December 21, 2011

A tough-luck deflection with 16.2 seconds remaining was a welcome break for the Connecticut Whale as they escaped on their home ice with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night over the Adirondack Phantoms.

Pavel Valentenko blasted one from center-point after a faceoff win and it appeared to bounce off an Adirondack defenseman between the circles tying up forward Andre Deveaux. The redirected puck snuck in past goalie Jason Bacashihua for the winner.

The Phantoms just missed on their opportunity to close to within two points of the division leaders heading into the holiday break. The Whale led for a total of only three minutes in the entire 60 minutes of play but stole the win at the end with the late goal.

Mike Testwuide scored for the second game in a row just four minutes into the game to give the Phantoms the initial lead. Andrew Rowe had cleanly intercepted a clearing try at the Connecticut line and flipped it over to Tyler Brown who dished the puck into open space to meet Testwuide stationed behind the D. Testwuide walked in on Chad Johnson and moved the puck from his forehand to backhand to stuff it around the goalie's right skate for the game's first score. Testwuide now has three goals this year after scoring in back-to-back games. He led all Phantoms rookies in goals last season with 18.

Andre Deveaux snapped a backhander over the right shoulder of Bacashihua late in the first period to equalize at 1-1.

And Jeff Prough picked up a long rebound off the end-boards on the left of the cage and was able to shoot it behind the scrambling Bacashihua for a power play goal in the second period as Connecticut to take a 2-1 lead.

The lead lasted just over two minutes before Jason Akeson would burn past the Whale defense and then drop for the trailing Tye McGinn to slam into a mostly open net his fifth goal of the season.

The 2-2 tie would remain for most of the rest of the contest. Adirondack was given a power play opportunity with 8:30 remaining but was unable to capitalize. Connecticut had a power play chance of their own with 2:30 left but Adirondack killed that one off.

But shortly after killing the Whale's man advantage, Connecticut would get a faceoff in the Adirondack zone with 19 seconds left to set up the game-winner by Valentenko with only 16.2 showing on the clock.

The Phantoms record moves to 15-12-2 with the result. Connecticut improves to 17-8-4. Adirondack is 1-2 against the Whale this year with only one more matchup remaining in the season series, in March back in Hartford.

Kevin Marshall played for Adirondack for the first time in almost a month following his ten game stretch with Philadelphia. The also game featured the Adirondack Phantoms debut of 28-year-old Jean Bourbeau. The PTO call-up from Elmira of the ECHL laid out a handful of nice hits in the game. He played with Bridgeport in the AHL last season.

All the players get a few days off for the holidays to spend time with friends and families. Most of the team will be leaving town for the stretch and then will be returning for their next practice on Monday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Adirondack returns to action next Wednesday, December 28 against the Binghamton Senators at the GFCC on Pucks and Paws Night. That game is the first of a four-game homestand including games on December 30, December 31 and January 4.

Scratches for the Phantoms included Garrett Klotz, Brandon Manning, Eric Wellwood, Oskars Bartulis and Johan Backlund.

Upcoming Events


Wednesday, December 28, 7:00 - Binghamton Senators at Phantoms. Pucks and Paws! Bring your leashed pet to the game. $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. Big New Year's Eve game! Time Warner Cable Cup Rivalry game.

Wednesday, January 4, 7:00 - Binghamton Senators at Phantoms. $1 hot dogs.

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

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

Be sure to follow the Phantoms on twitter @phantomshockey and on facebook.com/adkhockey

Adirondack Phantoms 2 at Connecticut Whale 3 - Status: Final
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Adirondack 1 1 0 - 2
Connecticut 1 1 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Adirondack, Testwuide 3 (Brown, Rowe), 4:07. 2, Connecticut, Deveaux 7 (Newbury, Bell), 16:19. Penalties-Prough Ct (tripping), 11:48; Eddy Adk (boarding), 14:16.

2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Prough 1 (Valentenko, Bell), 8:28 (PP). 4, Adirondack, McGinn 5 (Akeson, Roe), 10:52. Penalties-Jancevski Adk (tripping), 6:45.

3rd Period-5, Connecticut, Valentenko 3 (Bell, Newbury), 19:43. Penalties-Bouchard Ct (hooking), 11:27; Brown Adk (hooking), 16:38.

Shots on Goal-Adirondack 11-11-7-29. Connecticut 6-8-13-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 2; Connecticut 1 / 3.
Goalies-Adirondack, Bacashihua 4-3-1 (27 shots-24 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 10-4-3 (29 shots-27 saves).
A-2,389
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Jon McIsaac (39).
Linesmen-Luke Galvin (2), Derek Wahl (46).