Phantoms Weekly

Published on December 28, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


It was a short week for the Phantoms as they played just one game following the Christmas Break, which consumed four days (Tuesday-Friday). Adirondack continued their four-game road trip by winning their second straight game, both of which they had to come from behind in the third period to steal the two points. Over the first two periods of Saturday night's game in Binghamton, the Phantoms were out-shot 18-14, out-scored 2-0 and generally out-played by the Senators. But Adirondack stormed back in the third period; getting goals from Ryan Dingle, Patrick Maroon and Matt Clackson, who stole a pass in the offensive zone and scored off the inside of the left post for the game-winning goal. It was their first win in three games against Binghamton this year and was just the second road victory against East Division opponents this season.

During the break, goaltender Johan Backlund was called up to Philadelphia to back up Michael Leighton last Wednesday at Tampa Bay. He was then returned to Adirondack and was fantastic on Saturday, stopping 32-of-34 shots against the B-Sens for his eighth win of the year. Defenseman Danny Syvret did not play on Saturday; he was officially recalled by the Flyers on Sunday afternoon, but he was notified while on the Phantoms team bus en route to Binghamton and had to then be driven from Binghamton to Long Island for the Flyers' game on Sunday against the New York Islanders.

Week 14 Preview:

Riding a modest two-game winning streak, and winners of five of their last seven contests, the Phantoms now prepare for their most grueling single-week game schedule of the season. Adirondack will play five games in seven days, all against East Division opponents, beginning on Monday as they travel to Pennsylvania for a clash with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. On Tuesday and Wednesday they will play a home-and-home series with the Albany River Rats in Rounds 5 & 6 of the Time Warner Cable Cup series. The Phantoms do not have a game on New Year's Day, Friday, but are right back in action with two games over the weekend. They will open the 2010 calendar year against the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday, January 2nd and then board the team bus immediately after the game for the long ride to Hershey for a 5:00 pm Sunday game against the Bears at the Giant Center.

Week 14 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.)

Monday, December 28 - 7:05 pm - Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza - Wilkes-Barre, PA

@ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (16-14-1-1, 34 pts)

Third Place, East Division

After losing to the Penguins 3-1 on November 21, Adirondack responded with a two-game weekend sweep in Glens Falls in mid-December. Both games were very closely contested, none more than Sunday, December 13th when defenseman Danny Syvret broke a 2-2 tie with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to stun the Penguins and win the game 3-2. Wilkes-Barre has won three of their last four games, including a two-game sweep of their home-and-home series with Albany last weekend. This will be the third game in three days for the Penguins. Goaltender John Curry is 2-3-0 in his last five games, but held the River Rats to a single goal on 26 shots on Saturday. Dustin Jeffrey ranks 4th in the AHL in assists (24) and is tied for 7th in the league in points (32).

Leading Scorer: Dustin Jeffrey (C) - 32 points (8 goals, 24 assists) in 30 GP.

Leading Goaltender: John Curry (G) - 2.39 GAA, 0.911 save pct., 13-11-1 in 25 GP.

Who's Hot: Mark Letestu (C) - 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) and a +5 rating in his last four games played. Dustin Jeffrey (C) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and a +4 rating in his last four games played. Nick Johnson (LW) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and a +5 rating in his last four games played.

Wednesday, December 30 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

@ Albany River Rats (18-13-1-2, 39 pts)

Second Place, East Division

&

Thursday, December 31 - 3:00 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Albany River Rats (18-13-1-2, 39 pts)

Second Place, East Division

The River Rats have dominated the first four rounds of the 12-game Time Warner Cable Cup series with the Phantoms, winning all four games and out-scoring Adirondack 12-5; the Phantoms are 0-3-1-0, getting their lone point in their first encounter, a 2-1 overtime loss on October 17th. The first two games were decided by just a single goal, but Albany won by two and three in the next two. The series is far from over as eight games remain heading into the last action of the 2009 calendar year. Goaltender Justin Peters is tied for 4th in the AHL in save percentage (0.929) and ranks 6th in the league in goals-against average (2.12); he has started eight of Albany's last eleven games. Dynamic offensive left wing Michael Ryan saw his first action of the season against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but was held without a point in two games; Ryan missed the entire beginning of the 2009-10 season after suffering a concussion in training camp with Carolina. The River Rats are 1-3-0-0 in their last four games since ended a season-high seven game winning streak.

