Phantoms beat Syracuse 5-3
Published on February 9, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release
(PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 9, 2003) - Kirby Law recorded his second hat trick of the season and rookie Patrick Sharp added a career-high three points to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 5-3 victory over the Syracuse Crunch today at the First Union Spectrum.
Law had an even strength goal in the first period, a power-play tally in the second and an empty-netter with 33.1 seconds remaining to give him 14 goals on the season. The right wing notched the Phantoms' third hat trick of the year, the third of his career and his first since Dec. 7 at Bridgeport.
Playing in his fourth game since returning from a fractured ankle, Sharp had a hand in each of Philadelphia's first three scores, recording a goal and two assists. Goaltender Neil Little finished with 32 saves for the Phantoms, who are 2-1-2 in their last five games and ended a five-game home winless streak (0-3-2).
"It was a total team effort tonight," said Phantoms head coach John Stevens. "I was surprised how well Sharp has played coming back. He worked real well with Kirby tonight. We need guys like them to score goals. We did a good job tonight overall. Special teams worked real well. Both teams are in a situation where points are very valuable. These two points are important. A win is important before a long road trip."
Sharp opened the scoring 3:27 into the game with his fifth goal of the year. Defenseman Ryan Bast set up the play for his first point since being acquired in Friday's four-player trade with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Law doubled the lead at the 5:45 mark during a 4-on-4 situation. From the near corner, Sharp sent a short pass to Law in the circle and the right wing deposited it into the top corner for his 12th of the season.
Syracuse fought back to even the score at 2-2. Jeremy Reich's shorthanded goal, his sixth, from Kent McDonell put the Crunch on the board with 2:44 left in the first period, and Mathieu Darche netted his 22nd on the power play 7:22 into the second, with assists going to Derrick Walser and Brad Moran.
Law put Philadelphia ahead for good with 8:33 to go in the middle session while Syracuse's Andrej Nedorost was serving a holding the stick minor. Guillaume Lefebvre began the play with a pass to Sharp, who found Law cutting to the net for a quick one-timer past Crunch netminder Karl Goehring.
Jamie Wright widened the gap to 4-2 on a shorthanded goal at 12:24 of the third period. After taking a pass from defenseman Kirk Furey, Wright darted down the far side and blasted a slap shot over Goehring's left shoulder. Peter White also assisted on Wright's third goal of the year and first as a Phantom.
Paul Manning cut the deficit to 4-3 with 4:53 to play before Law tallied his empty-netter from Brad Tiley and White.
"I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates," Law said. "Sharp and Lefebvre did a great job of getting me the puck when I was open. On the four-on-four, Sharp got the puck back to me and I shot if off the defenseman's skate and into the net. Sharp made a nice pass from the corner and I got it through the five hole on my second goal. Tonight was a huge game. We felt we played well all weekend. We wanted to come in here tonight and win."
The Phantoms begin a season-high five-game road trip on Tuesday at Cleveland. The trip also includes stops in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, Rochester on Friday, Cincinnati on Saturday and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday, Feb. 17. Philadelphia's next home game is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7:05 p.m. vs. the Portland Pirates.
Phantoms Notes: Earlier in the day, Philadelphia signed defenseman Josh Harrold to a tryout contract ... Wright scored his 100th goal as a pro ... White recorded Philadelphia's first hat trick of the year on Nov. 22 vs. Milwaukee ... Law's first career hat trick came on Nov. 19, 1999 when he was with the Louisville Panthers ... Philadelphia is 3-1 vs. Syracuse this season, with two more match-ups remaining ... The Phantoms are 1-2-2 all-time on Feb. 9 ... Little is 2-0-1 in his last three starts ... Philadelphia had its highest scoring output since a 5-1 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 3.
American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2003
- Law leads Phantoms over Syracuse, 5-3 - OSC Original by David W. Unkle
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- Kings recall two from Manchester - Manchester Monarchs
- Kotyk Kicks Shutout for Barons - Cleveland Barons
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- Checkers Bounce Back With 4-3 Win Over Trenton - Charlotte Checkers
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