Phantoms Weekly

January 25, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


After roaring into the All-Star Break with a three-game winning streak, their longest of the season, the Phantoms began the second half of their 80-game schedule in less than stellar form. The team was unlucky to come away with just one point in the first two games of the week as with a slight change of fortune could have taken a full four points. Friday night Jon Matsumoto and Jon Kalinski each scored goals in the first period to give Adirondack a 2-0 lead at Binghamton, but the Senators rallied to tie in the third period. Ryan Dingle scored late in the game to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead, but the B-Sens tied the game with less than a minute left and then won it in a shootout 4-3.

Captain Jared Ross returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing four games for a family emergency, as the Phantoms hosted the Albany River Rats in Round Eight of the Time Warner Cable Cup series. In another incredible tight battle between the two Northway rivals, Rats rookie Zach Boychuk broke a 2-2 tie with four minutes left in regulation to help Albany escape Glens Falls with the victory. Sunday's 5:00 pm face off in Rochester was approximately 46 hours after the start of Friday's game in Binghamton. Both teams were playing their third game in three nights and fatigue showed in a scoreless first period. Jason Ward gave Adirondack a 1-0 lead midway through the second period on a one-timer from a beautiful pass by Andreas Nodl, but the lead would last only 24 seconds before Graham Mink tied the game for the Americans. Michal Repik scored a shorthanded goal at 2:42 of the third period and then added an empty net goal as the final horn sounded to give Rochester a 3-1 win.

Week 18 Preview:

Injuries are starting to grow again for the Phantoms, who lost Krys Kolanos, Josh Beaulieu and Joonas Lehtivuori during Week 17. Kolanos missed all three games last week; he is currently undergoing treatment and will be reevaluated later this week. Beaulieu picked up an injury during Friday's game at Binghamton and missed the last two games, while Lehtivuori suffered an injury on Saturday against Albany and missed Sunday's game in Rochester; both are day-to-day. On a more positive note, left wing Patrick Maroon, who has missed the last twelve games, could return to the lineup this week as he continues to rehab from his injuries suffered on December 30th at Albany.

This week Adirondack travels to Binghamton for the second week in a row as they face the Senators on Wednesday, January 27th at 7:05 pm at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Phantoms return home for back-to-back games at the Civic Center; Friday night they will host Binghamton for a 7:30 pm face off and then Saturday they will tango with the Norfolk Admirals at 7:00 pm. Playing in their fourth game in five days, Adirondack will finish off the week with their second and final trip to Rochester on Sunday, January 31st for a 5:00 pm game at Blue Cross Arena.

Week 18 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, January 27 - 7:05 pm - Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena - Binghamton, NY

@ Binghamton Senators (19-18-3-1, 42 pts)

Tied-Fifth Place, East Division

&

Friday, January 29 - 7:30 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Binghamton Senators (19-18-3-1, 42 pts)

Tied-Fifth Place, East Division

On December 26th the Phantoms were trailing 2-0 going into the third period and rallied for a 3-2 win in regulation; last Friday night it was the Senators who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie at 2-2, then pulled their goalie to tie the game at 3-3 with 55 seconds left and won in a shootout 4-3. In four meetings this season Binghamton has a 3-1-0-0 record against the Phantoms, who are 1-2-0-1 against the B-Sens. After the two games week's, they will still have four games against each other this year. After getting two points against Adirondack on Friday, the Senators beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-2 on Saturday and have won three of their last four games. RW Ryan Keller has been unstoppable recently, scoring seven goals during his current four game goal streak and leads the team with 20 goals this year. C Josh Hennessy broke a nine-game goal drought on Saturday with two goals and a +3 rating against Bridgeport. D Derek Smith has an assist in each of his last four games and leads all Binghamton defensemen with 27 points (6 goals, 21 assists). G Chris Holt has started five straight games since Mike Brodeur was recalled to Ottawa for the second time and Holt is 3-2-0 in those five starts. Leading Scorer: Martin St. Pierre (C) - 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in 38 GP. Leading Goaltender: Chris Holt (G) - 2.58 GAA, 0.918 save pct., 8-5-0, 3 SO in 13 GP. Who's Hot: Ryan Keller (RW) - 8 points (7 goals, 1 assist) and a +3 rating in his last five games played. Kaspars Daugavins (RW) - 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) and a +4 rating in his last two games played. Derek Smith (D) - 4 assists in his last four games played.

Saturday, January 30 - 7:00 pm - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

vs. Norfolk Admirals (20-23-2-0, 42 pts)

Tied-Fifth Place, East Division

Facing each other for the fifth time this year, Adirondack earned a two-game sweep over the Admirals in Norfolk right before the All-Star Break. In particularly dramatic fashion, the Tampa Bay Lightning relieve Admirals Head Coach Darren Rumble from his duties immediately after the Phantoms 3-1 win on Saturday, January 16th, replacing him with Jim Johnson. Last Friday Johnson named Ryan Craig as Norfolk's new team captain as the club embarked on a seven-game road trip. It had the desired effect as Craig posted two assists and a +4 rating, while helping lead the Admirals to a three-game weekend sweep. They beat Springfield 3-2 on Friday, then out-played Manchester, the first place Atlantic Division club, winning 5-3 at Verizon Wireless Arena and completed the weekend with a 1-0 shutout at Lowell; this marks the third time this season that Norfolk has won three or more consecutive games and they are one win away from their 2009-10 season high (4). G Jaroslav Janus won the first two games of the week for the first two wins of his professional career and G Dustin Tokarski made 24 saves to shutout Lowell in his first game back from NHL call up with Tampa; Tokarski now has 3 shutouts this year for the Admirals. Leading Scorer: Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) in 35 GP. Leading Goaltender: Dustin Tokarski (G) - 2.58 GAA, 0.914 save pct., 13-13-0 in 26 GP. Who's Hot: Ty Wishart (D) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in his last five games played. Mark Parrish (C) - 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) and a +5 rating in his last six games played. Mitch Fadden (C) - 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in his last three games played.

