Adirondack Exacts Road Revenge On Hershey

Published on November 28, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


HERSHEY, PA - The Adirondack Phantoms improved to 2-1 on the season against the defending champs as they came from behind to beat the Hershey Bears 5-4 in a shootout Saturday night at the Giant Center.

Determined to right the ship after two lopsided defeats to begin the weekend, Adirondack seemed to have more energy than Hershey as the puck dropped in Chocolatetown. However, the Bears caught the Phantoms on a poor clearing attempt and capitalized as for the second straight night Michael Dubuc scored the game's first goal, lifting a shot into the roof of the net 58 seconds into the game. Adirondack responded with more quality shifts and tied the game at 4:16 when Stefan Legein stole the puck away from a Hershey defenseman, turned and fired the puck past goaltender Jason Bacashihua. The Bears would regain the lead at 11:22 on the power play as Zach Miskovic's slap shot from the point missed the net, but kicked hard off the end boards right out into the low slot and Darren Reid had a wide open net and Hershey carried a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

There was more scoring in the first minute of the second period, but this time it came from the Phantoms. Leading scorer Jon Masumoto took a beautiful feed from David Laliberte and beat Bacashiha one-on-one from the top of the crease for his eighth goal of the season, tying the game just 49 second in the middle period. Jason Ward then produced a stunning highlight-reel quality goal to give Adirondack a 3-2 lead at the 5:00 mark. Laliberte set up the play as he fed the puck to Ward on a shorthanded rush and Ward turned Hershey defender Patrick McNeill inside-out with a fancy backhand-to-forehand move before snapping his shot over the glove of Bacashihua. It was Ward's third goal of the season, the third shorthanded goal scored by Adirondack this season, and would remain in place as the period came to an end.

The Bears came storming back in the third period, scored twice in the first 5:08 to flip a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead. First it was Kyle Wilson who tied the game at 2:33, bringing the more than 10,000 fans at the Giant Center back to life. Andrew Gordon tied the game when the Phantoms defense coughed up the puck deep in their own zone and Gordon capitalized with a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net at 5:08 to give Hershey a 4-3 lead. But Adirondack had just enough time to answer back in the final minute. With goalie Nic Riopel pulled for the extra attacker, David Laliberte banged home a rebound with 35.8 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime.

The Phantoms had the best chance to win the game in overtime when they received a four-on-three power play for the last 1:18 of the extra session, but the Bears fought off the attack and the game went to a shootout. Francois Bouchard scored on Hershey's first shot, but Jon Matsumoto scored in the second round and Krys Kolanos won the game for Adirondack with a successful shootout attempt in the fifth round.

Goaltender Nic Riopel recorded his second win of the season and second shootout victory by stopping 29-of-33 shots in the game and denying 4-of-5 shootout attempts as Adirondack halted a three-game losing skid and improved to 9-9-1-0. Jason Bacashihua took the shootout loss for Hershey and finished with 25 saves on 29 shots through 65 minutes of play and denied 3-of-5 shootout attempts as the Bears fell to 14-6-0-2. Hershey out-shot Adirondack 33-30 and went 1-for-5 on the power play; the Phantoms were 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.

Next up for Adirondack is a trip to Lowell, Massachusetts on Wednesday, December 2nd as they face the Devils for the first time this season; a 7:00 pm face off at Tsongas Arena. The Phantoms next home game at the Glens Falls Civic Center is another Time Warner Cable Cup showdown with the Albany River Rats on Saturday, December 5th at 7:00 pm.

In the spirit of Black Friday and the upcoming 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 Monday, November 30th, so get your Adirondack Phantoms Merchandise today. The Phantoms Online Store can be found at http://shopphantomshockey.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 28, 2009


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