Legein Lifts Phantoms To 4-3 OT Win In Albany

January 6, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


ALBANY, NY - David Laliberte tied the game with 67 seconds left in regulation and Stefan Legein scored his 18th goal of the season with less than a minute remaining in overtime as the Adirondack Phantoms rallied to beat the Albany River Rats 4-3 Wednesday night at the Times Union Center.

The Phantoms came out in the first period with more energy than the host River Rats, pressuring the Albany net and holding the Rats without a shot on goal for the first seven minutes of play. The tides turned when Adirondack took back-to-back penalties to give Albany a two-man advantage; Josh Beaulieu was called for hooking at 8:53 and then Logan Stephenson picked up minors for high-sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct. Albany cashed in on the five-on-three power play as Chris Terry knocked in a rebound from a Jamie McBain shot at 10:35 to give the Rats the lead and then during the second half of Stephenson's double-minor, Nick Dodge scored on a centering backhand pass from Terry to take a 2-0 lead. Adirondack turned up the intensity of their attack again when they got back to even-strength and ended up out-shooting the River Rats 9-8 in the frame, but trailed by two on the scoreboard.

In the first 2:22 of the second period the Phantoms took two more penalties, but were able to keep Albany from extending their lead. Adirondack did not receive their first power play until the 12:30 mark and they made the River Rats pay as rookie defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon blasted home his first career professional goal, a howitzer shot from the blue line for a power play goal at 14:27, assisted by Joey Mormina and Jon Matsumoto. Adirondack out-shot Albany 15-9 in the second, but still trailed 2-1 after forty minutes.

It took Matsumoto a mere 52 seconds of the third period to score the tying goal as the Phantoms' All-Star scored his 16th goal of the year to make it a 2-2 game. Albany answered right back 41 seconds later when Mike Angelidis found the net at 1:33 to reclaim the lead 3-2. Adirondack pushed to equalize for the rest of the period, but goaltender Justin Peters was sharp in net to keep Albany in front. Then with 67 seconds left in regulation, and the net empty for an extra attacker, David Laliberte squeezed the puck into the net during a scramble around the crease to dramatically tie the game at 18:53, assisted by Jared Ross and Jonathon Kalinski.

If the River Rats were stunned by the tying goal, they did not show it in overtime as they carried the play in the first three minutes of the extra session. They out-shot the Phantoms 5-0 over that span, but goaltender Johan Backlund made several stellar saves to keep the score tied. Then with just under a minute left in overtime Ross found Stefan Legein behind the Albany goal and the Phantoms' winger skated around the back of the cage and lifted a backhand shot up into the roof of the net at 4:05 to give Adirondack a thrilling 4-3 road win. Legein's game-winner was his team-leading 18th goal of the year and was assisted by Ross and Joonas Lehtivuori, who each had two assists in the game.

Johan Backlund extended his personal winning streak to five straight games as he stopped 25-of-28 shots for his 11th win of the year, helping Adirondack improve to 17-16-2-0 on the season. Justin Peters was strong in goal for Albany, making 30 saves on 34 shots in the loss as the River Rats dropped to 19-15-2-2. The Phantoms out-shot the Rats 34-28 and went 1-for-6 on the power play as they improved to 2-4-1-0 in the 2009-2010 Time Warner Cable Cup Series; Albany was 2-for-5 with the man-advantage.

The Phantoms will head east for a Friday, January 8th showdown in Rhode Island with the Providence Bruins; a 7:05 pm face off at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Adirondack's next home game is on Saturday, January 9th as they host the Portland Pirates at 7:00 pm at the Civic Center. Saturday's game is Phantoms Team Poster Giveaway Night; the first 2,500 fans into the building will receive a free Phantoms Team Poster and there is a post-game autograph session with the entire team in Heritage Hall.

There is no better way to watch Phantoms Hockey than by sharing it with a group of your family and friends. Bring a group of 15 or more people to the Glens Falls Civic Center and qualify for incredible discounted ticket prices off the regular box office rates. For more information about group tickets, contact the Phantoms at 518-480-3355 or visit www.phantomshockey.com.



American Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2010


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