Sports stats



Phantoms Weekly - One Weekend Left

April 18, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


Phantoms Week in Review

Friday, April 12 - Springfield Falcons 3 - Adirondack Phantoms 2

It was a glimpse into the future on Friday night with several newcomers getting their first Glens Falls ice-time. Scott Laughton and Mark Alt both recorded their first career professional points in solid Phantoms debuts. But the Springfield Falcons broke a late 2-2 tie on a goal by Spencer Machacek as the Northeast Division champions took a 3-2 decision that ended Adirondack's six-game home-ice point streak.

Matt Konan's second goal of the season on a perfectly placed top-shelf snipe from center-point had tied the score with 7:44 remaining and the Phantoms had momentum after the late equalizer.

Jason Akeson had scored earlier in the game on the power play for his team-leading 17th goal of the season, 11 of which have come on the man-advantage.

#17 Scott Laughton was playing his first AHL game. #4 Mark Alt on defense was making his professional debut. And #25 Nick Cousins was playing in Glens Falls for the first time in just his third professional game.

Saturday, April 13 - Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Connecticut Whale 3 (OT)

Jason Akeson came through in the clutch and continued his trend of burning the Connecticut Whale. This time, it was an overtime game-winner from the high-slot in a 4-3 thriller on Saturday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Akeson's second goal of the game was also his team-leading 19th of the season capping an entertaining evening involving one of the most entertaining games of the season.

18-year-old prospect Scott Laughton scored his first professional goal in his second game with the Phantoms. And Rob Bordson notched his 10th of the year and dished out two assists as well.

Dan Miner Bobbleheads for the first 2,500 fans in attendance brought the fans out early. And Christian rock band The Wrecking kept some of them late with the post-game concert. And in-between the fans were treated to a wild and exciting hockey game in which Adirondack improved to 4-1-1 against the affiliate of the New York Rangers.

The Whale are undoubtedly impressed and also likely somewhat annoyed at the talents of Jason Akeson as they have witnessed seven of his total 19 goals scored this year.

Sunday, April 14 - Adirondack Phantoms 2 - Binghamton Senators 1 (SO / 15 rounds)

Nobody was really sure if the Adirondack Phantoms could top the excitement level of Saturday night's overtime win. But somehow, and in a very unlikely way, that's exactly what they did on Sunday afternoon against the Binghamton Senators.

Garrett Roe swung home the tying goal with just 0.3 seconds remaining and that was only the start of the wildness. Then the Phantoms and Senators would go back and forth trading goals and saves through a marathon and edge-of-your-seat 15-round shootout with Adirondack finally prevailing on rookie Mark Alt's blast. It was Alt's first ever shootout attempt at any level and the stay-at-home defenseman scored zero goals all year at the University of Minnesota. But he came through in the clutch in the 15th round.

Adirondack had to score on five previous occasions just to keep the game going. Trailing in the bottom-half of several rounds, they received clutch goals in do-or-die situations from Marcel Noebels (4th), Kyle Flanagan (5th), Rob Bordson (6th), Tye McGinn (9th) and Brandon Alderson (11th) before Mark Alt would finally finish it off.

Saratoga Spine Phantoms Player of the Week - Mark Alt

Welcome to the pro, Mark Alt! The big defenseman from the University of Minnesota came through in the clutch in his first ever shootout attempt. Never mind that Alt had never taken a single shootout attempt before at any level of hockey or that he scored zero goals all season in college or in the pros. Alt was the hero in the 15th round at the conclusion of his career pro weekend as he nailed it top-self in his career shootout attempt.

Alt is excited to be joining the Flyers organization after coming over from the Golden Gophers. And happy he chose hockey over football as well. Alt was a star quarterback in high school and led his team to a state championship. His Dad, John Alt, was an All-Pro offensive tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs and played there for 12 years.

Mark Alt arrived in Glens Falls last Monday, was practicing with the team for the first time on Tuesday, played his first pro game on Friday recording his first ever point on an assist, and then nailing the game-winning shootout goal by Sunday. That's quite a week!

Key Team Stats

The Phantoms are...

- 28-8-4 when tied or leading after two periods. (15-2-1 if leading after two. 13-6-3 if tied after two)

- 14-3-1 when leading after one period.

- 23-4-3 when score 3 or more goals

- 17-1-2 when they score 4 or more goals

- 3-3 in overtimes and 5-4 in shootouts for a combined 8-7 in games decided after regulation.

- 14 of the Phantoms wins have come when they have held the opponents to 0 or 1 goals.

- 20-5-2 when scoring the first goal.

- 18-15-3 at home

- 24-17-4 when scoring at least one PPG

Glens Falls Excitement

Adirondack's win on Sunday clinched a winning home-ice record again. The Phantoms have had a winning record in Glens Falls for each of their four seasons.

The Phantoms are 18-15-3 on home-ice this season.

Overall, Adirondack is 79-61-14 at home in the last four years.

The Phantoms are 6-1-2 in their last nine home games since March 8. That's only one regulation loss in their last nine.

Four of the last five home games have gone to overtime. The only one that didn't looked like it might have been on its way before Springfield won the game with about five minutes to go.

