Phantoms Playoff Update

Published on April 20, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


Hershey leads the best-of-seven series 2-0 after winning Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia last week. The series resumes with Game 3 this Wednesday night at 7:00 at Hershey's GIANT Center.

Game 1: Thu, April 16 - Hershey 4, Philadelphia 2

Game 2: Sat., April 18 - Hershey 6, Philadelphia 2

Game 3: Wed., April 22 - Philadelphia at Hershey, 7:00

Game 4: Fri., April 24 - Philadelphia at Hershey, 7:00

*Game 5: Sat., April 25 - Philadelphia at Hershey, 7:00

*Game 6: Sun., April 26 - Hershey at Philadelphia, 5:05

*Game 7: Tue., April 28 - Philadelphia at Hershey, 7:00

* - if necessary

GAME 1 RECAP

Thursday, April 16: Hershey 4, Phantoms 2 - Kyle Wilson and Andrew Gordon each contributed a goal and an assist and the Bears shut down the Phantoms on seven power play opportunities en route to a 4-2 win at the Wachovia Spectrum. Hershey never trailed in the contest, jumping on the board first with 4:42 to play in the first period when Wilson turned a shot on net that Scott Munroe stopped, but Gordon was there to tip home the rebound. It gave the Bears a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Phantoms posted the only goal of the second period to even things up at the second intermission. It came just 3:21 into the period when Jonathan Matsumoto carried the puck down the left wing on a 2-on-1 with David Laliberte. Matsumoto took the shot himself and beat Michal Neuvirth to knot the game at 1-1. Hershey took charge with two quick goals in the third period. The first came during a power play just 1:31 in when Gordon took a feed from Wilson in front and beat Munroe to make it a 2-1 Hershey lead. Then exactly five minutes later, Andrew Joudrey pulled a puck off the wall and found a wide-open Oskar Osala in front of the Phantoms net, who beat Munroe after a deke and made it 3-1 Hershey. The Phantoms got one of the goals back six minutes later, at the 11:31 mark, when Matsumoto popped a puck out in front that Lasse Kukkonen was able to deflect past Neuvirth. But Philadelphia's comeback hopes were dashed with 1:58 left when Jay Beagle converted a cross from Chris Bourque to close out the scoring.

SOG: 32 SOGA: 31 PP: 0-for-7 PK: 5-for-6

GAME 2 RECAP

Saturday, April 18: Hershey 6, Phantoms 2 - The Phantoms jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Bears scored six unanswered goals to take a 6-2 win at the Wachovia Spectrum. Phantoms captain Boyd Kane put his club on the board just 53 seconds into the contest. Jon Kalinski was on the end wall and flipped the puck out in front, where Kane was waiting to jam it past Michal Neuvirth. Then the Phantoms took the 2-0 lead 6:42 into the contest. Jonathan Matsumoto took a slapshot from the right side that went wide and off the end boards, bouncing back off to the left to Patrick Maroon, who was able to fire it home before Neuvirth could recover. But the Bears took over from there, starting when Bryan Helmer got his club on the board with a goal from the center point at 11:03 of the first period that came just after a power play ended. In the second period. Staffan Kronwall scored from the point with 5:02 left for the first of Hershey's three power play goals, and the Bears proceeded to add four more in the third period. Alexandre Giroux scored the eventual game-winner 2:27 into the third period on a power play, and then Mathieu Perrault added an insurance goal with an end-to-end unassisted goal. Steve Pinizzato scored an empty-netter, after which the Bears got another power play and added the sixth goal from Frederic Bouchard with 27 seconds left. Scott Munroe stopped 27 of 32 on the night, while Neuvirth turned away 25 of 27.

