Philadelphia Phantoms Double Up the Portland Pirates in Close 2-1 Victory
Monday, March 17, 2008 at 01:51PM MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – PHILADELPHIA – Ryan Potulny scored with 6:15 to play in the third period and the Philadelphia Phantoms held on to take a 2-1 win over the Portland Pirates on Sunday evening at the Wachovia Spectrum. Martin Houle was solid in his first start of the season for Philadelphia, making 24 saves to pick up his first win and allow the Phantoms to remain in first place in the East Division, two points ahead of the red-hot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Portland hopped on the board first just 3:23 into the game. Simon Ferguson cut into the slot and picked up a centering pass from Drew Miller, who was stationed to the rear of the net. Ferguson fired it past Houle’s outstretched left leg for the 1-0 lead, which would stand for nearly two full periods.
With 7:58 to play in the first period, Pete Zingoni was hauled down while on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Zingoni brought the puck down center ice and looked left side with the shot, but Jean-Sebastien Aubin got his right pad on the bid.
The Phantoms knotted it up with 12.4 seconds remaining in the second period. Chad Anderson made a nice play to keep in a clearing attempt and then closed in from the high slot to about 40 feet. He hammered one in on Aubin, who made the save, but Kyle Greentree crashed from the right-wing circle and tucked the rebound through the netminder’s legs.
That set the stage for Potulny’s game-winner. It was a deflection of a point blast by Oskars Bartulis, which changed the direction enough to beat relief goaltender Mike McKenna.
Among Houle’s 24 saves were several of the spectacular variety. Houle, who joined the team on February 26 after spending most of the season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers, made his fourth appearance but first start of the season for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia recorded its 40th win of the season, reaching that plateau for the first time since March 25, 2005. The Phantoms now have a record of 40-23-2-3 for 85 points through 67 games, giving them a two-point advantage over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which has won eight in a row to reach 83 points on the season.
The Phantoms now embark on a home-and-home series with the Hartford Wolf Pack that begins Wednesday night in the Nutmeg State and continues on Friday at the Wachovia Spectrum at 7:05 for Green Night, a tribute to the environment. There will be several special environmental themes, and Lori Wilson from the 10! Show on NBC-10 will be on hand to greet fans. Tickets are available at the Wachovia Complex box office, online at ComcastTIX.com or phantomshockey.com, or by phone at 1-800-298-4200.
www.phantomshockey.com
Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), the two arenas in which their teams play, the Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum, four Flyers Skate Zone community ice skating and hockey rinks and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. In addition, Comcast-Spectacor is also the principal owner of Global Spectrum, the fastest growing firm in the public assembly management field with more than 50 facilities throughout the United States and Canada; Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage service provider; New Era Tickets, a ticketing and marketing company for public assembly facilities; Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company; and 3601 Creative Group, a full-service in-house advertising agency. In a partnership with Disson Skating, Comcast-Spectacor annually produces 10 nationally televised figure skating spectaculars on NBC.
Portland Pirates 1 at Philadelphia Phantoms 2 - Status: Final
Mar 16, 2008 - Wachovia Spectrum
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Portland, S. Ferguson (5) (D. Miller, J. Callahan) 3:23
Penalties - B. Salcido Por (high-sticking) 6:04, R. Fitzpatrick Phi (hooking) 18:07
Scoring - 2. Philadelphia, K. Greentree (20) (C. Anderson, B. Kane) 19:47
Penalties - T. Grant Phi (slashing) 1:24, J. Matsumoto Phi (holding) 9:39, B. Kane Phi (high-sticking) 16:30
Scoring - 3. Philadelphia, R. Potulny (16) (O. Bartulis, P. Zingoni) 13:45
Penalties - D. Bootland Por (roughing) 7:08, T. Grant Phi (roughing) 7:08, D. Miller Por (hooking) 8:57
PHI Shots: 7 13 8 TOTAL: 28
Portland Pirates 0-4. Philadelphia Phantoms 0-2.
Portland Pirates
Aubin 4-2-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 40:00 SV: 19 GA: 1
Philadelphia Phantoms
Houle 1-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 24 GA: 1 [W]
End : 7:17 PM
Attendance : 9057
Referee I: Jeff Smith (49)
Referee II:
LINESMAN I: Matt McNulty (26)
LINESMAN II: Paul Carnathan (93)
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