Phantoms fall 3-1 at Hershey

April 7, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


(HERSHEY, Pa., April 7, 2002) - In a hard-fought game at Hersheypark Arena tonight, Mikhail Kuleshov scored the go-ahead goal with 11:52 left in the third period and Kelly Fairchild added an empty-net goal to lead the Hershey Bears to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Goaltender Neil Little finished with 33 saves and Jarrod Skalde scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which ends the season with a 33-27-15-5 record (86 points) and the eighth seed for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Phantoms begin their quest for their second Calder Cup title this Tuesday, April 9 (Game A) at the First Union Spectrum vs. the ninth-seeded Rochester Americans (32-30-15-3, 82 points). Philadelphia will host the entire best-of-three Western Conference qualifying round series, with Games Two (B) and Three (C) set for Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12 (if necessary). All three games start at 7:05 p.m.

Hershey outshot the Phantoms 17-8 in the opening period, but only beat Little during a 6-on-4 situation. With Skalde serving a five-minute high-sticking penalty and Bears goaltender Phil Sauve pulled for a sixth-attacker due to a delayed penalty on Jim Vandermeer, Bears center Jeff Daw took his time behind the net before finding Matt Herr in the far circle.

The former Phantom paused a second before launching a wrister that sailed over Little's shoulder at the 15:37 mark. Yuri Babenko also assisted on Herr's 18th goal of the year.

Philadelphia picked up the pressure in the second stanza, but couldn't get any of its 12 shots past Sauve. The game also became a bit more physical during the period as Philadelphia's Todd Fedoruk received a 10-minute misconduct and double-minor for roughing while Jim Vandermeer and Babenko went at it 20 yards away.

Philadelphia finally got on the board 6:58 into the third period - with 12 seconds remaining in an elbowing penalty to Babenko. Vandermeer began the play with a cross-ice pass to fellow defenseman Kristian Kudroc, who let fly a shot from just inside the blue line.

Positioned outside the crease, Skalde was able to deflect it past Sauve for his fourth goal as a Phantom and 19th of the year.

The momentum didn't sway Philadelphia's way for very long, as Jeff Paul and Kuleshov combined to put Hershey ahead for good at the 8:08 mark. Kuleshov fed the puck to Paul behind the net and got it back inside the far circle before uncorking a low line drive that got past Little for his eighth goal of the season.

Little was pulled for a sixth-attacker with 65 seconds remaining and the Bears sealed the win on Fairchild's empty-netter with 31 seconds to play, his 22nd goal of the year.

"We were missing a few key guys on our back line, but I thought we worked hard and gave ourselves a chance to win," commented Phantoms head coach John Stevens. "We feel good about ourselves going into the playoffs. Our team really picked it up over the last five or six games."

The Phantoms had their five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) come to an end. Sauve finished with 30 saves for Hershey.

Phantoms Notes: Earlier in the day, defenseman John Slaney was recalled by the Flyers. To fill his roster spot, left wing Peter Vandermeer was recalled from Trenton (ECHL) ... Defenseman Bruno St. Jacques did not play due to a hamstring injury ... The game began 30 minutes late because of a ceremony to celebrate the final regular-season game at 65-year-old Hersheypark Arena ... Philadelphia still won the season series with Hershey, 4-3-3-2, and lead the all-time series 33-25-8-4.



American Hockey League Stories from April 7, 2002


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