Rob Bordson notched a pair of nice goals and Matt
Mangene scored his first as a pro to lead the
Adirondack Phantoms to a 5-2 victory over the
Norfolk Admirals in the team's first game back
from the All-Star Break.
Shane Harper's empty-netter on his 24th birthday
and Jason Akeson's 7th of the year were the other
goals on the night for the Phantoms who scored
5 at home for the first time since November 21
against Bridgeport.
Brian Boucher earned #1 Star of the Game honors
with a splendid performance in net turning away
27 of the 29 shots he faced as the 36-year-old
veteran picked up his first win in Glens Falls
in almost 14 years. Boucher's last win at the
GFCC came on March 12, 1999 for the Philadelphia
Phantoms against the Adirondack Red Wings. Coincidentally,
the final score in that game was the same; 5-2.
Two of Adirondack's goals came on the power play
which stayed red-hot. The Phantoms have power
play tallies in seven straight games with a total
of 11 man-advantage goals in that stretch going
11/34, 32.4%. In their last four games, the Phantoms
have eight PPG's going 8/21, 38.1%.
The results on the power play are coming due to
a determined focus in that area by the team. "Yeah,
just shooting the puck. That's been different,"
said Phantoms head coach Terry Murray. "We
haven't shot the puck very much this year on the
power play. I think sometimes you get on the power
play, you try to pass the puck into the net and
that's hard to do. So just getting pucks through
with traffic is a basic concept but it works a
lot of the time."
But the penalty-kill might have been an even more
important factor in the game as the Phantoms held
Norfolk to 1-for-7 including several key and late
kills.
The final score may indicate that Adirondack won
this contest running away but that was anything
but the case. The game was tied at 2-2 after two
periods and a few minutes into the third when
Akeson broke the deadlock. Bordson' goal with
about five minutes left followed by Shane Harper's
empty-netter a couple minutes later finally sealed
the victory in the tight contest.
Mangene started the scoring in the first period
with his nice deflection of an Erik Gustafsson
slapper from the left-point on the power play.
It was his first goal as a pro. Mangene is usually
no stranger to scoring, the speedy winger from
the University of Maine had 16 goals last year
for the Black Bears.
"The play before that we tried the same play
at it got blocked," Mangene said. "Gus
found my stick perfectly and I was able to re-direct
it past the goalie. It's been a long time coming.
Last couple of games I've had a lot of chances
and they just haven't been going in. It feels
good to get the monkey off my back and hopefully
they come in bunches now."
Adirondack thought they had taken a 2-0 advantage
in the second period when Akeson knocked in the
rebound of a David Laliberte right-wing shot that
was dropped by rookie goalie Igor Bobkov. But
the officials waved-off the goal following video-review
upon determining the puck had been kicked in.
For Rob Bordson's two goals, he had to pick himself
up from a bad mistake that led to a tying goal
for Norfolk. His giveaway in the Phantoms' zone
on the Norfolk power play led to a 3-on-0 rush
on Boucher. Peter Holland's initial shot was denied
off the glove of Boucher on a fantastic save but
Luca Caputi corralled the rebound and dished back
to Holland who was able to bury his second try
and tie the score at 1-1.
Bordson's teammate was there to pick him up after
the mistake and also forecast the turnaround to
come. Line-mate Shane Harper said, "I told
him right afterward, 'Bordo, don't worry about
it. We're gonna go get one.' And I think the next
shift we went out and got one. I think that'll
help anybody if you have a little mistake like
that. To come back strong is pretty big."
And coming back strong quickly is exactly what
the Phantoms did. Shane Harper won the puck along
the boards from Holland and then finding Bordson
who stepped over and fired a perfect shot past
Bobkov to give Adirondack the lead again at 2-1.
That lead lasted for only 25 seconds as Dan Sexton
spun in the slot and slid one past Boucher to
tie the score at 2-2 at the second break.
Early in the third period, Jason Akeson fired
a power-play shot from center point for his 7th
goal of the season to give the Phantoms a 3-2
lead.
Jason Akeson's goal was assisted by Danny Syvret
for his 99th career assist with the Phantoms franchise.
He is set to become the 9th player all-time in
Phantoms' history to reach 100 assists.
Boucher made a couple of big saves to preserve
the lead and Adirondack was finally to break through
and distance themselves from the visitors with
a 4-on-4 goal with just 5:46 remaining. Rob Bordson
rushed up the right-wing on a 2-on-1 and took
the shot himself. Again, it was a perfectly placed
blast for the third-year pro from Duluth, Minnesota
and it gave Adirondack a 4-2 lead.
Harper was able to rush up the right-wing and
make a nice sharp-angle shot from the boards into
the empty-net to finish the victory for the Phantoms.
Norfolk Admirals 2 at Adirondack Phantoms 5 -
Status: Unofficial Final
Friday, February 1, 2013 - Glens Falls Civic Center
Friday, February 1 (7:00) -
Norfolk Admirals at Adirondack Phantoms. $2 Draft
Beer Specials
Saturday, February 2 (7:00) -
Adirondack Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Monday, February 4 (7:00) -
Phantoms Power Hour LIVE on Q101.7. Scheduled
to appear: Brandon Manning and Harry Zolnierczyk.
Wednesday, February 6 (7:00) -
Binghamton Senators at Adirondack Phantoms. $1
Hot Dogs.
Sunday, February 10 (3:00) -
Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms. Sunday
Family Fun Pack - Exceptional Value! Post-Game
Skate with the Phantoms presented by Glens Falls
Hospital.
Call the Phantoms for tickets in advance and
SAVE! 518-480-3355
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