Leading Scorer: Jerome Samson (RW) - 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 34 GP.

Leading Goaltender: Justin Peters (G) - 2.12 GAA, 0.929 save pct., 11-8-2 in 21 GP.

Who's Hot: Nicolas Blanchard (LW) - 3 assists and a +3 rating in his last three games played. Zach Boychuk (C) - 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) and a +2 rating in his last four games played. Jerome Samson (RW) - 3 assists and a +2 rating in his last four games played.

Saturday, January 2 - 7:00 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Norfolk Admirals (15-17-1-0, 31 pts)

Fifth Place, East Division

This will be the second game between the Phantoms and Admirals this season and the first to take place in Glens Falls. Their initial meeting was an Adirondack home game, but was hosted at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, the Flyers home arena. In that game on December 4th the Phantoms took an early 1-0 lead in the first period, but saw the lead disappear in the middle frame and the game was lost in overtime 2-1, when a Phantoms turnover led to a two-on-one Norfolk counter attack. The Admirals are one point ahead of Adirondack in the standings, but the Phantoms have four games in hand. Norfolk has lost two straight and has been out-scored 12-5 over that span. They host Hershey on Tuesday night, then travel to Binghamton for a New Year's Eve game before heading up to Glens Falls. Mark Parrish is on a six-game point streak (9 points) and Brandon Bochenski had his seven-game point streak (10 points) snapped on Sunday at Hershey. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski allowed two goals or less in four straight starts before allowing seven goals at Hershey on Sunday.

Leading Scorer: Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 33 GP.

Leading Goaltender: Dustin Tokarski (G) - 2.48 GAA, 0.912 save pct., 10-9-0 in 19 GP.

Who's Hot: Mark Parrish (C) - 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) and a +4 rating in his last six games played. Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) and a +3 rating in his last five games played. Martins Karsums (RW) - 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) and a +2 rating in his last five games played.

Sunday, January 3 - 5:00 pm - Giant Center - Hershey, PA

@ Hershey Bears (23-8-0-2, 48 pts)

First Place, East Division

Their second game of the week in the state of Pennsylvania and the Phantoms second trip of the year to Chocolatetown. Adirondack has won two of their first three games against Hershey, beating the defending Calder Cup champions 2-1 at home on October 16 and then coming from behind to beat the Bears 5-4 in a shootout at the Giant Center on November 28th. Their one loss against Hershey was a one-sided 5-1 defeat on November 27th in Glens Falls. Hershey is currently riding a six-game winning streak and has won eight of their last nine games. Before hosting Adirondack on Sunday, the Bears travel to Norfolk on Tuesday, play at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday and host Binghamton on Saturday. Rookie goaltender Braden Holtby has won his last five starts since being recalled from the ECHL. Keith Aucoin is tied for the AHL lead in goals (16) and is second in the league in points (35). Alexandre Giroux (tied 3rd, 34 pts) and Andrew Gordon (tied 5th, 33 pts) are also in the AHL's top five leading scorers.

Leading Scorer: Keith Aucoin (C) - 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in 26 GP.

Leading Goaltender: Braden Holtby (G) - 1.22 GAA, 0.956 save pct., 7-1-1 in 9 GP.

Who's Hot: Mathieu Perreault (C) - 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) and a +5 rating in his last four games played. Keith Aucoin (C) - 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists) and a +4 rating in his last six games played. Francois Bouchard (RW) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and a +7 rating in his last five games played.

Week 13 Game Results:

December 26, 2009 Adirondack 3 @ Binghamton 2

Phantoms Player of the Week: (Week 13)

Matt Clackson - RW - #15 1 GP, 1 goal, +1, 5 PIMs, 1 GWG

Right wing Matt Clackson was the unexpected offensive hero for the Adirondack Phantoms in their Boxing Day 3-2 comeback road win over the Binghamton Senators. The Pittsburgh, PA native scored his second goal of the season by intercepting a pass in the high slot of the offensive zone and they calmly zipping a wrist shot off the inside of the left post to beat goaltender Mike Brodeur with eight minutes left in regulation. Clackson's goal capped off Adirondack's second straight third period comeback on the road. Coupled with his first period fight, he was two-thirds of the way to recording a Gordie-Howe Hat Trick. Clackson leads the team in penalty minutes this season (95) and has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 28 games this year for the Phantoms.

