Phantoms Weekly

January 3, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


The Phantoms dropped three of four games last week, but still picked up four-of-eight standings points to maintain a six-point lead in the AHL's East Division. On Wednesday, Mikhail Yakubov scored two minutes into overtime to lift the Norfolk Admirals to a 2-1 victory over the Phantoms. Tony Voce scored Philadelphia's lone goal, while Neil Little made a team season-high 46 saves. The Phantoms traveled to Hershey on New Year's Eve and suffered a 4-3 shootout loss. Patrick Sharp and Jon Sim gave Philadelphia a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, but Mathieu Darche completed his hat trick with a pair of goals 1:49 apart that evened the score. In the shootout, Hershey scored on two of its first three tries and Philadelphia went 0-for-4 as the Bears ended an eight-game home losing streak vs. the Phantoms. On Saturday, Philadelphia turned things around with a 5-4 shootout win in Albany. Boyd Kane led the way in regulation with a goal and an assist, while Mark Murphy, Sharp and Ben Stafford all scored in the shootout. Little made 24 saves before stopping three of five River Rats shootout attempts. The Phantoms returned home on Sunday and suffered a 4-2 loss to the Rochester Americans. Thomas Vanek recorded a goal and an assist and Ryan Miller made 27 saves as Rochester snapped a 10-game winless streak vs. Philadelphia. Antero Niittymaki registered 22 saves in the loss.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS
The Phantoms aim to snap a five-game winless streak vs. the Syracuse Crunch this Friday. Syracuse captured the first meeting of the season back on Nov. 28 when Tim Jackman and Aaron Johnson each scored in a 2-1 victory, which snapped Philadelphia's AHL-record 17-game win streak. The Phantoms are now 0-2-1-2 against the Crunch since their last win in the series on Feb. 9, 2003. Despite the Crunch's recent success, Philadelphia still owns a 16-9-8-2 lead in the all-time series, including a 9-3-3-2 mark when playing at home.

The Phantoms are 2-2 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins heading into Saturday's showdown. Philadelphia began the season series with a pair of 3-2 shootout wins, as R.J. Umberger and Ben Stafford tallied the deciding goals on Nov. 12 and Dec. 1, respectively. Wilkes-Barre answered with a 6-4 win on Dec. 11 behind Michel Ouellet's hat trick and then captured a 5-3 decision on Dec. 26. Last season, the teams split 10 match-ups before meeting in the East Division Finals. The Penguins captured the best-of-seven series in six games before eventually bowing out in the Calder Cup Finals. Philadelphia owns a 33-19-3-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 17-10-1 mark on the road. The 10-game series continues on Saturday, Feb. 5 in Wilkes-Barre.

Philadelphia and Albany continue their six-game season series on Sunday. The Phantoms posted a 4-3 win in the first encounter of the year on Nov. 20 thanks to Jon Sim's goal 1:30 into overtime. Philadelphia then posted a 5-4 shootout win in Albany on Jan. 1. The Phantoms went 4-2 vs. the River Rats in 2003-04 and are 16-13-4-1 all-time against Albany, including a 9-4-2-1 mark when playing at home. The Phantoms are on a six-game home unbeaten streak (5-0-1) vs. Albany since their last loss on Dec. 9, 2000. The River Rats will visit Philadelphia again on Sunday, Jan. 23.

LITTLE HAS BUSY NIGHT
Making his first appearance since Dec. 15, goaltender Neil Little was put to the test on Wednesday when the Norfolk Admirals fired 48 shots at him in their 2-1 overtime win. Norfolk attempted 14 in the first period and 24 in the second to match the record for most shots taken in a period by a Phantoms opponent. Little stood his ground, however, finishing the night with 46 saves which is one shy of his own team record established in November 1996. His 23 saves in the second stanza tied Brian Boucher's club record for most in a period.

WORKIN' OVERTIME
The Phantoms went into overtime or a shootout five times in six games from Dec. 19-Jan. 1. Philadelphia is now 4-2 in overtime games and 4-3 in shootouts, and its combined 13 games going past regulation rank second in the AHL behind Portland (14). The Phantoms are tied for the most shootout games (7) in the league with Syracuse and Hartford.

HALL OF FAME NIGHT ON SUNDAY
Former head coach Bill Barber and legendary tough guy Frank "The Animal" Bialowas will be the first two inductees into the Phantoms Hall of Fame this Sunday, Jan. 9. Philadelphia will hold a special Hall of Fame induction ceremony prior to the 5:05 p.m. game vs. the Albany River Rats at the Wachovia Spectrum.

PHANTOMS TRANSACTIONS
1/2 - ADD B.J. Abel, recalled from Trenton (ECHL)

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Friday's game against the Syracuse Crunch will be televised live by Comcast SportsNet. Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. On Sunday, if the Phantoms defeat the Albany River Rats, everyone in attendance will receive a complimentary ticket to the Philadelphia-Binghamton game on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

PHANTOMS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS (thru 1/2)
* Ben Eager is tied for second among rookies in minor penalties (24).
* Josh Gratton is third in penalty minutes (182) and tied for fourth in major penalties (20).
* Freddy Meyer is tied for fifth among defensemen in plus/minus (+13) and tied for third in shooting percentage (.125).
* Antero Niittymaki is fourth in goals-against average (1.95), tied for sixth in wins (14) and tied for second in shootout wins (3).
* Joni Pitkanen is tied for 11th among defensemen in points (20) and tied for 10th in plus/minus (+11).
* Dennis Seidenberg is tied for 11th among defensemen in points (20) and tied for fourth in game-winning goals (2).
* Patrick Sharp is tied for eighth in power-play goals (7).
* Jon Sim is tied for seventh in game-winning goals (4).
* R.J. Umberger is tied for fifth among rookies in points (22), fourth in goals (10) and tied for fifth in assists (12).
* Tony Voce is tied for ninth among rookies in points (18), tied for second in power-play goals (4) and tied for sixth in plus/minus (+6).
* The Phantoms are sixth in shots allowed per game (27.53), fourth in goals allowed per game (2.32), seventh in power-play percentage (18.5) and tied for eighth in goals per game (3.06).

PHANTOMS NOTES
* All three of Philadelphia's games with Norfolk this season have gone into overtime.
* Jon Sim played in his 400th game as a pro and 100th AHL game on Dec. 29.
* Philadelphia matched a club record when it attempted just one shot during the second period on Dec. 29.
* The Phantoms and Hershey Bears played their 100th regular-season game against each other on Dec. 31. Philadelphia leads the all-time series 53-39-8.
* Philadelphia is now 0-4 all-time when playing on New Year's Eve.
* Rochester defeated Philadelphia on Jan. 2 for the first time since Feb. 9, 2001.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to all Phantoms home games are $19, $18 and $14 for adults, and $8 for all children 14 and under, and are available now at the Wachovia Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations throughout the Delaware Valley. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling (215) 336-2000, (856) 338-9000 or (302) 984-2000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Contact the Phantoms office at 215-465-4522 or log on to www.phantomshockey.com for information on group discounts, birthday packages and the Family Four Pack.



American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2005


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