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Newbury Late Game-Winner Closes out 2013

December 31, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


Kris Newbury scored off a long and high stretch-pass by Jason Akeson with just 1:13 remaining to put a nice conclusion to 2013 in a 2-1 Phantoms' victory over the Worcester Sharks. Adirondack's third win in their last four following the Holiday Break gives the Phantoms an overall mark of 16-13-2 to conclude the calendar year and leaves the team just one point back of eighth-place St. John's with one game-in-hand in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Adirondack Phantoms improved to 3-1-1 in their traditional New Year's Eve home games. All five games on December 31st have been decided by one goal. Newbury's late tally ended a streak of three consecutive overtimes in the New Year's Eve contests as well.

Ben Holmstrom scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. Cal Heeter's 24-save total might not sound particularly impressive but it was anything but an easy night for the second-year pro out of Ohio State. Heeter earned #1 Star honors in the contest while being challenged at close-range on several occasions by the Sharks. Heeter bailed out the Phantoms a couple of times with big breakaway saves.

The contest was off to a roaring and auspicious start with four fights in the first period as a couple of teams facing each other for the first time this season behaved as they though they had a long-standing and fierce rivalry. At one point, two fights developed at the same time as Zack FitzGerald was swinging with Jimmy Bonneau while Steven Delisle went at it with Tyler Doherty. Both linesmen were tending to the FitzGerald vs. Bonneau fight which begun well before the second fight. So the Delisle scrap with Doherty continued for a bit longer even after both had gone down. Those two were given game misconducts for their secondary altercation.

And just a few seconds later it was Doug Clarkson for the Phantoms dealing several punishing blows on Worcester's Curt Gogol. Clarkson would leave the game with a hand injury from all the punches he threw thus the Phantoms were down to only 16 skaters for the rest of the game instead of the normal 18. Clarkson had just been called up to the Phantoms the day before from Reading of the ECHL and was playing in just his second game of the season for Adirondack and his first since October. The younger and bigger brother of Toronto Maple Leaf David Clarkson sure made an impression on the fans of Glens Falls, as well as on Curt Gogol of Worcester.

Adirondack was down another man for an extended stretch in the third period after Kris Newbury was tagged with a 10-minute misconduct for arguing with the officials following a collision with another player which he believed should have been a penalty. But Newbury made up for his absence in a big way in the closing moments of the game as he chased down the long bank-pass all the way up the ice by Akeson. Newbury's blast from the left circle went over the glove to the far side of the net on Worcester goalie Harri Sateri for the game-winner with just 1:13 left.

Ben Holmstrom swung at a rebound in mid-air off a Sateri rebound of a Tye McGinn shot and from the right of the cage notched the first goal of the night for either side. His seventh goal of the season came almost at the midway point of the third period and The Captain celebrated the breaking of the scoreless deadlock by sliding to his knees and offering several rapid-fire fist-pumps.

"There was a battle on the wall there," Holmstrom said. "Guys dug it out and got it up to the point. Think it went D to D and Mandog (Brandon Manning) shot for a tip for Ginner (Tye McGinn) and it just popped up in the air and I just took a swing at it and got enough to go in."

Marek Viedensky tied the game with under six minutes left converting from the right circle on a slapper that was banked off the end-boards from the left-point by Matt Tennyson. The goal came as Mark Alt had returned from the penalty box. It was technically not a power-play goal surrendered by the Phantoms but for all intents and purposes the goal came as a result of their man-advantage which had just ended.

"It was an important game," head coach Terry Murray said. "And when you look at the way Worcester showed up, they're looking to climb up in the standings as we are and the hockey game got a little bit of a ping pong match going there in the second period, wide open going both ways but the goaltenders came up. At the end of the day though, I think we did a good job. We found a way to win the game and that was the plot in mind."

The four fights in a game was the most for the Adirondack Phantoms since October 11 at the Hartford Wolf Pack when both teams were charged with six fighting majors per side.

Adirondack is 6-3-0 in their last nine games and also hold a record of 14-9-0 in their last 23 games going back to October 26. More recently, the Phantoms have won three out of four in their return from the holiday break and have done it with a beat up crew that currently has seven players sitting out with injury. Newcomers Mike Matczak (D), Maxim Lamarche (D) and Doug Clarkson (F) as well as a slightly more established Steven Delisle (D) have all emerged to take advantage of their opportunities in the lineup while others have advanced to fill larger roles such as Kyle Flanagan who centered the team's second line with Ben Holmstrom and Rob Bordson and even briefly helped on the Akeson and McGinn line while Newbury was sitting out.

The Phantoms went 1-for-3 on the power play and in their last 10 games are 10-for-43 for 23.3%. The Phantoms have scored a power-play goal in 10 of their last 15 games and improved their record to 10-3-1 in games in which they score at least one on the man-advantage.

The Phantoms outshot Worcester 31-25. The Sharks finished 0-for-3 on the power play. The game was the only Glens Falls appearance of the season for the Worcester Sharks. The Phantoms will return the favor on April 11 when they visit the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.

Adirondack continues their five-game homestand, their longest of the season, with games this Friday and Saturday to commence play in the 2014 portion of the schedule. The Hershey bears arrive Friday night. Then it's the Albany Devils for Game #7 out of 12 in the Northway Rivalry Series. Saturday's game is Big Face Fitzy on a Stick Night presented by Liberty Graphics featuring 2,500 Fitzy Heads as the Phantoms pay tribute to tough-guy Zack FitzGerald.

The Phantoms are offering a special flex ticket special on their 10-pack plans. Receive four extra tickets for free! The special only runs through Friday. Call the Phantoms to find out more at 518-480-3355.



American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 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.

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