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Yann Danis Notches 19th Career Shutout

March 2, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


Veteran goalie Yann Danis finished a five-point (out of six) weekend for the Phantoms with his first ever Glens Falls shutout as Adirondack put the finishing touches on a strong three-game weekend. Danis' 19 saves led the way in his 19th career professional shutout as Adirondack triumphed over visiting Syracuse 3-0 on Sunday evening.

The 32 year old Danis has two shutouts this year including a November 9th win at Albany. This blanking was his 16th all-time in the American Hockey League to go along with his three career shutouts in the NHL. Danis was in net for every minute of Adirondack's rather busy 3-in-3 weekend.

Tye McGinn continued his recent scoring surge with his fourth goal of the weekend and 18th of the year as he moved into a tie for the team-lead with Jason Akeson in lamplighters. Bruno Gervais registered his eighth of the season while defenseman Mike Matczak capped a quality performance with a lucky bouncer off a Syracuse defenseman for his first career goal with the Phantoms and third of his AHL career.

Jason Akeson dished out assists on all three Adirondack goals to increase his season point-total to 52. The popular third-year pro has an opportunity to break the Adirondack Phantoms record for points in a season of 62 by Jon Matsumoto in 2009-10. Akeson is already the Adirondack Phantoms all-time leader in career goals (52), assists (108) and points (160).

The Adirondack Phantoms had won Friday at Utica 3-2 and then rallied late to force overtime at Syracuse in a 5-4 loss on Saturday prior to the 3-0 victory in the rematch on Sunday evening. This one was a quality win and a strong overall effort to cap a tiring weekend for the team. The Phantoms pushed through the fatigue and limited Syracuse to a relatively low number of scoring chances in what were the team's seventh through ninth periods of hockey in less than 48 hours.

"Five points out of six on the weekend," head coach Terry Murray said. "I think it was a good weekend for us. Tonight, I think it was 60 minutes of pretty solid hockey all the way through. 200 feet both ways. All the lines, they did the right things. I thought we started the game the right way with getting it in deep, getting on the forecheck when there was a lot of intensity and hard play along the boards which is really good to see when you play three in three days."

Mike Matczak's attempt to pass to the middle instead banked off a defenseman into the goal.

For the Lafontaine, Quebec native Danis, the shutout was especially enjoyable with his two little children (four and two years old) in the stands cheering him on. "It's always nice when they're here," Danis said. "They enjoy it and they're just starting to learn how to skate so it will be nice to go out there (for the postgame player-skate with the fans) and hang out a little bit with them."

As for the shutout win itself, Danis was happy to end the weekend on the most positive note of all. "It feels good to get the win. It's been a good weekend for us with five points out of six. We needed that. I think it's good for our confidence and we have about 20 games left. Hopefully we can build something here and we'll see what happens."

Danis was tested early by the Crunch with a flurry of shots on goal. He made back-to-back kick-saves on drives from the right-wing wall and then the rebound from the left circle in the contest's opening seconds. But Adirondack's defense buckled down from that point and Syracuse did not register another official shot on goal for the final 16 minutes of the first period.

Bruno Gervais opened the scoring less than two minutes in the second period. Tye McGinn carried the puck across the Crunch line on the right-wing and dropped for the trailing Jason Akeson who tried a shot from the half-boards. The shot was blocked right back off a stick of a Syracuse defenseman but deflected directly to Gervais on the point who didn't hesitate in rocketing his own offering which went through goalie Anders Lindback for the 1-0 lead.

Adirondack cranked up the pressure midway through the second period and kept Syracuse pinned in their zone for an extended stretch. The Phantoms won a race to beat an icing call preventing Syracuse from getting a change. The Phantoms were blasting away including a couple shots from Matczak among others. The Crunch were bending and then Brandon Manning and Tye McGinn connected to complete their break. Manning faked a shot and then let it rip from the center-point for the deflection off the stick of McGinn to advance the lead to 2-0.

The Crunch benefited from back-to-back power plays to open the third period but Yann Danis was not tested too often as the Phantoms penalty killers scrambled and battled their way along with several shot-blocks to preserve the 2-0 advantage.

With under seven minutes remaining in the game, defenseman Mike Matczak pinched up the left-wing boards and tried to set up McGinn in the slot for another. Instead, the puck banked off a Crunch defenseman and deflected past Lindback far-side for Matczak's first career Phantoms goal. It is the third AHL goal ever for Matczak who had two last season with the Abbotsford Heat.

Syracuse head coach Rob Zettler, a former player of Terry Murray's 20 years ago with the Philadelphia Flyers, opted to pull Lindback for an extra-attacker with three minutes remaining to try to break the shutout. Chris VandeVelde from the right defensive circle in the Adirondack zone came tantalizingly close to scoring a long-range empty-netter but his attempt all the way down the ice missed the post by just an inch. The Phantoms closed it out from there to secure the shutout win for Danis.

Adirondack is 1-1-1 against Syracuse this year and will meet the Crunch again on Sunday, March 23 in Glens Falls. Shots in the game were 19-19. The Phantoms were 0-for-3 on the power play while the Crunch finished 0-for-4.

All of the Phantoms player quickly emerged from the locker room to join hundreds of fans, most of them kids, for a Postgame Open-Skate event with the whole team.

At the second intermission of the game, Adirondack Phantoms Executive Vice President Chris Porreca presented a large donation in the form of a $10,468 check to the C.R. Wood Cancer Center of Glens Falls Hospital. The donation came from the Phantoms Pink in the Rink Game and Postgame Jersey Auction from their January 26 contest. Thanks to all the fans who helped raise this large and generous donation for breast cancer treatment and services at Glens Falls Hospital.

The Phantoms travel to New Hampshire next Friday to play the conference-leading Manchester Monarchs. Adirdondack's next home game is Saturday night against the Springfield Falcons. Fans can arrive early to enjoy the $12 All-You-Can-Eat Breakaway Buffet in Heritage Hall. Purchase your game tickets in advance to save: 518-480-3355.

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