Phantoms Take Down First Place Hershey Bears For Third Time

Published on February 23, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


The Phantoms secured two big victories to begin Week 21, beating Binghamton 4-3 on the road on Wednesday and they picking up their third win of the season against Hershey 5-3 on Friday, knocking off the team with the best record in the AHL; they are the only team in the league to have three wins and to boast a winning record against the Bears. Adirondack came up short in their two games over the weekend, losing at Albany 2-1 on Saturday night in Round Nine of the Time Warner Cable Cup series and then being shutout by Hamilton 5-0 on Sunday at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Week 22 Preview:

Adirondack features a three-game home stand this week, beginning on Wednesday night as they host the Syracuse Crunch for a 7:00 pm face off at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Wednesday's game broadcast can be heard on XM Satellite Radio, on NHL Home Ice channel 204; the game will air as always on the team's flagship station, Classic Hits Q-101.7 FM. Friday night, February 26th, the red hot Norfolk Admirals are in town to face the Phantoms at 7:30 pm and Saturday, February 27th the Lowell Devils make their only trip of the season to Glens Falls for a 7:00 pm face off. Friday and Saturday night the Phantoms will be wearing specially designed jerseys to commemorate and celebrate the Winter Olympics and the 30th anniversary of the 1980 gold medal-winning United States Men's hockey team; the game-worn special jerseys will be auctioned off after the weekend. Friday night will also be the second Dollar Dogs night at the Civic Center, with $1 hot dogs at the concession stands all night long; in addition the Labatt Blue Zone in Heritage Hall will be selling $2 draft beers during the pre-game on Friday from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

On the injury front Marc-Andre Bourdon missed games this past week, but returned to the lineup on Sunday in Montreal. Denis Bodrov picked up an injury on Friday night against Hershey and did not play in either game last weekend. Krys Kolanos underwent successful hip surgery in Nashville last week with one of the nation's top hip and groin surgical specialists and returned to Glens Falls last week to begin his rehab.

Week 22 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on Classic Hits Q-101.7 FM and can also be heard for free over the Internet at www.phantomshockey.com and can be viewed via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com.)

Wednesday, February 24 - 7:00 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Syracuse Crunch (24-27-3-3, 54 pts)

Sixth Place, East Division

This will be the fifth meeting of the season between Adirondack and Syracuse. The Phantoms are 1-0-0-0 at home against the Crunch, blanking them 5-0 on November 1st; however they have struggled on the road, losing all three games at Syracuse and being out-scored 16-3. The Crunch beat the Binghamton Senators 2-1 last Saturday afternoon in the Mirabito Outdoor Classic at the New York State Fairgrounds, the first outdoor game in AHL history. In their last meeting Syracuse beat Adirondack 5-0 on February 6th at the War Memorial, the last of a six-game winning streak; since that game the Crunch have gone 2-6-0-0 and have fallen back to sixth place in the Division. G Kevin Lalande has played in 13 of the team's last 14 games and 37 games overall this season. Leading Scorers: Derek MacKenzie (C) - 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 40 GP & Brendan Bell (D) - 36 points (9 goals, 27 assists) in 54 GP. Leading Goaltender: Kevin Lalande (G) - 2.70 GAA, 0.914 save pct., 17-15-2, 1 SO in 37 GP. Who's Hot: Mike Blunden (RW) - 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) and a +1 rating in his last four games played. Alexandre Picard (LW) - 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) in his last four games played. Brendan Bell (D) - 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in his last four games played.

Friday, February 26 - 7:30 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Norfolk Admirals (30-25-3-1, 64 pts)

Third Place, East Division

Norfolk has been one of the hottest teams in the AHL since the All-Star Break in mid-January. Right before the break the Admirals were swept by the Phantoms in a two-game series at Norfolk Scope Arena and after the second game on January 16th, they fired their head coach Darren Rumble and replaced him with Jim Johnson. Since Johnson took over behind the bench the Admirals are 13-2-1-1 in 17 games, taking 28 out of a possible 32 points and vaulting from the East Division basement into third place, just two points behind second place Albany. The Phantoms are 2-0-0-0 in two games at Norfolk, but are 1-1-1-0 in three home games against the Admirals. Friday's game is the final regular season home game against Norfolk this season. Leading scorer Brandon Bochenski has goals in each of his last three games, while Mark Parrish is on a six game point streak (8 points). Rookie goalie Jaroslav Janus has won his last four starts and goalie Dustin Tokarski is 8-2-1 in his last 11 starts. Leading Scorer: Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in 38 GP. Leading Goaltender: Dustin Tokarski (G) - 2.50 GAA, 0.916 save pct., 19-15-1, 3 SO in 35 GP. Who's Hot: Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a +2 rating in his last three games played. Mark Parrish (C) - 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) and a +5 rating in his last six games played. Ryan Craig (C) - 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) and a +5 rating in his last five games played. Dana Tyrell (C) - 6 assists and a +6 rating in his last five games played.

