5th Try the Charm for the Falcons
January 20, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release
It took the top team in the American Hockey League five tries to finally defeat the Adirondack Phantoms in regulation. But the Springfield Falcons finally did so in a Monday matinee at the MassMutual Center with a 4-1 decision.
Springfield is 28-8-4 for the top mark in the AHL but Adirondack had gone 3-0-1 against the Falcons up until this meeting. The game marked the official beginning of the second-half of the season for Adirondack who wrapped up its first 38 games on Saturday night and were opening the latter 38-game stretch.
Springfield blasted away for a four-goal explosion in the second period representing the most the Phantoms have allowed in a single period this season. Yann Danis was touched for the four goals although most could not be blamed on him as they came via a couple odd-man rushes, a breakaway and a backdoor cross.
Trailing 4-0 in the third period, Adirondack actually had a chance to mount an unlikely comeback in the game when Thomas Larkin took a five-minute boarding major on his hit of Kyle Flanagan. The window was open for the Phantoms to perhaps get a couple quick ones and make things interesting again. A couple of minor penalties later and Adirondack was looking at a 4-on-3 power play of the "all-you-can-eat" variety in which the Phantoms would get to stay on the power play if they continued to score.
The situation called for the unusual move of pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker even though there were still 11 minutes remaining in the game. Cal Heeter had come into the game in relief of Yann Danis and when he went for the bench, the Phantoms were on a 5-on-3 and then even had a 6-on-3 advantage for about 30 seconds. Adirondack was denied on a couple of saves by Mike McKenna during their two-man and three-man advantages. Brandon Alderson was later able to barely knock one through when the game went back to 5-on-4 but that would be it for the Phantoms and the five-minute major only produced the one goal for their comeback hopes.
J.F. Jacques (5th), Lukas Sedlak (6th), Cody Goloubef (6th) and Michael Chaput (8th) lit the lamp for the Falcons. Jacques was backdoor on a cross-ice pass from Spencer Machacek about seven minutes into the second period. Sedlak would score on a rush into the zone about four minutes later. The last two goals would come in the final three minutes of the period to give the Falcons their more comfortable advantage. Goloubef blocked a slapper and turned it into his own break the other way taking the shot himself on a 2-on-1 and powering it through Yann Danis. And Michael Chaput received a long stretch-pass as he had just emerged out of the penalty box for a clean breakaway which he completed with a backhand move against the organization who had originally drafted him.
The Phantoms are now 3-1-1 against the Falcons this year as their overall record moved to 20-17-2 and remain two points behind Hershey for the #8 spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Adirondack and Springfield do not meet again until March.
Adirondack out-shot Springfield 31-21 including 16-5 in the third period. Adirondack was 1-for-5 on the power play while Springfield went 0-for-2. The Phantoms have lost three straight for the first time since November. This comes immediately on the heels of the team having won six out of seven as well as 11 of their last 15.
The Phantoms return to action on Saturday afternoon at Albany in a 2:00 matchup at Times Union Center. Adirondack's next home game is Sunday, January 26 at 3:00 PM against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Pink in the Rink presented by Glens Falls Hospital supporting the fight against breast cancer. Friday, January 31 is Pack The House Night presented by John Ray & Sons with special discount tickets available. Let's jam the GFCC again everyone and notch yet another sellout! Call the Phantoms for tickets at 518-480-3355.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2014
- Hutch Is Clutch - Manchester Monarchs
- Toronto Extends Win Streak with 3-2 Win over Rockford - Toronto Marlies
- Hutchinson Leads IceCaps to Shutout over Monarchs - St. John's IceCaps
- Second-Period Surge Lifts Falcons over Phantoms - Springfield Falcons
- 5th Try the Charm for the Falcons - Adirondack Phantoms
- Sharks Ride Five Game Point Streak (4-0-1-0) into Four Game Week - Worcester Sharks
- Rockford Falls to Marlies 3-2 - Rockford IceHogs
- Canadiens Recall Leblanc from Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Ottawa Recalls Da Costa - Binghamton Senators
- Weekly: Bulldogs Host Marlies and Wolves, Visit Monsters - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Minnesota Wild Recalls Gustafsson and Blum - Iowa Wild
- Wolves Weekly Notes - Chicago Wolves
- Marc-Andre Bourdon Returns to Phantoms - Adirondack Phantoms
- Comets Secure Sixth Sell Out - Utica Comets
- Comet Tales: Mathieu Corbeil - Utica Comets
- Pirates "Open the Vault" for Special Jersey Auction - Portland Pirates
- Penguins' Samuelsson Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Philip Samuelsson Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- Wolves Send Kattelus to Kalamazoo - Chicago Wolves
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- IceHogs Host Marlies in Matinee - Rockford IceHogs
- Monarchs Weekly Report - Manchester Monarchs
- Four More Points Vault Bears Into Top Eight - Hershey Bears
- Iowa Wild Makes Roster Moves - Iowa Wild
- Bears Loan Josh Brittain to Reading Royals - Hershey Bears
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.