SOG: 27 SOGA: 32 PP: 0-for-5 PK: 3-for-6

LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES

Philadelphia

C Jonathan Matsumoto - 1G, 2A, +1, 10 shots

LW Patrick Maroon - 1G, 2A, +1, 3 shots

RW Boyd Kane - 1G, 0A, E, 5 shots

D Lasse Kukkonen - 1G, 0A, E, 4 shots

Hershey

LW Oskar Osala - 1G, 2A, +2, 2 shots

C Keith Aucoin - 0G, 3A, E, 4 shots

LW Chris Bourque - 0G, 3A, +2, 8 shots

RW Francois Bouchard - 1G, 1A, E, 3 shots

LW Alexandre Giroux - 1G, 1A, -1, 5 shots

RW Andrew Gordon - 1G, 1A, E, 6 shots

GOALTENDERS PHI - Scott Munroe: 0-2, 4.51 GAA, .857 sv% 54 saves on 63 shots, 9 GA

HER - Michal Neuvirth: 2-0, 2.00 GAA,.932 sv%, 55 saves on 59 shots, 4 GA

BEARS WINNING SPECIAL TEAMS BATTLE

The Phantoms power play operated at 25.7 percent (18 for 70) in the 12 regular season games against Hershey this year, but the tables have turned so far in this series. Although the Bears finished atop the Eastern Conference this season, they did so while operating with the worst penalty kill in the league at 78.6 percent. Yet the Bears have held Philadelphia scoreless in 12 power play opportunities over the first two games. Meanwhile, on the other side of the equation, Hershey is 4-for-12 on the man advantage (33 percent) during the first two games after going just 16 percent (63 for 75) during that same timeframe. The Phantoms are playing this series without center Jared Ross (recalled to Flyers), who had eight goals and 14 assists on the power play this season, and defenseman Jason DeSantis (injured), who had a power play goal and 14 power play assists on the year.

PLAYOFF HISTORY

The Phantoms have only been down 2-0 in a playoff series twice in their history - the 2000 Mid-Atlantic Division Finals against Hershey and the 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinals against Syracuse - and lost the series on both occasions. The Phantoms rebounded in the Hershey series to win the next two games and force a deciding Game 5, which Hershey won, but were swept 3-0 in the Syracuse series. That series remains the only losing sweep in Phantoms history.

The Bears have been up 2-0 in a series 31 times since 1946 (game-by-game records not available from 1939-1945) and have lost a series in that situation only one time - the 1989 Southern Division Finals, in which Hershey took a 3-0 lead on the Adirondack Red Wings but ended up losing the series in four games. The Bears have swept their opponent on 17 of those 31 occasions.

PHANTOMS CONNECTIONS HELP FLYERS BOUNCE BACK AGAINST PENGUINS

There was a lot of purple mixed in with all that orange at the Flyers' Game 3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at the Wachovia Center. Claude Giroux, who appeared in 32 games for the Phantoms this season, posted a goal and a highlight-reel assist in the contest and was named the game's first star. Giroux was the AHL's leading rookie scorer when he was called up to the Flyers on December 26. Jared Ross, the Phantoms' leading scorer this year with 69 points in 64 games, scored his first career NHL goal in the contest. The Flyers also got an assist and some great physical play from Darroll Powe, who appeared in eight games for the Phantoms at the start of the season and played the entire 2007-08 campaign for the club. Defenseman Ryan Parent helped out, going +1 in just over 15 minutes of action. The Flyers playoff roster includes five players - captain Mike Richards, leading scorer Jeff Carter, defenseman Randy Jones, goaltender Antero Niittymaki and injured winger Riley Cote - that were part of the Phantoms 2005 Calder Cup championship, along with head coach John Stevens and assistant coach Craig Berube.

GAME 6 TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Tickets for a potential Game 6 at the Wachovia Spectrum on Sunday, April 26 at 5:05 PM are now on sale at $10 for adults and $5 for kids 14 and under. In the event the series does not reach a Game 6, tickets will be fully refunded at the point of purchase, including all service charges. Tickets are available via ComcastTIX at Phantomshockey.com, by phone at 1-800-298-4200 or at the Wachovia Complex box office.

www.phantomshockey.com

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American Hockey League Stories from April 20, 2009


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