Phantoms Win Another Thriller
December 17, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release
Adirondack built a 4-1 lead at Syracuse early in the third period and then hung on from there for an exciting 4-3 victory against the Crunch Saturday night.
Denis Hamel (11th), Andrew Rowe (1st), Garrett Klotz (2nd) and Ben Holmstrom (8th) all lit the lamp for the Phantoms while winning goalie Jason Bacashihua was stellar in his first game since Thanksgiving turning in a 39 save performance in the victory.
J.F. Jacques had a hat trick to provide Syracuse with all of their offense.
Hamel got the Phantoms on the board in the first period chopping down a puck that was driven at Crunch goalie Jeff Deslauriers off a face-off win by Ben Holmstrom. Hamel bounced it in for his team-leading 11th of the year and also his historic 326th goal of his AHL career pushing the 34-year-old past Glenn Merkosky on the league's all-time scoring list and into a tie for 11th place.
Adirondack would score them back-to-back a little over two minutes apart early in the second period. Andrew Rowe would strike in just his third game of the season after missing the first two months with injury. The second year pro out of Michigan State rifled the shot after Luke Pither blasted one off the post. Rowe's first attempt was saved by Deslauriers but Rowe's second crack at it would go into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
Cullen Eddy jumped in quickly to keep the puck in front of the blue-line and found an open Garrett Klotz while the Crunch defensemen were a bit scrambly. Klotz converted for his second of the year to make it 3-0.
The score would stay 3-0 until the closing seconds of the middle period when J.F. Jacques would score on the power play on a cross-ice feed from Peter Holland with 18.5 seconds left in the frame giving the Crunch some momentum into the second intermission.
Ben Holmstrom stole the puck at the Syracuse line early in the third period and raced forward on a shorthanded breakaway only to be hauled down from behind by Bryan Rodney. The Phantoms captain converted on the team's first penalty shot of the year in what proved to be a pivotal goal for a 4-1 Phantoms lead. It was Holmstrom's eighth of the year and also extended his recent goal-scoring streak to three games.
Ben Holmstrom also engaged former Phantom Patrick Maroon in a second period fight as the two ex-teammates squared off and exchanged a few punches.
J.F. Jacques would score a couple more goals four minutes apart to close the gap to 4-3 with 9:40 left. Syracuse also had a disallowed goal in there and even hit the post earlier in the period in their 18 shot attack in the closing 20 minutes.
Leading 4-3 with still nine minutes remaining, the Phantoms defense would bare down and get several key blocks while Jason Bacashihua turned in a number of tremendous saves down the stretch to get the win.
Adirondack was outshot by Syracuse 42-28. The Crunch went 1-for-5 on the power play while Adirondack was 0-for-4.
The Phantoms took a three games to two lead in the season series against Syracuse after the Crunch had initially won the first two games. Adirondack and Syracuse still play each other five more times this year but will not meet again until February at the GFCC. Then the Phantoms and Crunch will face-off four times in a rivalry-filled month of March.
Adirondack's victory improved their record to 15-10-2 on the season and helped them gain a valuable standings point on first place Connecticut in the Northeast Division race. The Phantoms now trail the Whale by four points after Connecticut lost their Saturday night game in a shootout. The Phantoms travel to Hartford for a Northeast Division showdown next Wednesday for the last game before the holiday break.
The Phantoms conclude their three-in-three weekend Sunday afternoon against the Binghamton Senators at the Glens Falls Civic Center at 3:00pm. The game will feature a post-game open-skate with the Phantoms players presented by Glens Falls Hospital.
Scratches for the Phantoms included Eric Wellwood, Oskars Bartulis, Andreas Lilja and Johan Backlund.
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American Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2011
- Rivermen Win Third Straight In 2-0 Victory - Peoria Rivermen
- Admirals Drop 4-2 Decision to Rockford - Milwaukee Admirals
- Amerks Topped by Texas Stars - Rochester Americans
- Amerks Topped by Texas Stars - Rochester Americans
- J.F. Jacques Hat Trick Can't Overcome Phantoms - Syracuse Crunch
- Stars Rocket Past Americans 6-2 - Texas Stars
- Phantoms Win Another Thriller - Adirondack Phantoms
- Falcons Beat Devils 2-1 - Springfield Falcons
- Whale defeated by Bruins - Connecticut Whale
- Sabourin Shuts Down Sound Tigers in 5-0 Bears Win - Hershey Bears
- Admirals Fend off Penguins, 5-2 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Devils Lose in Shootout Marathon - Albany Devils
- Admirals Spread out Attack in Victory Over Division Leaders - Norfolk Admirals
- Sharks Stay Teal Hot with 5-2 Win in Binghamton - Worcester Sharks
- Bears Shut out Sound Tigers 5-0 - Bridgeport Islanders
- P-Bruins Defeat Whale 2-1 in a Shootout - Providence Bruins
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- Barons Sign Tulupov to Standard Player Contract - Oklahoma City Barons
- Lightning Recall Defenseman Evan Oberg from Admirals - Norfolk Admirals
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- Penguins Assign Thompson to Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- B-Sens Announce Roster Moves - Binghamton Senators
- Crunch Announce Roster Move - Syracuse Crunch
- Oilers Assign Goaltender Olivier Roy to Oklahoma City - Oklahoma City Barons
- Rivermen Sign Radja, Edwards to PTO - Peoria Rivermen
- Blackhawks Assign Smith - Rockford IceHogs
- Barons Game Notes - December 17 - Oklahoma City Barons
- Big Bounces Boost Binghamton - Adirondack Phantoms
- Heat Burn Dogs 4-3 in a Shootout - Hamilton Bulldogs
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