The Adirondack Phantoms were a whisker away from a perfect 3-for-3 weekend but their close-calls to defeat the Albany Devils in regulation and through overtime just missed as Albany pulled out the win in a shootout. The Phantoms earned a standings point in the 3-2 shootout loss at Albany to make it five points out of six on the successful weekend.

The game was the opener of Adirondack's seven-game stretch of road game and was the 11th out of 12 between the Phantoms and Devils in the Time Warner Cable Cup Rivalry this year.

Jason Akeson and Jon Sim scored for the Phantoms while 36-year-old NHL veteran Brian Boucher returned to Adirondack for his first AHL game since February 8. Boucher had been up with Philadelphia for the past month and appeared in two games while Michael Leighton was injured.

Rookie prospect Scott Wedgewood won in just his second straight start for the Devils.

Akeson gave the Phantoms the initial lead in the first period following the rebound of his own shot depositing it past Wedgewood. Akeson was coming off his first professional hat trick the night before in the team's exciting comeback win over Connecticut.

The Phantoms had the early jump in the game racing out to a 10-1 shots on goal advantage on their way to a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard after one.

Albany would strike back quickly in the second period. Joe Whitney scored his 21st of the year including his 7th against the Phantoms this season just 20 seconds in after a scramble following a Boucher save.

The Devils took the lead later in the second-period with Harri Pesonen connecting with Mike Sislo across the ice during a 2-on-2. Sislo from the right circle beat Boucher short-side.

Jon Sim's third goal with Adirondack this year and ninth overall this season came on the deflection of a shot by Cullen Eddy from the point to beat Wedgewood. Jason Akeson also assisted on the goal as he got taken out by Kelly Zajac on a hard hit just as he was pushing the puck back to Eddy.

Akeson had two glorious chances in the overtime to end matters but this time couldn't come up with the late heroics. His 2-on-1 with Manning would be denied by Wedgewood. And his late try from a sharp angle low in the left circle would just miss and perhaps caught a piece of the metal as Wedgewood was frantically diving across and waving his glove trying to cover any of the space that he could.

In-between those chances was Matt Anderson's blast for Albany which beat Boucher over the left shoulder and rang off the crossbar and bounced out.

Albany converted on three straight shootout chances to begin the next session while the Phantoms went 0-for-3 against Wedgewood as the rookie pulled out the win against the veteran Boucher.

Adirondack and Albany will conclude the season series on the last game of the regular season, April 21, in Albany.

The Phantom road-trip continues Wednesday in Portland and Friday in Binghamton before heading down to Hershey and Norfolk next week. Adirondack's next home game is Sunday, March 24 against Portland.

Akeson's two points in the game and five on the weekend vaults him up to 90 for his career with the Phantoms. He is six away from Denis Hamel's record for most career points with the Adirondack Phantoms and is 10 away from becoming the first Adirondack Phantom to reach 100 in a career.

The game was Danny Syvret's 200th all-time in a Phantoms sweater including one season with the Philadelphia Phantoms. Earlier this year, Syvret playing in his 500th professional game.



Adirondack Phantoms 2 at Albany Devils 3 (SO) - Status: Final SO
Sunday, March 10, 2013 - Times Union Center

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

1st Period-1, Adirondack, Akeson 12 (Roe, Sim), 7:44. Penalties-Sim Adk (goaltender interference), 5:31; McPherson Alb (interference), 5:31; Lilja Adk (interference), 14:50; Hoeffel Alb (hooking), 17:46.

2nd Period-2, Albany, Whitney 21 (Zalewski, Anderson), 0:20. 3, Albany, Sislo 8 (Pesonen, Zalewski), 12:28. 4, Adirondack, Sim 9 (Eddy, Akeson), 18:58. Penalties-Manning Adk (roughing), 5:27; Janssen Alb (roughing), 5:27; Laliberte Adk (tripping), 6:25; Brown Adk (roughing), 13:05.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Roe Adk (holding), 2:03; Zalewski Alb (interference), 2:52; Zalewski Alb (cross-checking), 11:26.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout - Adirondack 0 (Akeson NG, Roe NG, Ford NG), Albany 3 (Sislo G, DeSimone G, Anderson G).
Shots on Goal-Adirondack 13-10-11-2-0-36. Albany 3-13-4-0-1-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 3; Albany 0 / 4.
Goalies-Adirondack, Boucher 2-4-1 (20 shots-18 saves). Albany, Wedgewood 2-0-0 (36 shots-34 saves).
A-5,619
Referees-Ryan Fraser (14).
Linesmen-Steeve Lemay (64), Rich Patry (52).

UPCOMING

Sunday, March 10 (3:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Albany Devils

Wednesday, March 13 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Portland Pirates

Friday, March 15 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Binghamton Senators

Sunday, March 17 (5:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Sunday, March 17 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Tuesday, March 19 (7:15) - Adirondack Phantoms at Norfolk Admirals

Wednesday, March 20 (7:15) - Adirondack Phantoms at Norfolk Admirals

Saturday, March 23 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Connecticut Whale

Call the Phantoms in advance for tickets and Sunday Family Fun Packs and SAVE! 518-480-3355


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