March 7, 2012

Upcoming Games

Friday, March 9 (7:00pm) - Norfolk Admirals at Adirondack Phantoms
Saturday, March 10 (7:00pm) - Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms
Sunday, March 11 (3:00pm) - Adirondack Phantoms at Worcester Sharks
Wednesday, March 14 (7:00pm) - Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms

Phantoms Results

Friday, March 2 - Providence Bruins 3 - Adirondack Phantoms 1
Saturday, March 3 - Adirondack Phantoms 3 - Albany Devils 2 (OT)
Sunday, February 4 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3 - Adirondack Phantoms 2

Coming Up

The Adirondack Phantoms have consecutive home games for the first time since early February as they host Norfolk and Albany back-to-back this Friday and Saturday in two more big games at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Adirondack closes the weekend with a Sunday afternoon contest on the road at the Worcester Sharks.

The Phantoms sit just two points behind the eighth place spot in the Eastern Conference amongst a number of teams in a significant standings scramble.

Adirondack has won six of their last nine and they have 7 of their last 10. What is even more impressive about that stretch is that only two of those games have been at home.

The Phantoms had their four game win streak ended this past Sunday and now look to start another one on Friday against the top team in the AHL. The Norfolk Admirals enter Glens Falls riding high on a 12 game win streak and they also hold the league's best record.

The Devils come to town on Saturday looking to avenge their recent overtime loss to the Phantoms last weekend down in Albany. It's Game 8 out of 10 in the Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry with the Adirondack Phantoms currently leading the season series four games to three.

Albany is currently in seventh place while Worcester is in eighth in the Eastern Conference standings so those matchups on Saturday and Sunday are of even greater importance for the Phantoms in their push for the Top 8.

The Phantoms have won six of their last nine and have points in seven of their last 10. Adirondack has 17 of their wins on home ice which is the second highest total in the Eastern Conference.

Friday night's game features $2 draft beer specials and also a post-game game-worn jersey auction live on the ice with the Phantoms home white jerseys up for bidding.

Saturday is Faith and Family Night which also includes a live post-game concert with Isaiah 6.


Phantoms Ticket Specials

The Adirondack Phantoms have announced a couple of great ticket specials. Get 'em while they're hot!

Get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit and feel the luck of the Irish and the O'Phantoms! Two tickets plus a specially designed green Adirondack O'Phantoms T-Shirt presented by O'Toole's are only $30.

The Northway 2-Pack including two tickets to each of Adirondack's upcoming Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry games on March 10 and April 6. The package also includes a hockey stick autographed by an Adirondack Phantoms player. The whole package is a great bargain at $65.

Call the Phantoms to find out more and order your great ticket packages today. 518-480-3355.

Roster Moves

Eric Wellwood and Erik Gustafsson were recalled again by the Philadelphia Flyers last weekend. On Sunday night, Wellwood's second career NHL goal was the game-winner in a hard-fought 1-0 Philadelphia win over the Washington Capitals on national TV.

Eastern Conference Playoff Focus (8th place and up qualify for post-season)

7. Albany Devils (63 pts)
8. Worcester Sharks (61 pts)
9. Manchester Monarchs (61 pts)
10. Portland Pirates (60 pts)
11. Adirondack Phantoms (59 pts)
12. Springfield Falcons (59 pts)
13. Providence Bruins (58 pts)
14. Syracuse Crunch (56 pts)
15. Binghamton Senators (52 pts)

Week in Review

Friday, March 2 (Adirondack Phantoms 3 - Providence Bruins 1)

The Phantoms picked up a valuable road win against another playoff contending team as they knocked off the Bruins in their lone visit of the season to Dunkin Donuts Arena.

Andrew Rowe converted on a breakaway with 9:43 left in the third period to break a 1-1 tie for his third goal in his last two games.

Mike Testwuide returned to the lineup for the first time since February 11 and scored a goal in the first period. Erik Gustafsson closed out the victory with his first goal of the year with 1:30 to go.

Michael Leighton played another terrific game in net and made 31 saves on 32 shots for the win.

Saturday, March 3 (Adirondack 3 - Albany 2 - OT)

The Phantoms pulled off an exciting come-from-behind overtime win at the Albany Devils for the only time the road team has been victorious in the season series.

The two California natives on the Phantoms led the way as Matt Ford scored the overtime game-winner while Shane Harper picked up a couple on the way.

Trailing 2-1 late in the third, Harper jumped on a rebound of a Harry Zolnierczyk shot and then jumped over the sprawled goalie Keith Kinkaid as he tied the score with less than seven minutes remaining.

