Phantoms down Admirals 4-3 in overtime

Published on January 31, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


(PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 31, 2004) - John Slaney's power-play goal 1:23 into overtime was the difference this afternoon at the Wachovia Center as the Philadelphia Phantoms defeated the Milwaukee Admirals, 4-3, in front of an AHL season-high crowd of 15,603.

Philadelphia trailed three times in the game until Phantoms defenseman Kirk Furey evened the score at 3-3 with 7:06 to go in the third period. Just six seconds after Milwaukee's Greg Classen was sent off for cross checking, Kirby Law and Peter White worked the puck to Furey, who launched a long slap shot over the shoulder of Admirals goaltender Wade Flaherty.

Admirals defenseman Greg Zanon received a holding minor with 7.3 seconds left in regulation, giving the Phantoms a power play into the extra session. Law took a pass from Randy Jones on the decisive play and fed Slaney for a one-timer that sailed past an out-of-position Flaherty.

"Well, right off the bat, their forward broke his stick, so that gave us a few chances to shoot it in," said Slaney about the game-winning play. "We weren't getting them in and Kirby and I were looking at each other. I got a nice pass and it worked out."

Law finished with three assists, while White had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, which has won 10 of its last 12 games. The Phantoms also extended their home unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1).

Antero Niittymaki made 23 saves to improve to 7-0-1 in his last eight starts.

Flaherty stopped 22-of-26 shots for Milwaukee, which was coming off a 2-1 win in Rochester on Saturday night.

Jay Henderson tallied the lone goal of the opening period to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. Henderson took a feed from Darren Haydar on the play and dashed down the near side before backhanding a shot from the side. The puck went through Niittymaki's pads and over the goal line at the 13:38 mark for his seventh goal of the year.

The Phantoms evened the score just 47 seconds into the second period when Law dumped a shot on net and White attempted to deflect it in. Flaherty made the initial save, but White followed in his own miss to record his 10th goal.

Milwaukee re-took the lead with nine minutes to go in the second following a hooking minor on Joey Hope. Libor Pivko offered a centering pass from the corner to Brad Tiley and the former Phantom tipped it past Niittymaki

But the Phantoms made it 2-2 with 2:26 to go in the second stanza on a goal by B.J. Abel. Ian MacNeil and Freddy Meyer notched assists on the play, as Abel hacked away at a loose puck at the doorstep for his first goal since Opening Night.

Kirill Safronov's third goal at the 5:37 mark gave Milwaukee a 3-2 lead before Furey's equalizer.

"I thought we had a good last 10 minutes," said Phantoms head coach John Stevens. "We didn't play a solid 60 minutes, we just tried to stay in the hockey game. But boy was that a roller-coaster game. We got behind three times and found a way to win."

Today's crowd topped the previous league-best total of 13,342 set by the Houston Aeros on Jan. 16. It was Philadelphia's largest crowd since 19,730 fans packed the then First Union Center on Feb. 10, 2001.

The Phantoms continue their season-high five-game homestand on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. vs. the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Philadelphia then hosts the Albany River Rats on Friday at 7:05 p.m. before playing in Binghamton next Saturday.

Phantoms Notes: James Laux was an injured scratch, Craig Berube was a healthy scratch and Peter Vandermeer began serving a two-game suspension for instigator accumulation ... Philadelphia is 8-7-6 all-time at the Wachovia Center ... Mike Siklenka played in his 100th AHL game.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2004


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