Sunday, January 31 - 5:00 pm - Blue Cross Arena - Rochester, NY

@ Rochester Americans (27-16-2-0, 56 pts)

Second Place, North Division

This will be the second meeting between the Phantoms and Americans this year and in the span of a week; they will play twice in Glens Falls on February 10th and March 5th. Since suffered a season-long five-game losing streak to begin 2010, the Amerks are 5-1-0-0 in their last six games. Prior to battling Adirondack on Sunday, Rochester hosts the Albany River Rats on Friday night, and then travels to Toronto for a 4 pm game on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum. All-Star rookie goaltender Alexander Salak has started six straight games and is 5-1-0 over that span. C Jamie Johnson is on a six-game point streak (4 goals, 7 assists) and Graham Mink has points in his last three straight games (1 goal, 2 assists). RW Michal Repik has six goals in his last six games and has scored the game-winning goals last Saturday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and again on Sunday against the Phantoms. Leading Scorer: Jamie Johnson (C) - 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 45 GP. Leading Goaltender: Alexander Salak (G) - 2.60 GAA, 0.918 save pct., 21-6-0 in 29 GP. Who's Hot: Jamie Johnson (C) - 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) and a +1 rating in his last six games played. Jeff Taffe (C) - 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) and a +2 rating in his last six games played. Michal Repik (RW) - 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist) and a +3 rating in his last six games played.

Week 17 Game Results:

January 22, 2010 Adirondack 3 @ Binghamton 4 - SO

January 23, 2010 Albany 3 @ Adirondack 2

January 24, 2010 Adirondack 1 @ Rochester 3

Phantoms Player of the Week: (Week 17)

Jason Ward - LW - #17 3 GP, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), -1, 2 PIMs

Left wing Jason Ward had a strong week offensively as the Phantoms began the second half of their 2009-2010 season. The Chapleau, Ontario native assisted on all three Adirondack goals Friday night at Binghamton, equaling a team season-high for assists in one game. Then on Sunday he scored the Phantoms only goal, while playing in his 350th career AHL game in a 3-1 loss at Rochester. On the season Ward has 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) in 35 games for Adirondack.

Phantoms Quick Hits:

- LOW OUTPUT - The Phantoms set a new season-low on Saturday night against Albany when then recorded just one shot on goal in the first period. Adirondack failed to record a shot on River Rats goaltender Justin Peters for most of the opening frame, before Peters denied an Andreas Nodl shorthanded breakaway effort with less than two minutes left in the stanza. The Phantoms recovered in the final forty minutes, firing 27 shots on the Albany goal, but fell short in the game 3-2 on a late goal from Zach Boychuk.

- SHOOTOUT LOSS - Friday's shootout loss in Binghamton was the Phantoms first defeat in a shootout this season. Adirondack won its first three shootouts, twice at home against Bridgeport and at Hershey on November 28th.

- HELPING HAND - LW Jason Ward had a big night on Friday in Binghamton, equaling a Phantoms season-high with three assists, including his 150th career AHL assist. D Danny Syrvet also accomplished the three-assist feat in a game for Adirondack this year, on December 2nd at Lowell.

- DRY SPELL - RW Stefan Legein is suffering his longest goal and point drought of the season. Legein, who is tied with Jon Matsumoto for the team lead in goals (18), has not recorded a point in his last eight games, but he has registered 13 shots on goal and a +2 rating over that span.

- APPROACHING MILESTONES - D Sean Curry needs 6 GP for his 500th career AHL game. C Jared Ross needs 3 assists for his 150th career Pro assist and 9 GP for his 300th career AHL game. C Jon Matsumoto needs 4 points for his 150th career Pro and AHL point.

- MILESTONE AND A GOAL - LW Jason Ward played in his 350th career AHL game on Sunday at Rochester and scored the Phantoms' only goal of the night, his seventh of the season. Ward has recorded 257 points (106 goals, 151 assists) and 409 penalty minutes in his AHL career, along with 33 points (20 goals, 13 assists) in 44 career Calder Cup playoff games. He has appeared in 686 games as a professional, including 336 NHL games; he has 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) in 35 games for Adirondack this year.

Phantoms Recent Transactions

January 24 - ADD - Trent Daavettila (C) - Signed PTO; called up from Kalamazoo (ECHL).

Adirondack Phantoms Team Leaders:

Games Played: Stefan Legein & Jon Matsumoto (43)

Goals: Stefan Legein & Jon Matsumoto (18)

Assists: Jared Ross (18)

Points: Jon Matsumoto (35)

Plus/Minus: Joonas Lehtivuori (+2)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Clackson (126)

Power Play Goals: Jon Matsumoto (5)

Short Handed Goals: Stefan Legein (3)

Game-Winning Goals: Four players tied (2)

Shots: Jon Matsumoto (130)

Shooting Percentage: Stefan Legein (18.6%)

Wins: Johan Backlund (12)

GAA: John Grahame (2.62)

Save Percentage: Johan Backlund (0.912)

Saves: Johan Backlund (623)

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Beginning Week 18 of the 2009-2010 regular season, Adirondack will head back down to Binghamton for a 7:05 pm face off against the Senators on Wednesday, January 27th at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Phantoms return home on Friday, January 29th as they host the B-Sens for a 7:30 pm face off at the 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.



American Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2010


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