Phantoms Quick Hits:

- THE WAIT IS OVER - Phantoms forward Ryan Dingle snapped a long scoreless drought for the franchise against Binghamton with his goal at 3:32 of the third period on Saturday. Dating back to the final regular season game between the Senators and Phantoms of the 2008-09 season, Philadelphia/Adirondack had not scored a goal against the B-Sens for 198:15. Dingle's goal cut the streak just short of 200 minutes and it was the first since Patrick Maroon's goal at 5:17 of the second period on March 25, 2009 in a 3-1 Phantoms win at Binghamton. Coincidentally both the first and last games involved in the streak took place at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena and both were officiated by the same crew: referee Chris Brown and linesmen John Everett and Andy Petrus.

- MORE DRAMA - Adirondack's three-goal third period on Saturday in Binghamton was the second straight game that the Phantoms have won a game when trailing after two periods of play. The team was 0-11-1-0 when behind going into the third period this season until back-to-back road wins at Worcester and Binghamton.

- THE 200 CLUB - Center Jon Matsumoto played in his 200th career Pro and AHL game on Saturday at Binghamton. He has 135 career points (63 goals, 72 assists) in 200 AHL games and he currently leads Adirondack in points (24) in 29 games this season.

- APPROACHING MILESTONES - Defenseman Joey Mormina is one game away from playing in his 300th career Pro game. Fittingly he should do so at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday, the team he spent the entire 2008-09 season playing for; he needs two games play to record his 300th career AHL game - he played in 1 NHL game for the Carolina Hurricanes on February 14, 2008 at the RBC Center in Raleigh against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

- ANOTHER DROUGHT ENDED - Left wing Patrick Maroon scored the game-tying goal in Adirondack's 3-2 win on Saturday at Binghamton. The goal was his third of the season, but his first since October 16th vs. Hershey, ending a 24-game drought. Maroon scored 23 goals in 80 games for the Phantoms during the 2008-09 season (0.288 goals per game), while this year he is averaging on (0.103 goals per game). However, he is leading the team in assists (16) and has seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) and a +4 rating in his last six games.

- THE BACKLUND WALL - Goaltender Johan Backlund has been very impressive since returning from the Flyers on December 16th. In his two starts since coming back the Phantoms he is 2-0-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a 0.930 save percentage. Backlund is 8-8-0 this year in 17 appearances for Adirondack, with two of those losses coming in overtime - thus he has helped the Phantoms secure 18 points.

Phantoms Recent Transactions

December 27 - DELETE - Danny Syvret (D) - Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL).

December 26 - ADD - Johan Backlund (G) - Returned on loan from Philadelphia (NHL).

December 22 - DELETE - Johan Backlund (G) - Returned on loan from Philadelphia (NHL).

Adirondack Phantoms Team Leaders:

Games Played: Three players tied (29)

Goals: Stefan Legein & Jon Matsumoto (12)

Assists: Patrick Maroon (16)

Points: Jon Matsumoto (24)

Plus/Minus: Jason Ward (+3)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Clackson (95)

Power Play Goals: Jon Matsumoto (5)

Short Handed Goals: Stefan Legein (2)

Game-Winning Goals: Danny Syvret & Jason Ward (2)

Shots: Jon Matsumoto (82)

Shooting Percentage: Stefan Legein (20.7%)

Saves: Johan Backlund (451)

Wins: Johan Backlund (8)

GAA: Johan Backlund (2.77)

Save Percentage: Johan Backlund (0.907)

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The Phantoms continue their four-game road trip down in Pennsylvania as they will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Monday, December 28th at 7:05 pm at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. Adirondack's next home game is on Thursday, December 31st for a special 3:00 pm face off against the Albany River Rats in another Time Warner Cable Cup clash at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

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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