Falcons Fall to Phantoms, 4-3, in Tampa
December 16, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
Tampa, FL â The Springfield Falcons fell to the East Division-leading Philadelphia Phantoms, 4-3, before a crowd of 13,424 at the St. Pete Times Forum on Wednesday evening. The contest marked the highest ever attended game for the Falcons. Springfield right wing Shane Willis scored two goals and added an assist while forward Ryan Craig also tallied. Phantoms center Patrick Sharp assisted on all four Philadelphia goals and former Falcon Boyd Kane posted a goal and two helpers.
The Falcons brought the crowd to its feet when Willis scored a power-play goal 2:24 into the game. Craig Darby collected a loose puck outside the right post from behind the net and fed Willis on the other side of the goal. Willis one-timed the shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle off the back of Phantoms netminder Neil Little and into the net for his 12th goal of the season.
The Phantoms knotted the game on right wing Mark Murphy's eighth goal of the campaign at 6:29. Kane chased down a dump in before dropping a pass to forward Patrick Sharp who centered a feed across the slot to Murphy. Murphy knocked in the pass before Springfield goaltender Jamie Storr could slide across the crease.
Philadelphia scored three goals in the second period to build a 4-1 lead. Kane tallied a shorthanded goal by capping a two-on-one rush with Sharp with his first marker of the season at the 6:03 mark. Springfield defenseman Paul Ranger was the lone player back after a bouncing puck eluded Andreas Holmqvist in the Falcons' zone.
Phantoms defenseman Dennis Seidenberg scored his fifth goal of the season on a centering feed that caromed off a Springfield skate at 10:33. Blue liner John Slaney scored with the man advantage four minutes later to provide Philadelphia a three-goal lead.
Craig narrowed the margin for the Falcons during a power play with 5:17 remaining to play by redirecting a slap shot from the left point by defenseman Gerard Dicaire for his 13th goal of the season. The assist marked the first point as a Falcon for Dicaire.
Willis notched his second goal of the game by banging home a cross-ice feed from right wing Adam Henrich with 20 seconds left to play. The goal came after Storr had left the Falcons' net for an extra attacker.
The Falcons outshot Philadelphia, 28-22, in the game. Storr made 18 stops including a glove save on clear breakaway by Sharp in the third period.
Springfield converted two of five power plays in the game while the Phantoms scored once on three chances with the man advantage.
The Falcons return to New England to face the Providence Bruins at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Friday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Tune into The ZONE â Sports Radio 640 or click on the MassLive.com CyberCast link on the Falcons' team web site to catch the live action.
For a complete box score of Wednesday's game, please click on the following link: http://www.theahl.com/AHLBoxscores0405/139596.html
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