January 20, 2011

The surging Adirondack Phantoms moved to within one point of first place Connecticut in the Northeast Division following a 3-2 victory over the Albany Devils on Friday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. A 20 shot attack in the second period led to all three Phantoms goals which proved to be enough as the defense and Jason Bacashihua limited the number of quality Albany chances back on their end.

Connecticut dropped an overtime decision to St. John's 2-1 to earn one standings point and stay just ahead of the Phantoms in the standings. Connecticut has dropped eight in a row (0-5-3) while the surging Phantoms have won three of their last four and six of their last nine. The Phantoms have won four straight home games as well as seven of their last eight games on home-ice.

Tyler Brown (5), Jon Kalinski (6) and Andrew Rowe (3) all lit the lamp for Adirondack who took a three games to two lead over the Devils in the Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry series. Neither side has won an away game yet against their Northway rivals.

The Phantoms improved to 14-6-1 on home-ice as their overall record moved to 21-16-2 for 44 standings points, while the Whale now have 45.

Adirondack came out strong in the first period as they outshot Albany 13-6. But the Devils picked up a late goal with 1:33 remaining in the period when Mike Sislo would knock in a loose puck in the slot. Brandon Manning appeared to have scored a goal earlier in the period from the left-circle but his blast into the net was immediately waved off due to the cage becoming dislodged with bodies crashing into Jeff Frazee.

The Phantoms picked up the intensity even more in the second period as they would blast away in the Devils zone and dominate for most of the period.

Tyler Brown took a feed from Jason Akeson across the Devils line and put a sharp-angle shot onto Jeff Frazee from the left-wing side. Frazee got a piece of the shot with his stick and then the puck rolled on its edge just barely crossing the line to tie the score at 1-1. Brown has scored four of his five goals this season since the turn of the New Year.

Seven minutes into the second period, Jon Kalinski would fire a perfect backhander top-shelf over Frazee's shoulder to knock the water bottle for his sixth of the season.

And later in the period, a hot rebound would come out to Andrew Rowe in the high slot allowing the second-year pro from Muskegon, Michigan to notch his third of the year on a powerful slapper top-shelf.

The Phantoms had several other close calls in the second period in their efforts to establish some breathing room over the Devils but Frazee made a number of key saves and some of Adirondack's shots would miss just high or wide.

The frenetic pace would slow down dramatically in the third period as Adirondack was preserving their 3-1 lead. The shots on goal in the final 20 minutes were just 5-3 in favor of Albany. The shots were just 1-1 as the period was almost to the midway point. Neither side could get much of anything to the net as both team's defenses bottled things up and blocked drives in front of their respective netminders. Jason Bacashihua would go on to praise the play of his defense in front of him for the game and observed that Albany truly didn't get as many quality chances in the Phantoms zone, thanks to the efforts of the Phantoms defense closing the lanes and blocking the drives.

Albany pulled their goalie and was awarded a late power-play allowing them Chad Wiseman to score a 6-on-4 goal with just 18 seconds remaining to provide for the 3-2 final.

Jason Bacashihua went the distance for Adirondack and improved to 7-4-1 with the win.

Oskars Bartulis returned to the lineup for the Phantoms after missing almost the last two months with injury. the Phantoms announced they sent Andy Bohmbach and Cullen Eddy to the ECHL with Bohmbach headed to Trenton and Eddy off to Greenville.

Adirondack outshot the Devils by a dominant 36-20 margin. The Phantoms went 0-for-3 on the power play while the Devils were 1-for-2. The two teams meet again next Saturday, January 28 with a 5:00 game at the Times Union Center in Albany. The Devils do not invade Glens Falls again until March 10.

The Phantoms improved to 17-3-1 when they score three or more goals. Adirondack has outshot their opponents for seven straight games.

Scratches for the game included Oliver Lauridsen, Garrett Klotz and Tye McGinn.

Adirondack returns to the Glens Falls Civic Center for a Saturday night game against the surprisingly red-hot Bridgeport Sound Tigers who have climbed their way out of the cellar on the strength of a seven game win streak. Bridgeport now trails the Phantoms by just two points in the standings.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, January 21, 7:00 - Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. Adirondack Phantoms. Pink in the Rink with special pink jerseys presented by C.R. Wood Cancer Center at Glens Falls Hospital.

Sunday, January 22, 5:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Binghamton Senators

Monday, January 23, 7:00 - Phantoms Power Hour LIVE at McGinny's on Glen Street and on Q101.7. Special guests, Mike Testwuide and Tom Sestito. Also with Tim McManus of the Post-Star.

Wednesday, January 25, 7:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Manchester Monarchs

Get great savings with the Phantoms when you bring your group of 15 friends or co-workers to a game. Group-rates available as low as $13 per person. Call the Phantoms to find out more at 518-480-3355.

Check out the Half-Price Discount Outlet at phantomshockey.com for great savings from some of our awesome Phantoms corporate partners. Get half-off cards to local restaurants and other stores!

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 2 at Adirondack Phantoms 3 - Status: Final
Friday, January 20, 2012 - Glens Falls Civic Center

Albany 1 0 1 - 2
Adirondack 0 3 0 - 3

1st Period-1, Albany, Sislo 7 (Wiseman, Zharkov), 18:27. Penalties-Wiseman Alb (fighting), 7:12; Manning Adk (fighting), 7:12.

2nd Period-2, Adirondack, Brown 5 (Akeson), 1:02. 3, Adirondack, Kalinski 6 (Harper), 7:21. 4, Adirondack, Rowe 3 (Pither, Jancevski), 18:36. Penalties-Rowe Adk (goaltender interference), 8:02; Sislo Alb (holding), 9:02; Whitney Alb (hooking), 15:23.

3rd Period-5, Albany, Wiseman 4 (Sestito), 19:42 (PP). Penalties-Berube Alb (high-sticking), 9:46; Sestito Alb (holding), 11:03; Holmstrom Adk (slashing), 11:03; Zajac Alb (fighting), 19:33; Holmstrom Adk (instigating, fighting, game misconduct), 19:33.

Shots on Goal-Albany 6-9-5-20. Adirondack 13-20-3-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Albany 1 / 2; Adirondack 0 / 3.
Goalies-Albany, Frazee 7-9-2 (36 shots-33 saves). Adirondack, Bacashihua 7-4-1 (20 shots-18 saves).
A-3,710
Referees-Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Robert St. Lawrence (10), Frank Murphy (29).