Special teams boost Phantoms

by David W. Unkle
March 2, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)

(PHILADELPHIA) — Four goals seems to be the Philadelphia Phantoms' threshold for excellence this season as the team improved its record to 17-0-2 when scoring four or more in a game with a 5-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs at the First Union Spectrum Sunday.

"It was a much-needed two points for our hockey team," said Phantoms Head Coach John Stevens. "(What teams ahead of us do) doesn't matter if we don't win our games. That's our focus now."

With nineteen games remaining in the regular season, Philadelphia is four points out of the remaining conference playoff spot pending the outcome of the Milwaukee Admirals – San Antonio Rampage game.

Guillaume Lefebvre gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead just 1:44 into the game on what would be the first of four weird goals for the Phantoms. Taking the puck in the neutral zone with four Monarchs collapsing on goalie Travis Scott, Lefebvre blasted a shot just inside the blue line and into the net.

Peter White had Scott on the ice midway through the first period, but his backhander sailed over the open net and the score remained 1-0.

Philadelphia jumped to a 2-0 lead when Kirby Law fired a shot off Manchester defenseman Richard Seeley and past Scott who was entertaining the traffic in front of him.

It was Law's 15th goal on the season and his first goal in the last ten Phantoms games.

After Dane Jackson scored on the power play for Manchester, Philly countered with a power play goal of its own three minutes later.

Andre Savage bounced a shot off the beleaguered Monarchs goalie to re-establish Philadelphia's two-goal lead as the teams headed to the first intermission.

Philadelphia went up 4-1 in the second period when a Brad Tiley blast off the boards behind Scott landed on the stick of Sharp.

Sharp scored his second of the night when he used Jamie Wright as a decoy on the two-on-one and firing the puck past Scott just 33 seconds into the final period.

For Sharp, it was his tenth goal of the season and his sixth goal in the last eleven games after missing a quarter of the season with a fractured fibula.

"Hopefully, we can build off this win tonight and gain a playoff spot," said Sharp after recording the first two-goal game of his professional career.

Added Stevens, "If you give teams a reason to stick around, it makes for a tougher battle. We didn't let (Manchester) stick around tonight."

Good advice for a team on the outside looking in, maybe just too late to make a difference.

Fans can visit the Phantoms web site for schedule and ticket information at: www.phantomshockey.com.

SCORING

1st Period: PHL Lefebvre 7 (Skolney) 1:44; PHL Law 15 (Vandermeer, Stafford) 8:43; MAN Jackson 6 (Pudlick, Kelly) 16:30 (pp); PHL Savage (White, Tiley) 19:40 (pp).
2nd Period: PHL Sharp 9 (Tiley, Furey) 7:49.
3rd Period: PHL Sharp 10 (Law, Tiley) 00:33.

SCORE BY PERIOD:

Manchester:     1-0-0
Philadelphia:   3-1-1

SHOTS ON GOAL:

Manchester:     5-11-2
Philadelphia:   15-7-4

POWER PLAY:

                        PPG	ATT	TIME
Manchester:             2	7	13:00
Philadelphia:           1	5	 5:05

GOALIES:

                        Shots	Saves	GA	Mins
Scott (MAN)             26	21	5	60:00
Niittymaki (PHL)        19	18	1	60:00

PENALTIES

1st Period: MAN Rullier (boarding) 3:06; MAN Giuliano (high-sticking) 13:46; PHL Peters (holding) 15:57; MAN Seeley (tripping) 18:42.

2nd Period: PHL Harlock (holding) 4:50; MAN Kelly (unsportsmanlike conduct) 8:19; PHL Harlock (holding the stick) 9:31; MAN Jackson (obstruction holding) 10:04.

3rd Period: MAN Brennan (cross-checking major, game misconduct) 2:03; MAN Pudlick (high-sticking) 8:08; PHL Law (fighting, game misconduct) 12:34; MAN Barney (instigation, fighting, game misconduct) 12:34; MAN Rullier (fighting, double game misconduct) 12:34; PHL Vandermeer (cross-checking, roughing, fighting) 12:34; PHL Harlock (interference) 15:24.

Officials: Referee Ryan Fraser; Linesmen: Scott Adams and Paul Nicholls

ATTENDANCE: 9,853

STARS OF THE GAME:

1. Patrick Sharp (PHL)
2. Brad Tiley (PHL)
3. Kirby Law (PHL)

Chosen By: Patrick Williams (South Jersey Sports On-Line)

NOTES:

1. The two teams met for the first time ever on November 30th as the Monarchs topped the Phantoms 4-1 behind the scoring of Chris Schmidt and Jerred Smithson.
2. The Phantoms finished with a 4-4-3-1 record during a difficult stretch of 12 games in 19 days.
3. The Phantoms tied franchise records tonight for power play goals in a game and in a period.
4. Philadelphia's Brad Tiley has 10 points (1G, 9A) in his last eleven games.
5. Philadelphia's Kirk Furey, still looking for his first AHL goal, hit the post twice in this evening's game.

Photos by Pedro Cancel, Jr.

American Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2003

• Special teams boost Phantoms - OSC Original by David W. Unkle
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