Phantoms Fall 7-5 In Norfolk

Published on November 25, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


NORFOLK, VA - In a game that made several dents in the Phantoms record book, Brandon Bochenski scored four goals to lead the Norfolk Admirals to a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms at Norfolk Scope. Bochenski's performance helped erase an early 2-0 Phantoms lead and overshadowed another stellar evening for Ryan Potulny, who scored two goals for the second consecutive game.

The Phantoms wasted no time getting started, taking a 1-0 lead on a Niko Dimitrakos goal just 13 seconds into the contest. Dimitrakos took a cross-ice pass from Tony Voce and fired a slapshot from the right-side faceoff dot past goaltender Corey Crawford. The hastiness of the goal tied a franchise record for the fastest goal to start a game, equalizing the 13 seconds it took Todd Fedoruk to score at Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton on Dec. 26, 2004.

Philadelphia opened its lead to 2-0 on a power play tally with 6:19 remaining in the first period. Nolan Baumgartner fired a shot from the right point that Crawford stopped, but couldn't hold in his glove. Darren Reid came crashing in from the left and buried the rebound for his first goal as a Phantom. The tally extended to eight games a streak in which the Phantoms have scored at least one power play goal.

But Norfolk responded by exploding for three quick goals to take a 3-2 lead. First it was Bryan Bickell who redirected a shot from Jonas Nordqvist to put the Admirals on the board with 4:02 remaining.

Less than a minute later, with 3:07 on the clock, Martin St. Pierre won a face-off to Bochenski, who fired an initial shot that was blocked by a Phantoms defenseman. But the rebound came right back to Bochenski, who capitalized on the second opportunity by firing one past Rejean Beauchemin to tie the game at 2-2.

The scoring flurry was completed with 1:19 remaining when Michael Blunden came down the right side, wriggled between two Phantoms backcheckers into the right-wing circle, and wristed a shot that squeaked through Beauchemin's pads for the 3-2 lead that stood at the first intermission.

The second period was goal-free until the 15:02 mark, when the Admirals took a 4-2 lead. Bochenski was waiting at the back door for a pass from the right-side corner, jamming it past the left post for his second of the night.

But then Potulny took over and pulled his club even with two late power play goals. The first came at 16:28 while on a 5-on-3 advantage when Potulny, occupying the top of Crawford's crease, re-directed a centering pass from Mark Cullen. Then at the 17:56 mark, Potulny scored a remarkable goal on a shot he took while about six feet from the left post and just inches above the goal line. The keyhole tally tied the game at 4-4 at the second intermission.

Bochenski completed the hat trick at 7:15 of the third period. He knocked a puck loose at his own blue line and carried it down the right wing on a two-on-one before calling his own number and beating Beauchemin to the glove side. It was the first hat trick scored against the Phantoms in nearly two years, with the last coming on Dec. 31, 2004 when Hershey's Mathieu Darche accomplished the feat.

Bochenski then completed the four-goal night with a goal at the 10:06 mark. He took a cross-ice pass in the left circle and snapped a perfectly-placed wrister high to Beauchemin's stick side to make it a 6-4 game. Norfolk added another goal at 12:38 when Blunden scored his second of the game with a shot from the right-side boards that eluded Beauchemin for the 7-4 advantage. Bochenski's performance tied a Phantoms franchise record for goals by an opposing player in a game, equaling the mark set by Jim Campbell of Quebec on Feb. 16, 2001. It also was the first four-goal game in the Ads' seven-year history.

The Phantoms didn't give up and got one of the goals back with 3:23 remaining. Potulny fed a puck in front from the bottom of the right-side circle. Cullen was crashing the net via the slot and got his stick on the pass, deflecting it home to make the score 7-5.

Beauchemin took the loss in his return to action after missing a lengthy period due to injury, making 20 saves on 27 Admirals shots. Crawford earned the win with 25 saves on 30 Phantoms opportunities.

Philadelphia returns home to host the Manitoba Moose on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:05 in a game that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet. Individual tickets for all Phantoms games, including $8 tickets for children 14 and under anywhere in the building, are on sale now at phantomshockey.com or by calling 800-298-4200.

phantomshockey.com

Comcast-Spectacor (comcast-spectacor.com) is the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company which owns the Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), the two arenas in which their teams play, the Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum, four Flyers Skate Zone community ice skating and hockey rinks and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. In addition, Comcast-Spectacor is also the principal owner of Global Spectrum, the fastest growing firm in the public assembly management field with more than 50 facilities throughout the United States and Canada; Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage service provider; New Era Tickets, a ticketing and marketing company for public assembly facilities; Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company; and 3601 Creative Group, a full-service in-house advertising agency. Comcast-Spectacor also owns the Bowie Baysox, the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Frederick Keys baseball teams, all affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles. In a partnership with Disson Skating, Comcast-Spectacor annually produces 10 nationally televised figure skating spectaculars on NBC.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 25, 2006


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