Laliberte, Powe Power Phantoms

Published on November 26, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


WILKES-BARRE, PA - David Laliberte and Darroll Powe each scored twice as the Philadelphia Phantoms took a 5-1 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday night at Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre. The Phantoms go to 11-10-0-0 with the win and leapfrog the Penguins and the Binghamton Senators into third place in the East Division.

The Phantoms struck first with 2:30 remaining in the second period with a shorthanded goal from Jared Ross. Ross came into the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton zone on a two-on-one with Claude Giroux and held the puck on the right side. He showed tremendous patience in waiting for Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy to go down and remove the passing lane before pulling it around the fallen blueliner, and then made goaltender Adam Berkhoel commit before backhanding it home for an unassisted shortie that made it 1-0 at the first intermission.

The Phantoms jumped out to a 2-0 lead on another shorthanded goal 4:18 into the second period. Danny Syvret had cleared a puck down the left wing, which Berkhoel came out to play. But he missed it, and the puck took a perfect bounce off the corner boards in front of the vacant net for Powe to poke home.

After a second goal by Powe was called back due to being batted in with the glove, the Phantoms expanded the lead to 3-0 with 3:06 to play. Jonathan Matsumoto walked right around a Penguins defender in the left circle and played a pass to Rob Bellamy on the right post. Berkhoel made an outstanding save on Bellamy's bid, but couldn't stop the rebound from Laliberte. The three-goal lead stood at the second intermission, at which point the Phantoms had outshot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 32-15.

The Penguins got on the board early in the third period. Dustin Jeffrey had the puck in the right circle and centered for Luca Caputi, who beat Scott Munroe through the pads 1:30 into the frame to make it 3-1.

But the Phantoms answered 7:25 into the frame on Laliberte's second. Powe picked up a puck off the boards and fought off one guy, skated past another and passed around a third to center for Laliberte on the right post. He tipped it home to make it 4-1. Powe sealed it late with an empty-netter to close out the scoring.

Munroe took the win by stopping 25 of 26 shots, while Berkhoel worked hard with 40 saves on the 44 shots he faced. The Phantoms had a season-high 45 shots on net. Philadelphia's penalty kill was tremendous, stopping all seven Penguins opportunities and allowing hardly any scoring opportunities, while the power play was 0-for-4.

The Phantoms return home on Friday night for Tribute to Tough Guys Night when they host the Springfield Falcons at the Wachovia Center in the second half of a Black Friday doubleheader with the Flyers. Tickets for that game, as well as all 2008-09 regular season games, are available by calling 1-800-298-4200 or visiting phantomshockey.com.

The best way for fans to secure a ticket for the final regular season game at the Wachovia Spectrum on April 12, 2009 is to purchase either a game plan package or season tickets. Packages are available now in convenient blocks of 6, 10, 16 and 20 games, as well as pro-rated full season tickets for all remaining home games. All packages receive an impressive list of exclusive benefits, discount prices and the same seat for each game, beginning at just $60!

For more information or to make a deposit, call the Phantoms at 215-465-4522 during normal business hours. More information is also available at the Phantoms website, Phantomshockey.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2008


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