TONIGHT'S GAME – In a playoff preview, the Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) tonight welcome the Albany River Rats (Carolina Hurricanes) to the Wachovia Spectrum. The Phantoms are in second place of the East Division with an overall record of 45-27-4-3 and 97 points---The Rats are in third place in the East Division with 93 points and a 43-29-3-4 record.
THE EAST DIVISION STANDINGS – The top four teams in the East Division make the playoffs. All rounds in the Calder Cup Playoffs are best-of-seven. The Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins clinched first place in the East last night and completed the regular season with a record of 47-26-3-4 and 101 points. The Phantoms are in second with 97 points and the Rats are third with 93. The Hershey Bears beat the Phantoms last night and clinched the final spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. With one game remaining today, they have a 41-30-2-6 record and 90 points. Much like the Phantoms series, the lower seed will host the first game, as Hershey welcomes the Penguins on Wednesday. They head to Wilkes-Barre for Games Two and Three on Saturday and Sunday.
PHANTOMS PLAYOFFS – The second seed Phantoms will face the third seeded Albany River Rats in the best-of-seven East Division Semifinals. The schedule for the series is as follows:
Game 1: Wednesday, April 16 – Phantoms at Albany, 7:00
Game 2: Friday, April 18 – Albany at Phantoms, 7:05 (Wachovia Center)
Game 3: Sunday, April 20 – Albany at Phantoms, 5:05 (Wachovia Center)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 22 – Phantoms at Albany, 7:00
Game 5: Thursday, April 24 – Phantoms at Albany, 7:00*
Game 6: TBD, Albany at Phantoms (Wachovia Center)*
Game 7: TBD, Albany at Phantoms (Wachovia Center)*
* – if necessary
The Phantoms have faced Albany just once before in the postseason, defeating the River Rats four games to two in the 1998 Western Conference Finals en route to their first Calder Cup championship. Tickets for Games Two and Three are now on sale at the Wachovia Complex box office, at Phantomshockey.com or by calling 1-800-298-4200.
PHANTOMS LAST GAME – Last night in Hershey the Phantoms lost to the Bears 5-2. The Phantoms scored the first two goals of the game, including the icebreaker with Andreas Nodl’s first professional goal 6:09 in. A few minutes of clock time later, Kyle Greentree slapped home his team leading 24th on the power play. The Phantoms allowed the score to level before the end of the frame with two goals off the stick of Andrew Gordon. The second was courtesy of a 5-3 power play. Hershey bagged two more in the second and the final at 6:58 of the third. The game spilled over with a line brawl instigated with a cheap shot by Hershey goaltender Daren Machesney with 12:14 left to play. With ghastly intent, Machesney struck Philadelphia’s Jesse Boulerice with his stick. Boulerice, noting that no penalty was going to be called, instituted some Texas justice. By the time all was said and done, a Hershey player had come off the bench to get involved in the altercation, and Martin Houle cruised the length of the rink to attempt to even out the fracas. Boulerice, Houle, Freddy Cabana and Triston Grant were all tossed from the game for Philly. Allegedly sent to the Hershey dressing room for game misconducts were Shawn Collymore, Danny Syvret and Grant McNeil. Collymore and Syvret, however, both took shifts later in the game. The Phantoms finished with 21 infractions and 100 penalty minutes. The Bears had 15 infractions for 72 minutes.
RATS LAST GAME – On Friday night in Wilkes-Barre, David Gove torched his former team with two goals in the Penguins 4-3 win over the visiting Rats. Trailing 2-0, the River Rats tied the game in the second with goals one minute apart from Nicholas Blanchard and Bryan Rodney. The Pens would recapture the two goal lead, only to have the Rats score the last goal of the game. Mike Angelidis did the deed with 2:07 to play. Michael Leighton was the loser with 28 saves.
ALL-TIME - This is the 960th regular season game in Phantoms franchise history. Philadelphia has an all-time record of 493-341-40-20 and 65 ties. The Phantoms have 1111 points in 959 games.
THE SERIES – This is the eighth and final game in the season series with the Phantoms and River Rats. The Phantoms are 4-2-1-0, including 3-0-0-0 at home. Two of those home wins have come via the shutout. With five points on a goal and four assists, Jared Ross is the leading scorer in the series: (1/4/5). Jerome Samson is pacing the Rats with four points on a trio of goals and an assist: (3/1/4). Scott Munroe is 2-1 in the series and boasts a 1.00 goals against average and a .959 save percentage. Michael Leighton is 3-2 with a 1.80 GAA and a .943 save percentage---The Phantoms all-time regular season record against Albany is 30-19-2-0 with four ties.
PHANTOM FILES – On Monday, defenseman Michael Ratchuk and right wing Andreas Nodl joined the Phantoms on ATO agreements after signing entry-level contracts with the Flyers that take effect in July. Both were drafted by the Flyers in 2006, with Nodl grabbed with the 39th pick and Ratchuk with the 42nd – Nodl came from St. Cloud State, and Ratchuk came from the University of Michigan. Nodl, in his second game as a pro, scored a goal last night. Ratchuk registered an assists in his professional debut on Friday. They join six other college/junior players who have come to Philadelphia late in the season – Jason DeSantis (Ohio State), Michael Teslak (Minnesota-Duluth), Jon Kalinski (Minnesota State University), Patrick Maroon (London Knights), Matt Clackson (Western Michigan), and Rob Bellamy (Maine). Clackson made his professional debut last night and had 14 penalty minutes.
COOL RAT TAIL – On Tuesday, Michael Leighton was named the winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for the 2007-08 season, as voted by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league’s 29 cities. A 2007-08 First Team AHL All-Star, Leighton ranks third in the league in goals-against average (2.10), first in save percentage (.931) and first in shutouts (seven) while making more saves (1,634) than any other goaltender in the AHL this year. He is also second in minutes played (3,451) and third in wins while posting a 28-25-4 record in his first season with the River Rats. Leighton, who was voted a starter for the Canadian team at the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Reebok, has backstopped Albany to its most productive regular season since 1998-99, and has also made three NHL appearances with the Carolina Hurricanes on the year. A 26-year-old native of Petrolia, Ont., Leighton was originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999. Leighton, who was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2001-02, has also appeared in 51 career NHL contests with Carolina, Philadelphia, Nashville and Chicago. He appeared in five games for the Phantoms last season and had two wins and two shootout losses. His all-time regular season record against the Phantoms is 16-8-0-0 with three shutouts.
ON THE AIR – Thanks to the Philadelphia Area Dodge Dealers, the Phantoms provide free audio broadcasts of all Phantoms games. The Phantoms official website, Phantomshockey.com, in conjunction with league and team partner B2 Networks, provides the home for the audio. This free service will continue into the playoffs. Broadcaster Mike Thornton handles the play-by-play. Game One from Albany will hit the web at 6:45 PM with a pregame show featuring head coach Craig Berube.