Denis Hamel appeared to have it all lined up to give Adirondack the win early in the overtime but his monster slapshot rang off the post and out.

Minutes later, Michael Leighton made his best save of the night as he kicked out his right leg quickly to deny Joe Whitney on the backdoor.

That set the stage for Matt Ford to race out of the penalty-box with Brandon Manning joining the rush. Ford's chip towards the net hit off a stick or body and found the back of the net for the Phantoms' fifth overtime win this season and their third against the Albany Devils.


Sunday, March 4 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3 - Adirondack 2)

Things were shaping well for an Adirondack Phantoms' record fifth victory in a row. But an energized Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lead would turn the tables and shock the Phantoms with back-to-back goals just 20 seconds apart for a comeback 3-2 win.

Paul Thompson tied the score with 6:49 left and then Brandon DeFazio picked up the game-winner.

Matt Ford scored both goals for the Phantoms, his 8th and 9th since joining the team just a month prior.

Oliver Lauridsen had a nice assist following his shot and then setting up a rebound opportunity for Ford's first goal. And Lauridsen also chased down former Phantom Joey Mormina to deal out some punishment as retribution for a hit against Garrett Roe.

It was only the second time this season the Phantoms have lost in regulation when carrying a lead into the third period. It was the first game of the season between the Phantoms and the Penguins with the rematch on the way in a couple of weeks in Wilkes-Barre.

Phantoms Breakdown

-- The Phantoms are 5-2 in overtime games this year with three of those wins coming against Albany. Five different Phantoms have notched overtime game-winners this season; Matt Ford, Shane Harper, Mike Testwuide, Ben Holmstrom and Jon Kalinski.

-- Michael Leighton is fourth in the league in total minutes (2333) and third in saves (1103). His 30 career shutouts are 6th all-time in AHL history and are the most of any AHL goalie since 1975. He has one shutout this season (at Portland on October 21, 3-0) and had five shutouts with the Phantoms last year.

-- Jason Akeson leads the team in points with 43 including 10 goals and 33 assists. He is third among AHL rookies in helpers and is eighth in points. Akeson led the OHL in assists (84) and points (108) last year with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL.

-- Denis Hamel is tops on the Phantoms in goals with 16 and is second in points with 33. The 34-year-old veteran is 11th all-time in AHL history with 331 career goals. He played his 1000th career professional game on December 31st which included 192 NHL games mostly with Buffalo and Ottawa. He is in pursuit of an amazing 10th AHL season with 20 or more goals.

-- Matt Ford has 9 goals in just 13 games since being acquired from the Hershey Bears in a trade for Kevin Marshall. He began the season with 10 goals in 39 games with Hershey. Ford has scored the last three Phantoms' goals including the overtime game-winner Saturday at Albany and then both goals on Sunday against Wilkes-Barre. The 27-year-old from West Hills, Cal. had a career-high 26 goals last season with Lake Erie where he was teammates with Jason Bacashihua.

-- Hamel has taken over the league lead in shots with 232. He is two ahead of Chris Bourque of the Hershey Bears.

-- Tyler Brown has scored six of his seven goals in 2012.

--The Phantoms are 19-2-1 when leading after two periods and are an impressive 16-2-1 when leading after one period.

--The Phantoms are 24-9-2 when they score first. The Phantoms are 15-10-3 in one-goal decisions.

--Adirondack is 17-10-1 at home this year which is the second most home wins in the Eastern Conference

Phantoms Leaders (Goals - Assists - Points):

Jason Akeson 10-33-43
Denis Hamel 16-17-33
Garrett Roe 7-25-32
Ben Holmstrom 11-20-31
Mike Testwuide 9-15-24
Shane Harper 11-11-22

Michael Leighton - 19-21-0, 2.70, .913
Jason Bacashihua - 8-8-1, 2.81, .909

Upcoming Opponents

Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay Lightning) -

All Hands on Deck!!

Norfolk has the longest winning streak in the AHL in two years having won their last 12 straight. Norfolk has not lost since February 5 at Springfield on a win-streak that began with a weekend sweep of Adirondack on February 10-11.

The longest single-season winning streak in the AHL is a 17 game stretch by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2004. Syracuse had an 18 game winning streak that stretched across two seasons from March to October of 2008.

At 39-18-3 for 81 points, they also have the most wins and points of all 30 AHL teams.