NHL Experience

Number of Adirondack Phantoms players we have had JUST THIS YEAR who have also played in the NHL = 20. That's 20 different players just from our own Phantoms team we have seen at the Glens Falls Civic Center to also have played in the NHL. Scott Laughton Brian Boucher (328 games) Michael Leighton Danny Syvret Andreas Lilja (577 games) David Laliberte Zack FitzGerald (1 Game!!) Jon Sim (469 games) Tye McGinn Eric Wellwood Ben Holmstrom Brandon Manning Oliver Lauridsen Erik Gustafsson Marc-Andre Bourdon Brayden Schenn Sean Couturier Zac Rinaldo

Tom Sestito Harry Zolnierczyk

Upcoming Opponents

Hershey Bears, 34-30-9 (Washington Capitals)

Friday, April 19 (7:00) - Glens Falls Civic Center - $2 Draft Beer Specials

The Bears are fighting for their playoff lives and Adirondack is looking to play spoiler in this one. Hershey sits in a 9th-place tie in the Eastern Conference just two points back of Norfolk and Connecticut for the last spots.

In Hershey's only visit to Glens Falls this year, Adirondack took care of business 3-1 on November 24. But the Phantoms have lost both of their games to Chocolate-Town.

Jeff Taffe - 18-52-70. Leads AHL in assists and tied with Brandon Pirri of Rockford for most points. Named AHL Second All-Star Team center. AHL and NHL veteran since 2002-03. 180 NHL games mostly with PIT, PHX, FLA. Last year, 18-35-53 with Houston. Jon DiSalvatore - 16-29-45. AHL veteran of 700+ games since 2003-04 with Cleveland Barons, Worcester IceCats, Peoria Rivermen, San Antonio Rampage, Lowell Devils and last three years with Houston Aeros. Ryan Potulny 19-21-40 - AHL and NHL veteran since 2005-06. Played in 44 games for Flyers from 2006-08. 88 games for Philadelphia Phantoms 2006-08 scoring combined 33-40-73 in 88 games. Scored winning goal in April 22, 2008 epic playoff marathon in 5th overtime for Philadelphia Phantoms vs. Albany River Rats. Winning goalie was Scott Munroe. Losing goalie was Michael Leighton. Dany Sabourin, 9-13-3, 2.72, .903. AHL veteran goalie since 2000-01 with St. John Flames. AHL Goalie of te Year in 2005-06 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with league-leading 2.26 goals-against. Phillip Grubauer, 13-8-2, 2.28, .920. Had first career AHL shutout in spectacular 40-save effort in 3-0 win over Adirondack on February 23

Springfield Falcons, 44-21-9 (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Saturday, April 20 (7:00) - Scoville Gemstone Giveaway and Super-Fan Cameron Hughes

Falcons are going to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years ending the AHL's longest postseason drought. The Northeast Division champions are just two points behind Providence for the conference title entering their showdown game against the Bruins on Friday.

Springfield allows 2.4 goals per game for the second-best defense in the AHL trailing only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Young head coach Brad Larsen played for the Portland Pirates in 2009-10. Also played several seasons for the Colorado Avalanche and Hershey Bears as well as Atlanta and the Chicago Wolves.

Matthew Ford - 8-13-22. Traded by Flyers to Columbus for future considerations last month. Had 4-9-13 with ADK in 35 games. 4-4-8 for SPR in 16 games.

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault - 20-44-64. 6rd in AHL in points and 4th in assists. Quebec City native in second season as a pro. 2nd on Connecticut Whale last year with 24 goals and first with 40 assists.

Ryan Craig - 20-27-47. Captain of Springfield and formerly captain of WBS Penguins returns to the Falcons where he played in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Had career high 27 goals in 04-05. 190 NHL games mostly with Tampa Bay. Bryan Helmer - 0-2-2. 40-year-old AHL vet whose career began with the Albany River Rats for five seasons from 1993-94 through 1997-98. Back-to-back Calder Cups with Hershey in 2009 and 2010.

Curtis McElhinney - 28-15-3, 2.24, .925, 9 shutouts to lead the AHL and set all-time Springfield AHL single-season record.

Albany Devils, 29-31-13 (New Jersey Devils)

Sunday, April 21 (3:00) - Times Union Center, Albany, NY

Albany has clinched the season-series and therefore has won the Time Warner Cable Cup for the first time in three years.

The Devils have lost their last six straight (0-5-1) to fall out of the playoff picture. Albany has gone an AHL-worst 3-12 in shootouts this year significantly hurting their chances and establishing a new league record for most shootout losses.

Joe Whitney - 25-25-50. Diminutive Boston College standout is only 5'6". Younger brother, Steve, is now getting his pro career started with Norfolk. Seven of his 25 goals have come against Adirondack.

Steve Zalewski - 11-29-40. Utica native and former Worcester Shark out of Clarkson Univ. 19 goals last year with Albany. Career-high 22 goals in 2009-10 with Worcester Sharks. Jeff Frazee - 7-14-5, 2.67, .912. 5th year pro, Round 2 selection (#38 overall) out of University of Minnesota.

UPCOMING

Friday, April 19 (7:00) - Hershey Bears at Adirondack Phantoms. $2 Draft Beer Specials

Saturday, April 20 (7:00) - Springfield Falcons at Adirondack Phantoms. Scoville Jewelers Gemstone Giveaway (first 500 fans) including $25 gift-cards. One grand-prize package $1,000 value including large Phantoms Orange Gemstone. Plus, Super-Fan Cameron Hughes, presented by Tackett Chiropractic.

Sunday, April 21 (3:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Albany Devils

End of Regular Season. Thank You, Fans!

Call the Phantoms in advance for tickets and Sunday Family 3-Packs and SAVE! 518-480-3355

Phantoms Have You Covered

We have all the latest interviews, game-recaps, videos and more. Make sure you're keeping up! Follow the Phantoms and join our online communities on facebook.com/adkhockey and on twitter @phantomshockey. And, of course, check in frequently at our official team website at phantomshockey.com.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 18, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Adirondack Phantoms Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central