Philadelphia Phantoms Shut Out Albany River Rats 2-0 in AHL East Division Semifinals

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com – PHILADELPHIA, PA – Stefan Ruzicka scored on the first shot of the game and goaltender Scott Munroe recorded his second shutout of the series as they Philadelphia Phantoms beat the Albany River Rats 2-0 to win Game 7 of the East Division Semifinals Tuesday night at the Wachovia Center.



Shutout in Game 6 the Phantoms wasted little time finding the net in the ultimate game of the series.  22 seconds after the opening face off Stefan Ruzicka skated through the left wing face off circle and snapped a wrist shot over the glove of goaltender Michael Leighton and into the top right corner of the net on Philadelphia’s very first shot of the game.  The goal, assisted by Boyd Kane and Jared Ross, was Ruzicka’s first of the playoffs and gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead.  As the period wore on Albany had to kill off several Phantoms power play, but strong defense and good goaltending from Leighton kept Philadelphia from adding to their lead.

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Albany had two power plays in the second period, but as they tried the even the score it was the Phantoms penalty-killers that did a fine job holding the River Rats at bay.  The teams each managed ten shots on goal in the period, but a multitude of icings and offside calls dragged down the flow of the game, grinding play to a slower pace than the first period.



Faced with a one-goal deficit with one period left the River Rats raced out of the locker room to apply some early pressure on the Philadelphia goal.  Again it was the Phantoms defense that limited Albany’s scoring chances, not allowing many pucks to reach goaltender Scott Munroe.  The Rats had a power play with just under eight minutes left in the period, but failed to register a shot on goal during the two-minute advantage.  With time winding down Ryan Potulny caused a turnover and raced down the right win on a three-on-one rush.  Potulny pulled the puck back and fired a low shot across the body of Leighton, under his blocker and into the far side of the net to put Philadelphia ahead 2-0 at 18:33.  Albany immediately pulled Leighton for the extra attacker, but they could not overcome the two-goal deficit.



Scott Munroe earn the crucial Game 7 victory by recording his second shutout of the series, stopping all 21 shots he faced to help Philadelphia advance to the East Division Finals.  Michael Leighton made 28 saves on 30 shots in goal for Albany, who finished the game 0-for-3 on the power play; the Phantoms were 0-for-4 in the game with the man-advantage.

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