Backs To The Wall
Phantoms Drop Game 4, Trail Series 3-1

PHILADELPHIA – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins caught the wave of a five-goal second period and rode it to an 8-4 win over the Philadelphia Phantoms in Game 4 of the East Division Finals at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night. With the win, the Penguins take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and can close the Phantoms season on Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton jumped out to a 2-0 lead for the second straight game. The Penguins were granted an early five-on-three power play and capitalized when Tim Brent snapped a shot high to the stick side of Scott Munroe exactly 5:00 into the game.

The second goal came with 4:38 to play in the period. A puck pinballed around in the right circle and came to Tim Wallace at the right side of the net. Wallace fed it in front to Mark Ardelan, who fired it home for that 2-0 score.

Philadelphia reclaimed one of the goals with 2:36 left in the period on Darroll Powe’s first goal of the playoffs. Triston Grant put a puck on net that John Curry stopped, but Powe was on hand to bury the rebound for his first of the playoffs, making it a 2-1 contest after one period.

The Phantoms started the second period on a power play and needed just 19 seconds to capitalize. Stefan Ruzicka carried the puck down the right wing and was heading behind the net when he slipped it in front to Jared Ross. Ross’s second effort beat Curry to tie the game at 2-2.

But the Penguins re-took the lead off the ensuing faceoff. Ryan Stone took the puck into the Phantoms zone and took a shot from the top of the right circle that eluded Munroe, making it 3-2 just eight seconds after Ross had tied it up.

Wilkes-Barre made it 4-2 at the 4:05 mark. Munroe stopped an initial shot by Ben Lovejoy, but Dustin Jeffrey was all alone on the doorstep and was able to put the rebound past Munroe despite the goaltender’s best efforts.

The Phantoms pulled back within a goal at 7:41. Nate Guenin was on the right point and threw a puck towards the net. Boyd Kane waved at it and got a piece of it with his stick, sending it past Curry to make it 4-3.

But Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tallied three more goals before the intermission to take a 7-3 lead after two periods. Brent scored on the power play at 12:30, chasing Munroe from the net in favor of Michael Teslak. Connor James scored 1:50 later, and Nathan Smith finished off the period’s scoring with 1:15 to play before the break.

The teams traded goals in the third period. Stone finished off his four-point night with his second of the game at 13:04, which came just as a Phantoms penalty was ending. Pete Zingoni answered with a goal at 14:41 to close out the scoring.

The Phantoms managed to outshoot the Penguins 36-32 despite having to kill off 11 Wilkes-Barre power plays, three of which were five-on-three advantages, while only benefiting from three power plays of their own. Philadelphia was assessed 10 minor penalties and one major on the game, while the Penguins were only whistled for three minors on the night. While Wilkes-Barre only had three official power play goals, two other goals came just as power plays were ending, before the penalized Phantom was able to rejoin the play.

The eight goals against set a new Phantoms franchise record for goals against in a playoff game, snapping the old mark of six set four times before, the last of which was a 6-4 loss to Providence in Game 5 of the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals. The four-goal loss was just the second such home loss in team history, matching the record set in a 4-0 loss to Hershey in Game 5 of the 2000 Mid-Atlantic Division Semifinals. The 12 goals combined by both teams tied the franchise record set in a 9-3 win over Kentucky in Game 7 of the 1999 Western Conference Semifinals. Finally, the three power play goals against tied a franchise record set in Game 5 of that 1999 series against Kentucky.

Munroe took the loss with five goals allowed on 22 shots. Teslak stopped seven of 10 he faced in relief. Curry took the win with 32 saves on 36 shots.

The series now goes back to Wilkes-Barre for Game 5 on Friday night. If necessary, Game 6 will take place on Saturday night back at the Wachovia Center. All games start at 7:05. Tickets for Games 4 and 6 are available at the Wachovia Complex box office, online at ComcastTIX.com or phantomshockey.com, or by phone at 1-800-298-4200.

For more information on Phantoms tickets,
call 215-465-4522.