Sports stats



Big Noise in Phantoms Season Farewell

April 20, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


It was a bittersweet night at the Glens Falls Civic Center as a loud and boisterous contingent cheered for the Phantoms in the season farewell. Adirondack's comeback efforts in the third period fell just short as the Springfield Falcons escaped with a 3-2 victory in the Phantoms' home finale.

Adirondack has one more game in the regular season; Sunday afternoon at the Albany Devils.

With Super-Fan Cameron Hughes running around and dancing and throwing T-Shirts and generally going crazy, the large crowd made all kinds of noise as the Phantoms dominated the final 20 minutes of play in their comeback efforts. It's always a sad night to see the end of the season.

After the final buzzer sounded, mere moments after Scott Laughton had almost tied the game in the last couple of seconds, the fans gave a tremendous ovation in combined acknowledgement of the terrific late comeback attempt as well as the efforts of the team in the entire regular season. And the Adirondack players responded with a meeting at center-ice and a large stick-raise to the fans thanking them for their support.

Rob Bordson scored shorthanded in the third on a tremendous burst of speed and assist by Jason Akeson to make it a one-goal game. And Jason Akeson blasted another shorthanded blast off the post with 5:30 remaining that would have tied the score.

Later Scott Laughton was denied on a terrific save by RPI product Allan York of the Falcons with just three seconds remaining. And Springfield hung on.

"I thought we had some opportunities in the game," head coach Terry Murray said. "We had some good play in the offensive zone from below the goal-line and below the net. And right at the end, the opportunity was there and they make a great save on it."

Earlier, Mark Alt sniped one home from the high slot for his first career pro goal. For a guy who had not scored all season in college or the pros, he sure looked like an offensive play-maker. Alt had two or three other big blasts and close-calls in the middle of his second weekend of professional hockey.

Springfield's Boone Jenner, a top prospect in the Columbus Blue Jackets system and teammates this year with Scott Laughton in Oshawa, scored the debut goal for the Falcons just 1:31 into the game.

Alt's tally seven minutes into the second tied matters at 1-1. But just 59 seconds later, a Phantoms breakdown led to a goal for Spencer Machacek making it 2-1. And a couple minutes after that it was 3-1 when Jake Hansen found the back of the net. Hansen was college teammates with Alt at the University of Minnesota last season.

The end of the regular season actually takes place Sunday at Albany. But for many of the Phantoms fans who will not be traveling to the away game, it was actually today as far as they were concerned. And the last games of the season are always a time to reflect on the year as a whole.

Coach Murray commented on the 38 one-goal games the Phantoms have played this year comprising which is more than half of the total games played overall.

"One post here. Inside of the post it goes in. Outside of the post it goes the other way. It's that close. We end up with some wins in those one-goal games just by putting more pucks to the net...you're going to establish a trend in your game and you're going to get some wins. That translates into more points and getting yourselves in the playoffs. Easily we could have been a playoff team if we were to win half of those."

Adirondack outshot Springfield 22-18 which equals the fewest shots allowed in a game by the Phantoms this year. Adirondack was 0-for-5 on the power play while the Falcons were 0-for-4.

The Phantoms conclude the regular season on Sunday at 3:00 at the Albany Devils.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 20, 2013


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.

Other Recent Adirondack Phantoms Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central