So many chances. The Adirondack Phantoms had the
puck down in Binghamton's end for some good sustained
pushes and they out-shot the visitors 48-30. But
in the end, the Senators were able to capitalize
on more of their opportunities to pull out a 7-4
victory at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Friday
evening. 6'7" tall goalie Ben Bishop allowed
four goals on his end but made several big and
important stops on Adirondack shots to preserve
the win.
It appeared momentum had swung the Phantoms' way
midway through the second period when Harry Zolnierczyk's
spectacular shorthanded goal brought the Phantoms
back to even at 4-4 on a rush that brought everyone
to their feet in disbelief. But Binghamton shortly
thereafter re-took the lead 5-4 and then held
that margin until the final minute when they put
the game away with two more in the final seconds.
It was a wild goal-scoring affair in the first
period with Binghamton enjoying a 4-2 lead after
the opening 20 minutes. And with that, head coach
Terry Murray said the Phantoms were already in
a tough spot.
"Teams that have the lead after the first
period are going to win games in the .800 range
percentage-wise so it's a big chore," Murray
said. "You're going to have to dig in big
time to be able to get back into it. And we did.
The guys showed a lot of work, a lot of pride
in their game. A lot of battle and tied the game
up. At the end of the day, you don't get the job
done but it was a lot of dig in."
Binghamton maintained their claim as the hottest
team in the AHL as the speedy Senators won their
seventh straight to improve to 11-4-2. The Phantoms
are 3-2-0 on their longest homestand of the season
with one game remaining and fell to 9-10-0 overall.
Binghamton capitalized on a couple early breakaways
against Scott Munroe to open a 2-0 lead. Pat Cannone
jumped on a pick-off at the Phantoms line and
rifled his breakaway drive through Munroe just
two minutes in. And down two-men due to penalties
a couple minutes later, Hugh Jessiman would race
out of the box just in time to grab a blocked
shot bounding his way. His centering-feed to Andre
Benoit on the 2-on-0 break would be chipped in
and the Senators were up by a couple less before
the six-minute mark of the game.
Adirondack would get a lucky bounce of their own
to get on the board. Cullen Eddy's attempt to
dump it in deflected off a metal uprising and
somehow went perfectly to Rob Bordson in the slot
who scored his third of the year, all in the last
four games.
Mike Hoffman's power play goal deflected past
the left skate of Munroe and Binghamton was up
3-1 at 11:46 of the first.
But Harry Zolnierczyk would slam home his first
of the night on a backhand feed from behind the
goal by Sean Couturier as the Phantoms cut the
margin to 3-2.
The wild first period of scoring concluded with
a power-play slapper from the left point by Andre
Benoit for his second the night. The screened
Munroe had allowed his fourth of the evening and
the previous red-hot goalie for the Phantoms made
way for rookie Cal Heeter.
"They're just pulling it back and shooting,"
Murray said. "The one was probably a screen.
The other was a re-direction. That assignment
is getting missed right there. Any time you get
a re-direction by one of their forwards that's
a defenseman's job to tie up sticks right away."
For his part, Heeter made several spectacular
saves in his first game action in two weeks as
he gave the Phantoms a chance for the big comeback.
And it appeared for quite awhile that was exactly
in the works for the Phantoms on this night.
Marc-Andre Bourdon stepped up to the left circle
from his defensive spot and was met perfectly
on a cross-ice feed by Garrett Roe for a power-play
goal in the second period cutting the deficit
to 4-3.
And a few minutes later, Harry Zolnierczyk would
rejoin his team out of the box a Adirondack killed
the first of a two-man disadvantage. The fresh-legged
Harry Z showed incredible speed up the left-wing
as he burned past the Binghamton D and created
his own breakway. He drew goalie Ben Bishop out
to try to meet him and Zolnierczyk smoothly pulled
the puck around him to set up and easy backhand
into the now vacated net.
It was perhaps one of the greatest goals in Adirondack
Phantoms' history and brought everyone to their
feet to a deafening ovation at the impressive
individual effort. For Zolnierczyk, it was his
second goal of the night and his seventh of the
season. All of his goals this season have come
at home.
After that was another sustained possession in
the Binghamton zone as the Phantoms kept blasting
away at Bishop and dominating in the shots on
goal statistic. But on the Senators' rush back
the other way, rookie Mark Stone would grab a
mid-slot rebound from David Dziurzynski and thwart
the Adirondack momentum to give Binghamton a 5-4
lead at the second intermission.
Adirondack had some more close calls in the third
and had their best opportunities at the end with
a late power-play and pulled goalie for a 6-on-4
attack. But eventually Derek Grant would score
an empty-net goal to make it 6-4 and if that hadn't
fully decided matters, Jakub Silfverberg would
just nine seconds later on Heeter for the 7-4
final.
Adirondack recorded a season high 48 shots on
goal as they kept coming and coming at Ben Bishop
all night long. They out-shot the Senators 48-30.
But Binghamton was able to hang on for the win
in the second game of the eight regular season
encounters between the two New York rivals.
The game featured the Glens Falls debut of the
Flyers Ice Girls who signed autographs out front
and also appeared on the ice during the breaks.
It was also the end of the tremendously successful
Movember campaign during Phantoms Fight Cancer
month. Phantoms players and staff helped generate
big money for men's cancer research, treatment
and issues in our area. The money is being calculated
and we will find out who won the donation race
soon. And now we expect to see a bunch of freshly
shaven Phantoms players when they take the ice
on December 1.
The Ice Girls are back Saturday night as the Phantoms
conclude their longest homestand of the season.
Their sixth consecutive home game will be against
Time Warner Cable Cup rivals Albany for a 7:00
contest. The Devils lead the 12-game season series
2 games to 1. Adirondack is the defending cup
champions taking last year's series 7 games to
3.
Saturday night also features a post-game skate
with the Phantoms players presented by Glens Falls
Hospital. Fans must bring their skates to be allowed
on the ice to mingle with the players and get
photos and autographs.
Terry Murray Post-Game, Nov 30, 2012
Binghamton Senators 7 at Adirondack Phantoms 4
- Status: Final
Friday, November 30, 2012 - Glens Falls Civic
Center
Saturday, December 1 (7:00) -
Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms. Post-Game
Skate with the Phantoms presented by Glens Falls
Hospital. Flyers Ice Girls presented by North
Country Snow Removal.
Monday, December 3 (7:00) -
Phantoms Power Hour LIVE on Q101.7 at 7:00 PM
with player guest Danny Syvret
Friday, December 7 (7:00) -
Adirondack Phantoms at Rochester Americans
Saturday, December 8 (7:00) -
Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms. Phantoms
T-Shirt Giveaway, first 2,500 fans in attendance.
Pregame Pasta Buffet ($12)
Sunday, December 9 (4:00) -
Adirondack Phantoms at Providence Bruins
Friday, December 14 (7:00) -
Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms. Annual
Teddy Bear Toss Night to benefit the Salvation
Army. Bring your Teddy Bear donation and throw
it on the ice after the Phantoms score their first
goal. It will be raining Teddy Bears inside the
GFCC!
Saturday, December 15 (7:00) -
Manchester Monarchs at Adirondack Phantoms. Boy
Scouts Night. Pregame Pasta Buffet ($12)
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