Phantoms defeat Penguins 4-3

Published on February 5, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


(WILKES-BARRE, Pa., Feb. 5, 2003) - John Slaney recorded a goal and two assists and Ian Forbes scored the game-winner with 9:03 remaining as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 4-3 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight at the First Union Arena.

After surrendering leads of 2-0 and 3-1, Philadelphia snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) thanks to an unlikely source. Playing in just his 10th game of the season, Forbes took a pass from Mark Greig on the decisive play and uncorked a long line drive that sailed over the shoulder of Penguins goaltender Robbie Tallas. It was the first goal of the season for Forbes and his second career AHL marker.

Phantoms goaltender Neil Little ended a personal three-game losing streak by making a team season-high 40 saves, including stopping all 16 shots he faced in the final period. Philadelphia improved to 5-3 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season and has won the last three match-ups.

Wilkes-Barre committed two penalties in the opening 46 seconds and the Phantoms capitalized to take a quick 1-0 lead. Peter White and Slaney worked the puck to Brad Tiley just inside the blue line and the veteran defenseman blasted a shot that ricocheted off Tallas and bounced in.

The goal was Tiley's third of the season and first since Dec. 27 vs. Hershey. It was also the first time in the last seven games that Philadelphia has scored first.

Philadelphia doubled its lead at 7:01 on Ben Stafford's 10th of the year. After a face-off in the Penguins zone, Slaney tapped the puck to Bruno St. Jacques for a slap shot from the far side. Stationed in front of the crease, Stafford redirected it past Tallas for his third goal in the last three games.

The Penguins got on the board with 3:44 to go in the first period on Jason MacDonald's fourth of the season. Matt Hussey and Konstantin Koltsov assisted on the tally that narrowed the gap to 2-1.

After Philadelphia failed to put a shot on net for the first 11 minutes of the second stanza, Slaney upped the advantage to 3-1 with 7:36 left. Slaney received a nice pass through traffic from Kirby Law on the play and faked out Tallas before netting his sixth of the season. St. Jacques also picked up an assist.

Slaney, who also had a goal and two assists in Monday's AHL Al-Star Game, now has five points in his last two games. It was the first three-point game of the year for Slaney and his eighth multi-point effort.

But the Penguins stormed back with a pair of goals nine seconds apart late in the second period to knot the score at 3-3. Toby Petersen's 14th of the year from Alexandre Daigle and Rob Scuderi made it a one-goal game at 17:09, and Tom Kostopoulos scored his 15th at 17:18, with assists going to Koltsov and Shane Endicott.

Wikes-Barre pulled Tallas with 1:25 to play in the game, but could not score the equalizer, losing for the fourth time in its last six games.

Philadelphia is back in action this Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:05 p.m. when it hosts the league-leading Hamilton Bulldogs at the First Union Spectrum. The game will be televised live on CN8. The Phantoms then play at Hershey on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. before entertaining the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday at 5:05 p.m.

Phantoms Notes: Philadelphia was beginning a stretch of 13 games in 19 days ... Earlier in the day, the Phantoms signed defenseman Chris Bogas to a tryout contract. Bogas appeared in 15 games with Philadelphia during the 2000-01 season ... Defenseman Kirk Furey, who signed a PTO on Tuesday, made his Phantoms debut ... Ian MacNeil played in his 400th game as a pro ... Patrick Sharp returned after missing 26 games due to a fractured ankle ... The Phantoms have killed 17 straight power plays ... The teams play twice more this year, with the next encounter set for Feb. 17 in Wilkes-Barre ... Antero Niittymaki held the previous season high for saves in a game with 38.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2003


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