PHILADELPHIA - Frederick Cabana recorded two goals, an assist and a fight as the Philadelphia Phantoms used an offensive onslaught to record their third consecutive preseason victory, 5-2 over the Norfolk Admirals in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia.
The Phantoms opened up the scoring 10 minutes into the first period. During a delayed penalty against Norfolk, Cabana sent a puck across the goalmouth that hit a crashing David Laliberte and went past goaltender Riku Helenius.
Norfolk countered five minutes later on a two-man advantage. Jeff May fed a pass from the slot to Blair Jones, who beat Phantoms goalie Michael Teslak to tie the game.
The Phantoms jumped ahead for good just under five minutes into the second period with a power play goal. Jason DeSantis faked a shot from the point and instead fed Cabana to the right of the net. Cabana in turn snapped a wrist shot high over the glove of Helenius for the 2-1 advantage.
Cabana then added his second goal at 17:17 of the second period on a quick feed from Chris Zarb. Cabana deked the goalie and rose a backhander top shelf to increase the Phantoms lead to 3-1.
The scoring didn't stop in the third period. Boyd Kane started things early when he intercepted a pass at center and broke out on a two-on-one with Laliberte. Kane called his own number and wristed a shot top shelf to Helenius's stick side. Philadelphia then added their fifth goal eight minutes into the period when Chase Watson slid a backhand through the goalie's five hole off a centering pass from Chris Zarb.
Norfolk added a goal to the board half way through the period when Matt Auffrey went upstairs on Jeremy Duchesne, which closed out the scoring.
Teslak and Duchesne played 30 minutes each, with Teslak stopping 20 of 21 and Duchesne 14 of 15. The Phantoms managed 18 shots, of which Helenius stopped 13.
The clubs got a good look at their special teams, with the Phantoms going 1-for-9 on the power play and Norfolk going 1-for-10. There were four fights over the course of the evening.
The Phantoms go to 3-0 on the season with the win. They'll continue their preseason with a weekend set in Norfolk on October 3 and 4 before returning to Philadelphia to finish the exhibition slate against the parent Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30 PM.
The Phantoms open the 2008-09 regular season on Friday, October 10 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Wachovia Spectrum in the last Opening Night ever for the historic building. Tickets are on sale now at the Wachovia Complex box office, online at ComcastTIX.com or phantomshockey.com, or by phone at 1-800-298-4200.
The best way for fans to secure a ticket for the final game on April 12, 2009 is to purchase either a game plan package or season tickets. Packages are available now in convenient blocks of 6, 10, 16, 20 and 40 games. Receiving an impressive list of exclusive benefits, discount prices and the same seat for each game begins at just $60!
For more information or to make a deposit, call the Phantoms at 215-465-4522 during normal business hours. More information is also available at Phantomshockey.com
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
