Rivals Come From Behind, Deal Philadelphia 2-1 Loss

Published on November 4, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Phantoms raised their championship banners to the Wachovia Spectrum rafters and honored their former captain on Friday, but they couldn't quite come up with a happy ending to the evening in a 2-1 loss to the Hershey Bears on Friday night.

After the teams played a scoreless first period, Triston Grant started out the scoring for the Phantoms. He let loose a drive from the top of the left circle that was stopped by Hershey goaltender Frederic Cassivi. But the rebound came right back to Grant, who settled, measured up and fired a second laser that beat Cassini low for his first goal as a professional at the 3:38 mark.

The Phantoms suffered a bit of bad luck at the 8:52 mark of the period. Eric Chouinard was defending the left post and attempted to clear a loose puck behind his net, but inadvertently swept it over the goal line. Jonas Johansson was credited with the goal that tied the game at 1-1.

Hershey secured the eventual game winner at 7:08 of the third period. Johanssen fired a shot from the right wing circle that Phantoms goaltender Rejean Beauchemin stopped. But Joey Tenute corralled the rebound and roofed the puck over Beauchemin for the 2-1 lead.

"We finally got a lead there, and then we had a bad break and the puck ended up in our net, and I thought they got energy from that", said Phantoms head coach John Stevens. "I think the effort is there, we just need to get more on the same page. We need to organize better, and we need to simplify sometimes. It's like we're forcing plays where there's easier options available and we're not taking advantage of them. We've got to simplify and get going here."

The loss was the fifth in a row for the Phantoms and also snapped a five-game winning streak against Hershey. Beauchemin stopped 26 of 28 Hershey shots in suffering the loss, while Cassivi took the win with 25 saves on 26 Philadelphia chances. The Phantoms were 0-for-3 on the power play, while Hershey was 0-for-5.

Before the game, the Phantoms unfurled their Eastern Conference and Calder Cup championship banners from the rafters in the Wachovia Spectrum. The team also honored Bears captain Boyd Kane, who captained the Phantoms to the title a year ago. Assistant general manager Paul Holmgren presented Kane with his championship ring.

The Phantoms will return to action on Saturday night on the road for the first half of a home-and-home against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, which gets underway at Wachovia Arena at 7:05. The teams return to Philadelphia to do battle at the Spectrum on Sunday at 4:05.

All kids tickets for all Phantoms games are just $8. To purchase, go to phantomshockey.com and click tickets. To charge by phone, call (215) 336-2000, (856) 338-9000 or (302) 984-2000.



American Hockey League Stories from November 4, 2005


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