Danny
Syvret capped a wild and exciting night of hockey
in Binghamton by scoring the game-winner in the
5th round of the shootout for a 3-2 victory at
the Senators Friday night. It was the perfect
way for the 27-year-old veteran to conclude his
500th career game as a pro.
"I was a little nervous," Syvret said.
"I was lucky that our goaltender played well
in the shootout so I had a chance to shoot to
win instead of trying to shoot to further prolong
the shootout.
It was Syvret's second shootout game-winner of
the year. He came through in the clutch in the
7th round back on December 21st at Syracuse.
"This time being the fifth guy was more
scripted so I knew before we started shooting
that I was the fifth guy," Syvret said. "You're
just hoping that your guys go out and score and
you don't really have the pressure. And then Benoit
was their last shooter to go and Heeter made the
save and I knew I had a chance to win."
Cal Heeter was spectacular in his second victory
in a row with 44 saves on 46 shots including perhaps
his best of the night at the very end of overtime
robbing Patrick Wiercoch on the back-door. He
then went a perfect 5-for-5 in the shootout.
"Heeter played well," Phantoms head
coach Terry Murray said. "I thought he made
some big stops when the score was 0-0. That's
a critical you want to make you're getting is
the first one and he gave us a chance to the first
one. We did and we end up getting the points."
Cal Heeter was ready for the game and made big
saves right from the start. "Tonight was
one of those nights where I was just on and it
felt good," Heeter said.
Heeter even foreshadowed Syvret's big moment
at the end! "I feel real good. He's a great
player for us. I talked to him right before overtime
and I said 'Let's get this other point. Let's
get this one right now.' And we weren't able to
get it in overtime but for him to come through
as the last shooter and get the game-winning goal
in the shootout...that was pretty cool I thought.
He's got some good moves for a D-Man! I'll give
it to him. I won't give any of his moves away
but he's got some good ones."
Adirondack improved to 3-1 in shootouts this
year and 5-2 in games decided after regulation
(overtime and shootouts combined) as they knocked
off one of the best teams in the league. The Senators
have the 2nd best record in the AHL now at 22-8-4
while the Phantoms improved to 15-17-2.
The Phantoms were without several of their star
players who were called up to Philadelphia earlier
in the week after the NHL lockout had ended. But
Binghamton had not lost any of their top guns
yet as their parent club Ottawa was waiting a
little longer to make their roster moves and bring
their AHL'ers up north.
Matt Ford (2nd) and Brandon Manning (5th) scored
in the second period for Adirondack as the Phantoms
took a 2-0 lead at one point. Rob Bordson almost
won the game in overtime on the deflection of
a Cullen Eddy shot but the tip rang off the cross-bar
and rebounded out.
It was an exciting contest and great goaltenders'
duel that had a little bit of everything and ultimately
resulted in a nice win on the road for Adirondack's
new-look lineup featuring several players who
had barely played with the Phantoms this year
and had spent most of the season with Trenton
in the ECHL.
"It was a very good win for us and you look
at the player transactions that have happened
just a couple days ago and we've taken some pretty
talented players out of the lineup," Murray
said. "I was real proud of the guys the way
they rallied tonight. The new players stepped
in and logged big minutes and did important things
for our hockey club. It was a solid effort, a
team effort, and everyone was playing hard for
each other."
The second period was something of a track-meet
with both teams running and gunning back and forth.
Adirondack outshot Binghamton 18-16 in that crazy
middle frame.
20-year-old Marcel Noebels took a dish from Rob
Bordson and then spun around in the right circle
with the team still pushing in transition and
neatly found Matthew Ford in the high slot who
blasted home his drive for his second goal of
the season. The top shelf drive came from one
of the players the Phantoms will be counting on
even more now with the absences of high-offense
guys like Schenn, Couturier, Wellwood, McGinn
and Rinaldo. Ford had 29 goals last year including
19 of them in just 31 games after he arrived to
the Phantoms from the Hershey Bears. But Ford
has been slower to get the scoring going this
season. For Noebels, the spinning assist was his
first career AHL point in three games after being
called up from Trenton last week.
Brandon Manning made it 2-0 with another goal
showcasing his ability to drive to the net. His
shot from the left-wing went through the goalie
Ben Bishop and Manning got to it on the other
side and was able to flip it upstairs while fading
away for his 5th of the season to give Adirondack
a 2-0 lead.
Patrick Wiercoch scored on a blast from center-point
a few minutes later for a power play goal to get
Binghamton on the board after Heeter had already
made several remarkable saves.
And Mark Borowiecki converted from the left-circle
on a 2-on-1 rush taking the shot himself with
under 2 minutes left in the 2nd period to even
the score at 2-2.
In the 3rd period, it was all Senators for the
most part. They out-shot Adirondack 15-5 and kept
the pressure on but Heeter was tall to the challenge
and made one fine save after another. On one lengthy
stretch in the third period, Heeter was without
his stick on a penalty kill and then Marcel Noebels
came out of the penalty box and gave him his stick.
Heeter made a couple of kick stops and Noebels
tried to squeeze the puck along the boards with
his skates while he was stick-less. Somehow, Adirondack
made it through the barrage and kept the game
tied.
Then the exciting overtime with Bordson hitting
the crossbar and Heeter robbing Wiercoch. And
onto the shootout where Heeter was perfect and
Syvret got the Phantoms the win.
"To finish the whole thing off with a shootout
and Danny Syvret finishing it as the 10th shooter.
It was great for him and great for team to get
the two points," Murray said.
Photo Gallery - Danny Syvret scores shootout winner
in his 500th game.
Adirondack Phantoms 3 (SO) at Binghamton Senators
2 - Status: Final SO
Friday, January 11, 2013 - Broome County Veterans
Memorial Arena
Adirondack 0 2 0 0 - 3
Binghamton 0 2 0 0 - 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Dziurzynski
Bng (roughing), 7:43; Manning Adk (double minor
- high-sticking), 18:11.
Saturday, January 12 (7:05) -
Adirondack Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Monday, January 14 (7:00) -
Phantoms Power Hour LIVE on Q101.7. Guest: Zack
FitzGerald!
Friday, January 18 (7:00)
- Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms. Presented
by Glens Falls Plastic Surgery.
Saturday, January 19 (7:00) -
Adirondack Phantoms at Worcester Sharks
Sunday, January 20 (4:00) -
Adirondack Phantoms at Albany Devils (at Atlantic
City, NJ)
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