Ross Pushes Phantoms Past Admirals 3-2

March 15, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


PHILADELPHIA - Jared Ross scored his second goal of the game and 24th of the year 2:40 into the third period to give the Philadelphia Phantoms a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals at the Wachovia Spectrum. With the win, the Phantoms pulled to within eight points of the Binghamton Senators in the East Division playoff race while still holding three games in hand.

Norfolk scored first, taking a 1-0 lead when Zenon Konopka tipped in a pass from Brandon Bochenski while on the power play with 1:17 remaining in the first period. But the Phantoms answered that tally just 40 seconds into the middle stanza when Oskars Bartulis blasted a slapshot from the point that beat Riku Helenius, giving Bartulis his first goal of the season and tying the game at 1-1.

The Admirals took advantage of a Philadelphia miscue at the 2:09 mark when former Phantom Pete Zingoni finished off a rush that was created by a Phantoms turnover at their own blue line. But the Phantoms picked up some luck of their own less than 40 seconds later when they forced a turnover in the neutral zone and Ross came in with Rob Sirianni. Ross centered the puck and it hit a skate, ending up behind Helenius and in the net to tie the game at 2-2 at the 2:46 mark of the second.

The score held until Ross's winner in the third. Philadelphia was nearing the end of a power play when Ross took a feed in the right circle from Boyd Kane and fired it past Helenius for his second goal of the night.

Scott Munroe collected the win with 26 saves on 28 Norfolk shots, while Helenius took the loss with 26 saves on 29 Philadelphia bids.

The Phantoms played the third event in three nights at the Spectrum, which saw a busy weekend, going from basketball to soccer to hockey configuration in three consecutive evenings. The Philadelphia 76ers posted a 104-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday in the final NBA game at the building, witnessed by 17,563. The Philadelphia Kixx beat the Baltimore Blast 11-6 in front of 6,749 at the Spectrum last night in the building's soccer trim, and 6,296 turned out for the Phantoms win this evening. A total of 30,608 fans experienced the Spectrum over the three nights.

The Phantoms are next in action on Wednesday when they travel up the Northeast Extension to meet the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:05. The two teams will meet again in Philadelphia's next home game this Friday night at the Spectrum at 7:05. The first 3,000 kids 14 and under will receive t-shirt jerseys courtesy of Comcast. Philadelphia is also back at home on Saturday night for a huge matchup against Binghamton at 7:05.

There are now just eight regular season games remaining at the Wachovia Spectrum. Comcast-Spectacor and the Phantoms are now offering an amazing $10 adult ticket price for all remaining home games for the Phantoms final season at the Wachovia Spectrum, while all tickets for kids 14 and under are now $5. Tickets are available at the Wachovia Complex box office, online at Phantomshockey.com, or via ComcastTIX at 1-800-298-4200.

For more information on Phantoms tickets and packages, please call 215-465-4522 during normal business hours. More information is also available at the Phantoms website, Phantomshockey.com



American Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2009


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