December 31, 2011

Another Saturday game at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Another thrilling overtime win to light up the crowd. The Phantoms last three Saturday night home games have all provided extra-time drama with exciting Adirondack wins. This one on New Year's Eve to close out 2011 saw Mike Testwuide rifle home a rebound in the slot from an Erik Gustafsson drive for the 2-1 decision over the Albany Devils.

The victory puts a close to a New Year's weekend filled with plenty of late drama for the Phantoms. Adirondack's overtime triumph was the follow-up to a marathon 12-round shootout win over the Portland Pirates the night before. It was also the second time the Phantoms have defeated Albany in overtime in Glens Falls. Jon Kalinski scored a game-winner against the Devils back on November 26.

The traditional New Year's Eve game in Glens Falls was witnessed by nearly 4,000 jubilant Adirondack fans who enjoyed watching their Phantoms take a two games to one lead over their local rivals in the 10-game season-long battle for the Time Warner Cable Cup.

Mike Testwuide now has four goals in his last five games after starting off the year with only one goal in his first 27 games, an empty-netter on opening night on October 8. But the Colorado College product has found his groove later in the campaign for the second season in a row. He had 18 goals last year to lead all Phantoms rookies, and 16 of those came in the second-half of the season.

Adirondack closes out the 2011 portion of the schedule in sole possession of second place again in the Northeast Division with 34 points sporting a record of 17-13-2. The Phantoms are six points behind first place Connecticut and one point ahead of Albany now also with two games-in-hand.

Jason Bacashihua was stellar again in goal for the Phantoms and turned aside 28 of 29 Devils shots to out-duel his goaltending counterpart Keith Kincaid for the victory. He was less than five minutes away from recording his first Adirondack shutout when the desperate late-attack of Albany would finally get one in with Vladimir Zharkov crashing the net on a rebound of a slapshot by Alexander Urbom from the left-point tying the score at 1-1.

The Phantoms had initially taken the lead midway through the second period on a power play slap-shot goal from the left point from Jason Akeson. His ninth goal of the year came on a nice cross-ice slide from Erik Gustafsson around the pursuit of the Devils penalty killers after it was won away along the end-boards by Testwuide and Eric Wellwood. Gustafsson and Wellwood received the assists on the goal. Both of the popular Phantoms players are in their first week back with the team after injuries had sidelined them for a few weeks.

Bacashihua is becoming synonymous with "extra-time" when he gets the start at home. The 29-year-old goalie from Dearborn Heights, Michigan has started four games this year in Glens Falls, and all four have gone to overtime or a shootout. Bacashihua is 3-1 on home-ice including 2-1 in shootouts and now 1-0 in overtime games.

The game opened with an announcement that veteran Denis Hamel was playing in his 1,000 career game as a professional. The 11th all-time leading scorer in American Hockey League history with 326 goals has played in 192 games in the NHL and now 808 games in the AHL. He received an impressive standing ovation from the crowd for his achievement and his Phantoms teammates also tapped their sticks on the ice and against the bench-boards in recognition of one of their leaders.

Dan Jancevski was also announced as only the 12th defenseman in AHL history to play in his 800th game. He is the 32nd player all-time to reach that milestone. Both Jancevski and Hamel are in their second season with the Adirondack Phantoms.

Adirondack improved to 14-1-1 in games in which they have led after two periods. The Phantoms are 10-5-1 on home-ice. The Phantoms are also an impressive 15-5-1 when they score the first goal.

The Phantoms went 0-for-5 on the power play while holding the Devils to 1-for-4. Albany out-shot Adirondack 29-21. Game four of the Time Warner Cable Cup series will take place on Monday, January 16 with a 2:00 matchup on Martin Luther King Day.

Adirondack concludes their four game homestand on Wednesday night against the Binghamton Senators in their first game of 2012 with $1 hot-dog specials throughout the game.

Scratches for the Phantoms included Tom Sestito, Garrett Klotz, Oskars Bartulis, Luke Pither, Brandon Manning and Johan Backlund.

Upcoming Events

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.

Saturday, January 7, 7:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Friday, January 13, 7:00 - Hamilton Bulldogs at Phantoms

Saturday, January 14, 7:00 - Manchester Monarchs at Phantoms

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

Albany Devils 1 at Adirondack Phantoms 2 (OT) - Status: Final OT

Saturday, December 31, 2011 - Glens Falls Civic Center

Albany 0 0 1 0 - 1
Adirondack 0 1 0 1 - 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Gionta Alb (delay of game), 3:54; Nagy Alb (slashing), 13:37; Mills Alb (slashing), 16:19.

2nd Period-1, Adirondack, Akeson 9 (Gustafsson, Wellwood), 10:31 (PP). Penalties-Hoeffel Alb (hooking), 2:54; Eddy Adk (tripping), 4:13; Marshall Adk (interference), 6:40; Nagy Alb (hooking), 9:17; Harper Adk (hooking), 15:45.

3rd Period-2, Albany, Zharkov 6 (Gionta, Urbom), 15:11. Penalties-Marshall Adk (tripping), 6:10.

OT Period-3, Adirondack, Testwuide 5 (Akeson, Gustafsson), 2:18. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Albany 6-12-9-0-27. Adirondack 7-8-3-4-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Albany 0 / 4; Adirondack 1 / 5.
Goalies-Albany, Kinkaid 8-10-0 (22 shots-20 saves). Adirondack, Bacashihua 6-3-1 (27 shots-26 saves).
A-3,971
Referees-Geno Binda (22), Ryan Hersey (46).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Jim Harper (59).