Offensive Explosion Pushes Adirondack Over Syracuse

November 19, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


Last season, the Phantoms dominated the Crunch by winning 7-of-of-8 games in their season series. After Syracuse opened the teams' 2011-12 series with two straight wins, Adirondack got back to its winning ways against its intra-state rival by winning 5-2 on Saturday night.

"We play them (the Crunch) so many times. It's good to mentally break that bubble after they won the first two against us. I thought it was a solid, 60-minute effort for our team and a real clean game for us," said Phantoms Head Coach Joe Paterson.

The Phantoms' victory was fueled by the team's biggest offensive explosion since October 26 with a season-high 42 shots. Jon Kalinski, Ben Holmstrom, Eric Wellwood, Jason Akeson and Blake Kessel all found the net. The team's most veteran defenseman, Dan Jancevski, also played a key role by recording two assists. Jancevski's pair of helpers were the 200th and 201st in his 11-year professional career and earned him #2 Star of the Game honors while Wellwood, with the game-winner in the second period, was the game's #1 Star.

"We put a lot of pucks to the net and were rewarded with five goals. It's nice to see this team get rewarded with some 5-on-5 goals after a lot of hard practice time," added Paterson.

Jason Bacashihua backstopped the win by making 25 saves on 27 shots. Since losing his Phantoms debut at Syracuse on October 15, Bacashihua has gone 3-0-1 in four starts, and now has a 2.63 goals-against average and .921 save percentage for the season.

"He (Bacashihua) played well again tonight. He played well against Toronto last week and he's been moving well side-to-side and stopping a lot of pucks for us," said Paterson.

Adirondack's win improves its record to 9-5-1 (19 pts) and pulls the Phantoms to within one point of the Springfield Falcons and Albany Devils for first place in the Northeast Division. The Phantoms also improve to 5-3-0 on the road and will play the third leg of a four-game road trip on Sunday afternoon in Bridgeport at 3:00 p.m.

"It's another big game for us tomorrow. Our division is very close and these are all four-point games, so it's another big one for us tomorrow," said Paterson.

The Crunch fell to 7-6-3 by losing for the third time in their last four games. Syracuse is in fourth place in the Eastern Conference's very competitive East Division.

Kyle Palmieri and former Phantom Patrick Maroon were the Crunch's goal scorers. Palmieri, a former first-round draft choice of the Anaheim Ducks, now has five goals in three games against the Phantoms. Maroon, who has also scored in each game in the series, has three goals against Adirondack.

After beating the Phantoms with a 36-save performance on October 15, Jeff Deslauriers allowed five goals on 42 shots and was the losing goalie.

The Phantoms never trailed on Saturday and took a 1-0 lead on a Jon Kalinski goal at 6:31 of the opening period. Dan Jancevski started the play by carrying the puck down the left-wing boards and behind the net, and passing the puck right onto Kalinski's tape. Kalinski then faked in one direction and slid the puck in the other, fooling Deslauriers and getting his second goal of the season.

Patrick Maroon finished off a wrap-around and tied the game six minutes later, after receiving a crisp pass from Nick Bonino deep in Adirondack's defensive zone.

Ben Holmstrom restored the Phantoms one-goal advantage by beating Deslauriers with a monster slap shot from the top of the left-wing circle, just over four minutes into the second period. Assists went to Mike Testwuide and Marc-Andre Bourdon.

Kyle Palmieri erased the Phantoms' second one-goal lead of the game, just past the midway point of the second period. Defenseman Mathieu Carle got the primary assist by creeping in with the puck from the right point and sending a cross-ice pass which Palmieri slapped in from just to the left of Adirondack's cage. Two-time AHL All-Star defenseman Bryan Rodney also assisted.

The Phantoms took their third one-goal edge and got the eventual game-winning goal when Eric Wellwood scored a shorthanded goal two minutes after Palmieri tied the game. Denis Hamel got the primary assist after breaking free of a Syracuse defenseman on the left-wing boards and creating a 2-on-1, on which Wellwood received the puck just inside the right faceoff dot before scoring past Deslauriers.

Jason Akeson upped the Phantoms' lead to 4-2 by depositing a juicy rebound of a Dan Jancevski point shot with eight minutes left in the third period. For Akeson, a 21-year-old rookie who led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring as a member of the Kitchener Rangers last season, the goal gives him six points (2g, 4a) on his career-high four-game point streak.

Blake Kessel finished the night's scoring by rifling a shot past Deslauriers from the left faceoff dot, with four minutes left in the third period. For Kessel, a rookie out of the University of New Hampshire, the goal was the first of his professional career.

The Phantoms outshot the Crunch 42-27. The Phantoms were 0-of-5 on the power play, but scored a shorthanded goal. Syracuse was 0-of-4 on the power play.

Adirondack's scratches were Kevin Marshall and Luke Pither.



American Hockey League Stories from November 19, 2011


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