Phantoms defeat Hershey 4-1

Published on April 2, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


(PHILADELPHIA, April 2, 2004) - Kirby Law recorded his second straight two-goal game and Antero Niittymaki made 35 saves as the Philadelphia Phantoms continued their mastery over the Hershey Bears with a 4-1 victory tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Mark Murphy and Freddy Meyer also scored to help Philadelphia improve to an improbable 11-0 vs. Hershey this season. The Phantoms have outscored the Bears, 44-12, this year, with one match-up remaining on April 11 in Hershey.

"There is a lot of hype about (the winning streak over Hershey), but we approach each game as it comes," said Phantoms head coach John Stevens. "There is no hidden agenda, we just know each other very well. We seem to match up well against them, and we seem to have a lot of very good games against them this year. When you have confidence from beating them that many times, you can find ways to win. It's pretty hard to explain, I've never seen anything like it before."

Niittymaki won his fifth straight start and tied a team season high for most saves in a game. The 23-year-old, who was named the Toyota Phantoms Player of the Month for March earlier in the day, had posted shutouts in his previous two outings.

"I made a couple of good saves, but I was pretty lucky too," said Niittymaki. "Our defense played great and so did the team. I feel pretty good right now. The team is playing great these days and have really helped me out."

Philadelphia won its fifth game in a row to tie a season high and has captured 10 of its last 13 contests overall. The Phantoms maintained their one-point lead over the Hartford Wolf Pack for first place in the Eastern Conference, but Hartford has played one less game. The Phantoms also pushed their advantage to five points over second-place Bridgeport in the East Division.

Phil Sauve stopped 18-of-21 shots for Hershey, which lost its fourth game in a row and eighth straight on the road.

The game was scoreless after 20 minutes of play as each team failed on key power-play opportunities. Philadelphia got off just one shot during a high-sticking major on Shane Willis early in the first period, while Hershey was not able to score during a 74-second 5-on-3 situation.

Murphy finally put the Phantoms on the board 3:13 into the second period when he slammed in the rebound of a Kirk Furey shot from the point. B.J. Abel also assisted on Murphy's 15th of the year and first since Feb. 20.

Meyer extended the lead to 2-0 at the 5:30 mark during a lengthy Philadelphia possession. Peter Vandermeer accepted the puck from Mike Peluso on the play and feathered a centering pass to Meyer from the corner. The rookie defenseman was able to redirect it over Sauve for his 12th goal of the season.

Law made it 3-0 just 34 seconds into the final period when he blasted in a slap shot from the far circle. John Slaney and Peter White set up Law's team-leading 28th goal, which extended his point streak to four games.

Martin Hlinka finally put Hershey on the board at the 4:38 mark during a scramble in front of Niittymaki. The goal ended Niittymaki's scoreless streak at 197:02, which fell 11:23 shy of Neil Little's club record.

Law capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 38.9 seconds left. Ian MacNeil and Randy Jones set up the goal by Law, who also scored twice in Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Norfolk.

Philadelphia improved to 8-0 when wearing its purple third jerseys and 16-0 since Nov. 21 when a defenseman scores in a home game.

The Phantoms play at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday night and close out the home portion of the regular season on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. vs. the Binghamton Senators.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 2, 2004


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