Adirondack is 2-3-1 against the Admirals this year including an exciting 3-1 win over Norfolk in their last visit to Glens Falls on February 3. This is the 7th of the eight-game season series which will conclude on April 15 in the last game of the regular season.

The high-flying Admirals traded one of their young talents, Carter Ashton, to Toronto recently. But they have plenty of ability up front to spare. Cory Conacher has 31 goals which is second in the league only to Kyle Palmieri of Syracuse, and most among rookies.

Tyler Johnson formerly of Spokane in the WHL has 20 goals and 44 points rating him in the top five in rookies in both categories.

Former Phantom Jon Kalinski is on the Admirals as well having been acquired in February for veteran defenseman and former Adirondack Red Wing Pavel Kubina.

Norfolk is the highest scoring team in the league at 3.6 goals per game while their defense is also impressive at 6th in the league at 2.65 goals allowed.

The Admirals are 6th in total shots taken at 32.5 but are also 2nd out of 30 in shots allowed as they have limited opponents to just 26.8 per game. Their power play is 2nd in the league at 22% trailing only Hershey

Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils) -

The 27-22-9 Devils currently hold down the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference heading into the last five weeks of the regular season. The Devils are just four point

Adirondack now leads in the Time Warner Cable Cup Series 4-3 with just three games to go between the Northway rivals. The Phantoms' win on Saturday at Albany represented the first time this season in which teh away team has come away victorious.

The Phantoms have three of their total five overtime wins against Albany including a New Years Eve game with Mike Testwuide scoring the game-winner and the contest last Saturday in Albany in which Matt Ford potted the decider.

Joe Whitney has passed Vladimir Zharkov for tops in points with 34 to 33. Steve Zaleski's 14 goals is most on the team but they have four others with 11 or more.

Rookie Keith Kinkaid out of Union College has gone 15-15-1, 2.63, .905 this season.

Albany's power play is 27th out of 30 in the league at just 14.7%. Their penalty kill is only 22nd at 80.5%. Their offense rated 24th at just 2.6 goals per game and the defense is middle-of-the-pack at 16th allowing 2.8 per contest.

Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks) -

Adirondack and Worcester meet for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon in the first of a pair of potentially key encounters in the Eastern Conference playoff battle.

Roy Sommers' team holds down the 8th place spot which comes with the last playoff invite. They are 27-21-11 for 61 points and also have games-in-hand on all the competing teams in the scramble.

Sommers recently reached the 500 win milestone in the AHL having spent his entire head coaching career leading the Sharks' AHL affiliates.

Brandon Mashinter and John McCarthy lead the way with 14 goals each. Matt Irwin has dished out 25 assists.

Tyson Sexsmith has been their top goalie but struggles in the shootouts. He has gone 11-10-7, 2.17, .921. his goals against average is 2nd in the league and 1st in the Eastern Conference.

Transactions

Mar 3 - Eric Wellwood (F) Recalled by Philadelphia
Mar 4 - Erik Gustafsson (F) Recalled by Philadelphia


Phantoms Day-by-Day
Wednesday, March 7 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am)
Thursday, March 8 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am)
Friday, March 9 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am). Game vs. Norfolk Admirals (7:00pm)
Saturday, March 10 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am). Game vs. Albany Devils (7:00pm)
Sunday, March 11 - Bus Departs (9:00am). Game at Worcester Sharks (3:00pm)

Upcoming Events

Friday, March 9, 7:00 - Norfolk Admirals at Adirondack Phantoms. $2 draft beer specials. Live post-game auction for Phantoms' game-worn white jerseys.

Saturday, March 10, 7:00 - Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms. Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry. Faith and Family Night. Post-game concert with Isaiah 6.

Sunday, March 11, 3:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Worcester Sharks

Monday, March 12, 7:00 - Phantoms Power Hour LIVe from McGinny's with special guest, Michael Leighton!

Wednesday, March 14, 7:00 - Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms. $1 hot dogs. Season Ticket Holder Party after the game in Heritage Hall with the Phantoms players.


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.

Get your Adirondack O'Phantoms T-Shirts! Two tickets for any game in March plus a St. Patrick's Day O'Phantoms logo T-Shirt all for only $30.

The Northway 2-Pack is on sale now. Get 2 tickets for 2 games between the Phantoms and the Albany Devils on March 10 and April 6 PLUS a player autograph stick all for only $65. Call the Phantoms to order yours! (518) 480-3355

Follow the Phantoms at facebook.com/ADKhockey and on twitter @phantomshockey