall 2 (Syvret, Hamel), 9:04. Penalties-Kalinski Adk (tripping), 13:01; Maroon Syr (slashing), 14:10.

2nd Period-3, Adirondack, Legein 3 (Holmstrom, Eddy), 16:59. 4, Adirondack, Pither 7 (Hamel, Moore), 18:14. Penalties-Kennedy Syr (hooking), 3:37; Legein Adk (hooking), 5:08; Stephenson Adk (hooking), 12:26; Kalinski Adk (holding, misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:36.

3rd Period-5, Syracuse, Palmieri 10 (Clark, Mitera), 14:08. 6, Adirondack, Bordson 2 (Ryan), 16:56. 7, Adirondack, Holmstrom 8 (Jancevski), 19:04 (EN). Penalties-Bonino Syr (unsportsmanlike conduct), 0:54; Mitchell Syr (boarding), 4:17; Testwuide Adk (interference), 6:41.

Shots on Goal-Adirondack 13-9-10-32. Syracuse 11-6-9-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 4; Syracuse 0 / 5.
Goalies-Adirondack, Backlund 3-12-1 (26 shots-24 saves). Syracuse, Levasseur 5-11-3 (31 shots-27 saves).
A-4,475
Referees-Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-John Murphy (71), Fraser McIntyre (94).