Saturday, February 27 - 7:00 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Lowell Devils (30-22-4-3, 67 pts)

Fourth Place, Atlantic Division

The Devils beat the Phantoms 5-3 on December 3rd at Tsongas Arena, the only meeting of the season so far between Adirondack and Lowell. Saturday's game will be the only trip by the Devils to Glens Falls this year. Lowell snapped a 7-game winless streak last Friday with a 5-0 win vs. Manchester, but were shut out 1-0 by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the next night. During their last nine games the Devils are 1-5-1-2, but remain four points ahead of Bridgeport for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Rob Davison is on a three game assist streak. After evenly alternating 14 games with Jeff Frazee, goalie Mike McKenna has started the last three games; he went 1-1-1 during that span and had a GAA of 0.97, only allowing 3 goals. Leading Scorer: Ben Walter (C) - 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) in 57 GP. Leading Goaltender: Mike McKenna (G) - 2.23 GAA, 0.928 save pct., 17-11-3, 3 SO in 34 GP. Who's Hot: Michael Swift (C) - 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in his last three games played. Matt Taormina (D) - 3 assists in his last two games played. Rob Davison (D) - 3 assists in his last three games played.

Week 21 Game Results:

February 17, 2010 Adirondack 4 @ Binghamton 3

February 19, 2010 Hershey 3 @ Adirondack 5

February 20, 2010 Adirondack 1 @ Albany 2

February 21, 2010 Adirondack 0 @ Hamilton 5 @ Bell Centre in Montreal

Phantoms Player of the Week: (Week 21)

David Laliberte - RW - #10 4 GP, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), Even, 6 PIMs

Right wing David Laliberte has been a consistent point producer for the Phantoms, having registered at least one point in 14 of the last 20 games (6 goals, 11 assists). The St. Liboire, Quebec native had points in three of Adirondack's four games in Week 21, totaling four points (1 goal, 3 assists) and 6 penalty minutes. After registering an assist against Binghamton on Wednesday, Laliberte had a banner game on Friday against the Hershey Bears as he led all scorers with three points (1 goal, 2 assists), assisting on both the game-winning and insurance goals in the third period. On Saturday in Albany he assisted on Patrick Maroon's lone goal, his fourth point of the week. This season Laliberte ranks second on the team in points (35) and third in goals (13).

Phantoms Quick Hits:

- BEAR-ING DOWN - The Phantoms can boast two things on the Hershey Bears; they are the only team with three wins against the defending Calder Cup champs and is the only team in the AHL that has played them more than once to have a winning record against the Bears. Adirondack is 3-2-0-0 against Hershey this season and will face them three more times this year, once in Glens Falls and twice in Chocolatetown.

- ON THE PLUS SIDE - LW Mika Pyorala has recorded an even or better plus/minus rating in his last seven straight games and in 12 of his 14 for the Phantoms this season. The Oulu, Finland native leads Adirondack with a +6 rating, while fellow Finland native, rookie defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori, ranks second on the team at +4.

- NHL ALL OVER AGAIN - The Phantoms played a regular season game in an NHL building for the second time this season on Sunday as they played the Hamilton Bulldogs at the Bell Centre in Montreal. 15,529 fans attended the game in Montreal, while earlier this season on December 4th at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Adirondack played against the Norfolk Admirals in front of 13,127 fans.

- SUNDAY SLIDE - Adirondack's 5-0 loss to Hamilton in Montreal was the fifth straight loss for the Phantoms on Sunday games. They started off the season 4-0-0-0 on Sunday games, but have since dropped to 4-5-0-0 over this season on Sundays. Adirondack does not play this Sunday, but have games on the first three Sundays in March.

- ACCOMPLISHED - D Logan Stephenson played in his 250th career Pro & AHL game on Saturday at Albany. On Wednesday in Binghamton Stephenson scored on a breakaway for his first goal of the season. He has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 44 games played for Adirondack this year.

- MILESTONES COMING UP - LW Jason Ward needs 1 game played for his 700th career Pro game; he is 1 assist shy of his 200th career Pro assist. RW Rob Bellamy is 1 game away from playing in his 100th career Pro & AHL game. C Jonathon Kalinski needs 3 GP to reach his 100th career AHL game. RW David Laliberte is 4 GP away from his 150th career AHL game. C Jared Ross is 2 assists shy of his 150th career AHL assist.

Phantoms Recent Transactions

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Adirondack Phantoms Team Leaders:

Games Played: Jon Matsumoto (57)

Goals: Stefan Legein (21)

Assists: Patrick Maroon & Jon Matsumoto (25)

Points: Jon Matsumoto (45)

Plus/Minus: Mika Pyorala (+6)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Clackson (139)

Power Play Goals: Jon Matsumoto (5)

Short Handed Goals: Stefan Legein (3)

Game-Winning Goals: Jason Ward (3)

Shots: Jon Matsumoto (176)

Shooting Percentage: Stefan Legein (18.4%)

Wins: Johan Backlund (18)

GAA: Johan Backlund (2.69)

Save Percentage: Johan Backlund (0.910)

Saves: Johan Backlund (888)

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Adirondack begins a three-game home stand this week on Wednesday, February 24th as they host the Syracuse Crunch for a 7:00 pm face off in Glens Falls. Friday the Phantoms host Norfolk at 7:30 pm and Saturday the Lowell Devils are in town for a 7:00 pm face off.

There is no better way to watch Phantoms Hockey than by sharing it with a group of your family and friends. Bring a group of 15 or more people to the Glens Falls Civic Center and qualify for incredible discounted ticket prices off the regular box office rates. For more information about group tickets, contact the Phantoms at 518-480-3355 or visit www.phantomshockey.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 23, 2010


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