Phantoms continue winning ugly

by David W. Unkle
November 28, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms


(PHILADELPHIA)—They're not all pretty but then again they're not losses. And points are what they need as the team continues their improbable journey towards the top of the East Division.

And perched at the mecca are the Hershey Bears, the parent club's former AHL affiliate.

Just four points separate the top four teams and John Stevens certainly reminded his team that points earned in November make March just a little easier.

Although there are a dozen or so new faces on the Phantoms roster, they all know the story. The one in which the Phantoms missed the playoffs by one point; the first such absence in the team's history.

They face the River Rats in Albany tomorrow and they definitely don't want a repeat of their last visit. An apathetic 4-3 loss which was not as close as the score indicates back on November 1 dropped the team to a season-low 2-5-1-1 record.

In the span of four weeks, the team has turned around their fortune combining goaltending, offense, and pugilism.

And the three goal scorers for Philadelphia tonight have played a major role in the team's November transformation.

Ben Stafford put the Phantoms on the board just 3:32 into the game taking a feed from Todd Fedoruk just outside the blue line. Stafford weaved around Penguins defensman David Koci and fired a shot from the top of the left circle beating Martin Brochu between the pads.

The Penguins evened the score when Steve Webb's feed across the crease to Eric Meloche beat Little moving left-to-right. Shane Endicott started the play beating Phantoms defenseman randy Jones along the right wing boards.

For the anemic Penguins power play, it was their 10th goal of the season, keeping them ahead of only Portland and Utah.

The Phantoms went up 2-1 on Kirk Furey's power play goal at 9:10 of the second period. With the Pens Marquis Mathieu in the box for hooking Peter White at center ice, the Phantoms quickly went to work against the league's worst penalty killing team.

Furey took Peter White's pass from the side the side of the net and one-timed his blast from the top of the right wing circle, beating Brochu low to the stick side.

It was the first AHL goal for the 27 year-old playing in his third pro season and Philadelphia ever looked back.

"It's a pretty exciting feeling and I just want to contribute as much as I can", said Furey.

"We got (Furey) here when three of our key guys went down, (Randy) Jones, (Freddie) Meyer, and (John) Slaney and we suddenly became very young on defense", said Phantoms Head Coach John Stevens.

"He's looked at as a rookie in this league but he brings somewhat of a veteran presence to the team...we've rewarded him by giving him time on the power play, added Stevens.

"This is the best stretch of hockey that I've seen him play".

Patrick Sharp gave the Phantoms a two-goal cushion with their second power play goal of the period, ten minutes after Furey's tally.

The Penguins made it a 3-2 with Steve Webb's goal at 1:56 of the third period. With two Phantoms over-committing on the puck behind their own net, Webb was left all alone at the side of the net, nudging the puck past Little for his first goal of the season.

Flash back to the Phantoms game two nights ago where they saw a three goal, third period lead evaporate within a 3:33 span, leaving with an unsatisfying overtime tie to dwell on during Thanksgiving dinner.

Unlike Wednesday night's game, the Phantoms earned their bump in the points column with a solid effort.

"We learned from our mistakes (Wednesday) and stuck together and tried to keep it simple in the third period", said Furey.

And remember, they're still unbeaten in six games.

SCORE BY PERIODS

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton    1-0-1

Philadelphia             1-2-0

FIRST PERIOD— Scoring: PHL Stafford 4 (Fedoruk) 3:32; WBS Meloche 4 (Webb, Endicott) 10:39 pp. Penalties: WBS Beech (boarding) 7:02; PHL Murphy (interference) 9:35; PHL Stock (roughing) 11:41; WBS Lefebvre (interference) 14:37.

SECOND PERIOD— Scoring: PHL Furey 1 (White, Peluso) 9:10 pp; PHL Sharp 2 (J. Vandermeer; Law) 19:10 pp. Penalties: WBS Endicott (holding) 1:03; WBS Karpa (interference) 4:32; PHL Law (double minor, roughing) 5:41; PHL Furey (high-sticking) 5:41; WBS Koci (double minor, roughing; misconduct) 5:41; WBS Mathieu (hooking) 8:27; WBS Mathieu (fighting) 10:51; PHL Jones (fighting) 10:51; PHL Skolney (roughing) 12:21; WBS Sivek (tripping) 12:44; PHL Kane (holding) 12:44; WBS Robinson (roughing) 17:42.

THIRD PERIOD— Scoring: WBS Webb 1 (Lefebvre, Mathieu) 1:56.Penalties: PHL J. Vandermeer (cross-checking) 9:57.

SHOTS ON GOAL

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton   6-13-6

Philadelphia           14-18-9

SPECIAL TEAMS STATS

                        PPG	ADV	SHG

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton    1	5	0

Philadelphia             2	6	0

GOALIES

                                S	SV	TIME

Aubin   (WBS)                   38	35	59:00

Little  (PHL)                   28	26	60:00

STARS OF THE GAME

1. Kirk Furey (PHL)
2. Steve Webb (WBS)
3. Patrick Sharp (PHL)

Selected by: Anthony Mingioni of Breakaway! Magazine

NOTES

1. The Phantoms hold a 28-13-3-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 12-7-2-1 mark at home.
2. Philadelphia's offense is coming from both expected sources such as Peter White (0G, 8A in his last five games), Mark Murphy (4G, 5A in his last five games), Kirby Law (4G, 3A in his last five games), and Patrick Sharp (1G 5A in his last five games). Phantoms' blueliners Kirk Furey (1G, 5A in his last five games) and Dennis Seidenberg (3G, 4A in his last eight games) are a pleasant surprise.
3. The Phantoms power play is second in the AHL with 22 goals in 105 tries and the team has converted nine of their last twenty-three opportunities.
4. Forward Peter Vandermeer (161 PIM, 11 majors) tops the AHL contributing to the team's league leading 28.76 minutes per game. The breakdown of 162 minor penalties, 32 major penalties, and seven game misconducts.
5. The Penguins ended their season-high five game winless streak (0-3-0-2) with a 2-1 win over the Portland Pirates on Wednesday.
6. Special teams play has hurt the Penguins this season. The teams' weak penalty killing 72 of 96, is surpassed only by their ineffective power play (10 for 98).
7. Pittsburgh's Ross Lupaschuk is second in the league among defensemen (+8).
8. Philadelphia's Dennis Seidenberg is tied for first in goals (6) and fourth in points (13) among defensemen.
9. The Phantoms' Kirby Law is third in the league scoring race with 22 points (9G, 13A).
10. The Penguins' Matt Murley is tied for second among all players with a plus-10.

GAME OFFICIALS

Referee: Dave Hansen
Linesman: Dave Brown
Linesman: Aaron Lundbohm

ATTENDANCE: 9,104



American Hockey League Stories from November 28, 2003


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