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Legein Scores Twice In Phantoms Loss To Crunch

December 11, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


SYRACUSE, NY - Stefan Legein scored two goals in his first game in Syracuse since being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in late October, but the Adirondack Phantoms fell to the Syracuse Crunch 5-2 Friday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter.

Syracuse came out with piles of energy in the first period, looking to make up for the 6-0 drubbing they suffered against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at home on Wednesday. The Crunch out-shot Adirondack 22-5 in the first twenty minutes, but had trouble beating rookie goaltender Nic Riopel. One shot got by the Phantoms net minder in the first and it was a bizarre goal scored by Grant Clitsome. The Syracuse defenseman shot the puck from his own zone and the rolling puck appeared to change direction just before it reached the Adirondack goal, hopping over the stick of Riopel and into the net from about 175 feet away at 11:07.

The Crunch piled up the goals in the second period, beginning with a disputed goal from Kevin Harvey at 9:14. There was no question that Harvey clearly shot the puck into the net, but moments before the shot Riopel was interfered with by Simon Ferguson, causing the Phantoms goaltender to be pushed off balance. Referee Chris Cozzan conferred with his linesmen and the goal judge before awarding the goal to Harvey. Then Alexander Picard scored on a breakaway at 12:08 to make it 3-0 Syracuse and ECHL call-up Tomas Kanas tallied the fourth Crunch goal at 13:20 with a one-timer from the right face off circle. Stefan Legein got the Phantoms on the board in the final period of play by scoring his tenth goal of the season at 19:33, assisted by Patrick Maroon and Jared Ross.

The Phantoms out-played the Crunch over the final 20 minutes of play, but were thwarted by Syracuse's back up goaltender. Kevin Lalande relieved starter Dan LaCosta, who did not come out for the third period and was not visible on the bench. Lalande was outstanding, stopping more than a half dozen high quality scoring chances and was the reason Adirondack did not come back in the game. The Phantoms did score on Lalande, Legein notched his second of the game at 18:07 from Maroon and Ryan Dingle, but Syracuse added an empty net goal from Dan Fritsche in the final minute of play to ice the game.

Dan LaCosta recorded the win by stopping 14-of-15 shots through forty minutes of play as Syracuse improved to 10-13-2-2 on the season. Kevin Lalande made 12 saves on 13 shots in twenty minutes of relief. Adirondack goalie Nic Riopel finished with 33 saves on 37 shots faced as the Phantoms dropped to 10-12-2-0 on the year. The Crunch out-shot Adirondack 38-28 in the game and went 0-for-2 on the power play; the Phantoms were 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.

Adirondack now returns home for a weekend double header against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, beginning on Saturday, December 12th at 7:00 pm at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The first 1,000 kids (age 14 and under) entering the building on Saturday will receive a Phantoms Winter Ski Hat courtesy of Unifirst.

In the spirit of the holiday shopping season the Phantoms are offering special free domestic ground shipping on all orders made at the Phantoms Online Team Shop. This special free shipping offer will expire on Sunday, December 20th, so get your Adirondack Phantoms Merchandise today. The Phantoms Online Store can be found at http://shopphantomshockey.com.

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