Phantoms defeat Bridgeport, 4-1
December 7, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release
(BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Dec. 7, 2002) - Rookie goaltender Matthew Yeats made 26 saves in his AHL debut and Kirby Law recorded a hat trick to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 4-1 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tonight at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Yeats, who was signed to a tryout contract on Nov. 22 and backed up fellow rookie netminder Antero Niittymaki for the last six games, stopped all 19 shots he faced over the first two periods and came 4:33 away from recording a shutout until Bridgeport's Matt Higgins netted a shorthanded goal.
Law recorded the second hat trick of the season for Philadelphia, which ended a three-game losing streak and franchise-record seven-game road skid. It was just the second road win of the season for the Phantoms and the first since Oct. 30 at Syracuse.
Rick DiPietro made 25 saves for Bridgeport, which has lost the last two nights following a nine-game unbeaten streak (6-0-3). The Phantoms are now 2-1 vs. the Sound Tigers this season, with the fourth and final match-up set for Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.
The teams felt each other out for most of the first period until Jack Baker snapped a scoreless tie at the 17:41 mark with his second goal of the year. Mark Greig brought the puck into the Sound Tigers zone and took the initial shot from between the circles. The puck sailed wide right, but bounced off the boards back to Baker, who tapped it in from the side of the net.
Philadelphia assumed a 2-0 lead 3:07 into the second period on a fluke play by Bridgeport. With Phantoms left Peter Vandermeer serving a hooking minor, Law cleared the puck into the Sound Tigers end. DiPietro came out of his crease to retrieve the puck, but his pass accidentally ricocheted off defenseman Sven Butenschon's skate and into an empty net.
Law was credited with the goal, his seventh of the season. It was Philadelphia's third shorthanded marker of the year and the first other than Ian MacNeil.
After Higgins ruined Yeats' shutout attempt with his sixth goal at the 15:27 mark, Law responded 38 seconds later. Ben Stafford and MacNeil set up Law's high slap shot from the point, which was his third power-play goal of the season. MacNeil and Stafford later received assists on Law's third goal of the night, an empty-netter with 13.8 seconds remaining.
The Phantoms return to action on Friday, Dec. 13 when they entertain the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:05 pm. Philadelphia then makes its first visit of the season to Hershey on Saturday.
Phantoms Notes: Greig had been held without a point in his last three games following a 10-game point streak ... Greig's assist was his 200th as a Phantom ... Yeats, who began the season with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (ECHL), became the 12th different goaltender to play a game for the Phantoms in their seven-year history ... Peter White, who is currently with the Chicago Blackhawks, had Philadelphia's first hat trick on Nov. 22 vs. Milwaukee ... Law's hat trick was the first by a Phantom on the road since John Slaney accomplished the feat at Hartford on Jan. 18, 2002 ... The Phantoms are 4-0 all-time on Dec. 7 ... Philadelphia is 6-0-1 this season when scoring four goals or more.
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