Phantoms defeat Rochester, 4-2
November 27, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release
(PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 27, 2002) - Mark Greig recorded a goal and an assist to extend his current point streak to 10 games as the Philadelphia Phantoms defeated the Rochester Americans, 4-2, tonight at the First Union Spectrum.
Greig scored the first goal of the game and assisted on the eventual game-winner for Philadelphia, which has a three-game home winning streak. Greig's streak is the longest current streak in the AHL, as he has compiled eight goals and nine assists over the 10 games.
Andre Savage contributed two assists and goaltender Antero Niittymaki made 22 saves to help the Phantoms improve to 6-0-2 in its last eight regular-season match-ups with Rochester. Philadelphia won last year's season series, 4-0-2, and blanked the Americans, 1-0, back on Oct. 12.
The Phantoms came out strong tonight and peppered Americans goaltender Ryan Miller with 16 shots during the opening period. They came up empty on three quality scoring chances during a shorthanded situation midway through the period, but finally broke through on Greig's 12th goal of the year.
After Philadelphia controlled the puck in the Rochester end for almost a minute, David Harlock fed Savage for a centering pass to Greig. The right wing wound up and blasted a long, high slap shot that sailed over Miller's shoulder at the 13:57 mark.
Jack Baker doubled Philadelphia's lead with 72 seconds left in the first period when he intercepted a pass in the Americans zone and fired a shot into the top right corner of the net. It was Baker's first AHL goal.
The Phantoms upped their lead to 3-0 at the 5:14 mark of the second period during a flurry in front of the Rochester net. After Savage and Greig attempted shots on goal, Peter Vandermeer pounced on a loose puck and netted his first tally since Dec. 16 of last season.
"The boys worked the puck around a lot on the power play," said Vandermeer. "The puck wound up in front of me and I had a wide-open net. I took a couple of swings and got it in. It's nice to get my first goal of the year."
Rochester narrowed the deficit to 3-1 with 10:31 left in the second as Jason Botterill and Peter Ratchuk broke out on a 2-on-1 during a Phantoms power play. The shorthanded goal was Botterill's 12th of the season.
Radoslav Hecl cut it to 3-2 with 3:18 to play in the period with a slap shot into the lower right corner just as Ben Stafford was departing the penalty box. Chris Taylor and Doug Houda assisted on Hecl's third of the season.
The score remained the same deep into the third period before Rochester pulled Miller and the Phantoms took advantage with Eric Betournay's empty-net goal at the 19:01 mark. Betournay's second goal of the year was Philadelphia's first empty-netter in 2002-03.
"We're still working on things," said Phantoms head coach John Stevens. "If anything, we have to start playing better with the lead. We got better in the third after letting off the throttle in the middle of the second. Rochester comes in hard, we had to battle the whole way through."
The Phantoms host the Hershey Bears this Friday at 7:05 p.m. before making their first-ever visit to Manchester on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Next week, Philadelphia entertains the Bears again on Friday, Dec. 6 and play at Bridgeport on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Phantoms Notes: Greig also scored the lone goal in Philadelphia's season-opening win over Rochester with 30 seconds left in overtime ... The Phantoms played without forwards Peter White and Guillaume Lefebvre, who were called up to the Chicago Blackhawks and Flyers, respectively ... Kirby Law returned tonight after serving a three-game suspension ... The Phantoms and Americans next meet on Jan. 15 in Rochester ... Gwen from The Bachelor dropped the opening puck.
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