Penalty-Filled Affair in Phantoms Return Home

Published on October 28, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


When it was all over, the box-score told the story of a strange and penalty-filled night of hockey at the Glens Falls Civic Center as the Adirondack Phantoms returned for the first time in two weeks in just their second home game of the season. 94 combined penalty minutes including 56 against the Phantoms. 16 total power plays including 10 for the visiting Rochester Americans. Special teams did indeed make the difference as Rochester eventually prevailed 6-2.

The fans certainly got their money's worth in terms of entertainment though. A number of skirmishes, a ton of shots, lots of big saves, and a somewhat wild night of hockey in the North Country.

Harry Zolnierczyk and Mike Testwuide scored the goals for the Phantoms. Testwuide's came in his first game of the season after missing the previous five contests with an injury.

Rich Schofield put home a pair of goals for the victors and earned number 1 star of the game honors.

Rochester outshot the Phantoms 51-30 as David Leggio was able to get the win but Phantoms goalie Scott Munroe made the majority of stops on the night, a total of 45 on the 50 shots that he was in net to face.

With one penalty after another including some five-minute majors and also some four-minute double-minors, it became difficult to calculate the total number of power plays in the game. Many of the man-advantages were abbreviated opportunities, some as quick as 15 seconds.

Rick Schofield's goal in the first period pushed the Amerks out to a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.

The second period was when the craziness began to boil over. Harry Zolnierczyk took a Sean Couturier head-man and beat their goalie Leggio in a race for the puck. After Zolnierczyk dashed around the poke-check, he found himself in front of a wide-open net for the easy score and his second goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

Rochester quickly responded with the first of their power power play goals on the night as Kevin Porter was there to bury the rebound of a Luke Adam shot and make it 2-1.

Schofield converted again eight minutes into the second stretching the lead to 3-1 and then Evan Rankin tipped a power-play drive by Marcus Foligno to add on another.

Nick Tarnasky blasted a Phantoms defenseman late in the period and took a five-minute boarding major and then dropped the gloves with Adirondack's Tye McGinn in a good fight with both combatants swinging and connecting with their rights. But McGinn also was assessed an instigating minor to even things out at first and when Marc-Andre Bourdon got called for a slash and then an unsportsmanlike conduct for disputing the call for a double-minor, that pretty much spelled the end for a potential key power-play opportunity for the Phantoms in their hopes to rally at that time.

Mike Testwuide buried the rebound of a Zac Rinaldo shot five minutes into the third to make the score 4-2 and then Adirondack came dangerously close to making it a one-goal game when Sean Couturier shot one off the base of the post behind Foligno and then Danny Syvret followed just a minute later with a power drive off the crossbar. Two posts in about a minute but no goals for the effort and it was still 4-2.

The Phantoms had another chance with less than four minutes remaining when they were still down by only two goals when Rochester took another penalty and the Phantoms embarked on their sixth power play while also pulling goalie Munroe to make it a 6-on-4 attack. But Nick Craword grabbed a hold of the puck behind his goal and launched it the length of the nice and right into the empty-net to seal the game with their fifth score of the night.

Nick Tarnasky scored on a backhander cutting into the net off a faceoff win with about a minute left for an additional goal after the result had pretty much been decided.

Adirondack will get their chance to avenge the Rochester loss in a couple of weeks as the Phantoms will ravel to Blue Cross Arena on Friday, November 9th for a rematch.

Tough-guy Zack FitzGerald suited up for the first Phantoms game of his career. The former Albany River Rat and Hamilton Bulldog got involved in a third-period skirmish and took his first penalties of the season including a 10-minute misconduct in the altercation.

Scratches for the game included Oliver Lauridsen, Eric Wellwood, Garrett Roe, Jeff Dimmen and Matt Mangene.

The Phantoms conclude their first three-in-three weekend of the season Sunday afternoon at 3:00 against the high-flying Syracuse Crunch. Because of an NHL affiliation switch, the Crunch are essentially the Norfolk Admirals from a season ago who won 28 straight games and the Calder Cup championship.

Adirondack returns to the GFCC for their first back-to-back home stretch of the season next weekend with a pair of big games on Friday, November 2 and Saturday, November 3. Rival teams Syracuse and Albany provide the opposition that weekend which will conclude with Phantoms Team Poster Night on Saturday presented by Glens Falls Printing PLUS an autograph session after the game with the entire Phantoms team appearing to sign your posters and jerseys!

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American Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2012


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