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Bulldogs break out of kennel

March 30, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Phantoms fired 39 shots on the Hamilton Bulldogs Sunday night, but were done in by Hamilton's three-goal first period and 12 power plays in a 5-3 loss at the Wachovia Spectrum. The victory snapped a 12-game winless streak for Hamilton and left the Phantoms one point behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the East Division playoff race.

Hamilton leapt out to the 3-0 lead on goals by Kyle Chipchura, Brock Trotter and Matt D'Agostini. The Phantoms answered just over four minutes into the second period with a Ryan Potulny power play goal. He snapped a shot from the left-wing faceoff dot that beat Yann Danis to make it a 3-1 game.

Eric Manlow rebuilt the three-goal lead with a power play tally that came with just 39 seconds left in the period. But the Phantoms answered with 22 seconds left on a Triston Grant shorthanded goal, which left the score at 4-2 after two periods.

The third period was scoreless until the final minute, when Potulny bagged his second of the night while the Philadelphia net was empty. The goal came with 58 seconds to play and pulled the Phantoms within a goal at 4-3. But Duncan Milroy recorded an empty-netter to stifle the comeback.

Jeremy Duchesne started the game and stopped five of eight shots before yielding to Martin Houle, who absorbed the loss despite stopping 16 of 17 over the final 40 minutes. Denis turned away 36 of the 39 Philadelphia bids to take the win, Hamilton's first since March 1.

The Phantoms are now 42-25-3-3 for 90 points. For the first time this season, they'll start a week in second place in the East Division, one point behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With two weeks and seven games remaining in the season, the Phantoms are three points ahead of third-place Albany and eight points ahead of fourth-place Hershey.

Philadelphia has one game each remaining against Wilkes-Barre and Albany, and two remaining against Hershey. Two of the other three games are against Bridgeport, and one is against Norfolk. The Phantoms have a magic number of five points to clinch a playoff spot. Any combination of points gained by the Phantoms and lost by Bridgeport adding up to five will secure a playoff berth for Philadelphia.

The Phantoms return to action on Wednesday when they host the Norfolk Admirals at 7:05 at the Wachovia Spectrum. Tickets are available at the Wachovia Complex box office, online at ComcastTIX.com or phantomshockey.com, or by phone at 1-800-298-4200.

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