December 18, 2011

The Adirondack Phantoms lost on home-ice for only the second time in their last seven games as the Binghamton Senators escaped for the GFCC with a 4-1 victory. Adirondack blasted away for 40 shots on Binghamton goalie Mike McKenna but only Mike Testwuide's late third period rebound drive would get past him.

It was the second time on the weekend that a stellar effort by McKenna would get the better of the Phantoms. The former Albany Devils goalie turned the same trick in Binghamton on Friday night with 33 saves in a 3-1 win down there.

Playing without their captain Ben Holmstrom for the first time this season, Adirondack called Andy Bohmbach up from Trenton (ECHL) to replace him and continued to generate the same quality scoring chances but appeared to be snake-bit against the red-hot McKenna who made several fine saves which included some point-blank scoring opportunities for the frustrated hosts.

The Phantoms fell to 15-11-2 with the loss and 8-4-1 on home-ice this season. Dating back to March of last year, the Phantoms are 15-4-1 at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Adirondack has only five regulation losses in their last 29 home games going 19-5-5 since February of last year.

Corey Cowick scored on a drive from the right-wing wall to give the Senators a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Then Pat Cannone would pick off a Michael Leighton clear in the corner and rifle a sharp-angle shot into the open net for his seventh of the year to give Binghamton the 2-0 advantage after one period.

Adirondack had three power play in the opening frame which generated some more chances as they outshot Binghamton 13-9 but McKenna used the shooting practice to establish his early groove.

The Phantoms still trailed 2-0 into the third period when they ratcheted things up and peppered away on McKenna for 9 shots in the first nine minutes of the period. McKenna kept steering away everything Adirondack threw at him.

Binghamton took advantage of a third period power play opportunity with a goal straight off a faceoff win as former Buffalo Sabre and current Binghamton captain Mark Parrish would get the tip on Stephane Da Costa's center-point drive for a valuable goal extending the lead to 3-0.

Adirondack would again have some chances late in the third when Binghamton would take back-to-back penalties. The Phantoms would have 1:15 of 5-on-3 attack with less than five minutes remaining but even then they weren't able to push anything past McKenna as the Binghamton defenders would scramble for a couple key blocks on drives by Denis Hamel and Garrett Roe among others.

When the play resumed to five-on-five, Adirondack would finally get on the board as Mike Testwuide would pounce on a rebound of a Jon Kalinski drive and stuff behind McKenna his second goal of the season.

The Phantoms pulled Michael Leighton with 2:30 remaining to try to get even closer but a couple close-calls would get turned aside and finally the Senators would seal the win with 30 seconds remaining on a long empty-netter by rookie Wacey Hamilton.

Adirondack outshot the Senators 40-27. The Phantoms went 0-for-6 on the power play while the Senators were 1-for-2.

It was just the second time this season in which Adirondack has outshot their opponent and taken a regulation loss out of it. The first time happened on Friday in Binghamton.

The Phantoms missed an opportunity to gain ground on the Northeast Division leading Connecticut Whale who had Sunday off. The Phantoms remain four point behind Connecticut. Adirondack travels to Hartford on Wednesday night for a first place showdown with the Whale.

Binghamton was without reigning league MVP Corey Locke with injury and skated a man short for the game. The Senators have been struggling this season with call-ups and injuries but with their stellar goaltending have found success against the Phantoms going 3-0 in the season series.

Adirondack was without their team captain, Ben Holmstrom, who was called up to Philadelphia earlier in the day. He joined Tom Sestito who was called up early last week and other Phantoms call-ups such as Matt Walker, Kevin Marshall, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Harry Zolnierczyk, Zac Rinaldo and Brayden Schenn.

The Phantoms were also without Eric Wellwood and Oskars Bartulis who have missed a few games with injury.

Adirondack called up center Andy Bohmbach from Trenton (ECHL) where he has eight goals and 21 points in 21 games with the Titans. It was Bohmbach's third game with the Phantoms.

The Phantoms next home game is next Wednesday, December 28 against the Binghamton Senators on Pucks and Paws night in which fans can bring their pet to the game. That opens a four-game homestand to conclude 2011 and carry over into 2012 including games on Friday, December 30 and Saturday, December 31.




Upcoming Events

Monday, December 19, 7:00 - Phantoms Power Hour LIVE from McGinny's. Player guests Jon Kalinski and Andy Thomas and also Tim McManus from the Post-Star

Wednesday, December 21, 7:00 - Phantoms at Connecticut Whale

Wednesday, December 28, 7:00 - Binghamton Senators at Phantoms. Pups and Pucks! Bring your pet to the game! Also $1 hot dogs.

Friday, December 30, 7:00 - Portland Pirates at Phantoms. $2 draft-beer specials through first intermission.

Saturday, December 31, 7:00 - Albany Devils at Phantoms. New Year's Eve with the Phantoms! Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry game.

Wednesday, January 4, 7:00 - Binghamton Senators at Phantoms

Friday, January 6, 7:00 - Outdoor Classic in Philadelphia! Hershey Bears vs. Adirondack Phantoms at Citizens Bank Park.

Phantoms Holiday Socks are on sale now. $49 package for 4 tickets to a premium Phantoms game, an autographed puck, a program, all in a game-worn Phantoms hockey sock. $59 for an autographed stick with the 4 premium game tickets and game-worn Phantoms hockey sock.

Catch all the action of Phantoms hockey all season long on the team's flagship station, Classic Hits Q101.7 and on phantomshockey.com. Bob Rotruck has the broadcast coverage 30 minutes prior to game-time with Countdown to Faceoff.

The Adirondack Phantoms are now over 10,000 members strong on their social media networks. Be sure to follow us on twitter @phantomshockey and on facebook.com/adkhockey

Binghamton Senators 4 at Adirondack Phantoms 1 - Status: Final
Sunday, December 18, 2011 - Glens Falls Civic Center

Binghamton 2 0 2 - 4
Adirondack 0 0 1 - 1

1st Period-1, Binghamton, Cowick 2 6:24. 2, Binghamton, Cannone 7 (Schira), 12:28. Penalties-Cannone Bng (tripping), 0:28; Parrish Bng (delay of game), 7:40; Klinkhammer Bng (cross-checking), 14:40; Jancevski Adk (interference), 19:20.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Parrish Bng (delay of game), 12:53.

3rd Period-3, Binghamton, Parrish 10 (Da Costa, Hoffman), 11:05 (PP). 4, Adirondack, Testwuide 2 (Bohmbach, Kalinski), 17:00. 5, Binghamton, Hamilton 2 19:28 (EN). Penalties-Conboy Bng (fighting), 6:15; McGinn Adk (fighting), 6:15; Kalinski Adk (charging), 11:01; Dziurzynski Bng (interference), 14:09; Gryba Bng (cross-checking), 14:53.

Shots on Goal-Binghamton 9-14-4-27. Adirondack 13-12-15-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Binghamton 1 / 2; Adirondack 0 / 6.
Goalies-Binghamton, McKenna 5-8-0 (40 shots-39 saves). Adirondack, Leighton 11-10-0 (26 shots-23 saves).
A-2,763
Referees-Ryan Hersey (46), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Mike Emanatian (69), Jim Harper (59).