By Al Cohen
Philadelphia Phantoms Correspondent

The Philadelphia Phantoms scored three unanswered goals in the third period tonight at the Scope to rally for a 3-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals and register their fifth straight road win.

After trailing 1-0 heading into the final period, Mike Peluso, Ian MacNeil and Ben Stafford all scored in the third as Philadelphia won for the ninth time in its last 12 games. The Phantoms have also won five in a row on the road for the first time since Feb. 24-March 9, 2001.

Neil Little needed to make just 15 saves to register his 200th career win. The Phantoms improved to 3-2-1 vs. the Admirals this year, including last Saturday's 3-2 win in Norfolk in which they tallied the final two goals.

Craig Anderson finished with 34 saves for the Admirals, who have lost four of their last six games. Norfolk will host the Phantoms for the third time in December two weeks from tonight.

Norfolk tallied the lone goal of the first period on Quintin Laing's second goal of the year. Brandin Cote and Matt Keith set up Laing, who followed up his own shot at the 10:06 mark.

The game turned physical late in the opening period, highlighted by a checking from behind major and game misconduct assessed to Norfolk's Johnathan Aitken after time expired. Things remained heated in the second period as the teams combined for 64 penalty minutes, including 10-minute misconducts to Peter Vandermeer and Kirby Law, and the Admirals' Shawn Thornton.

Norfolk maintained its 1-0 lead heading into the third until former Admirals Peluso and Peter White combined for the equalizer. Dennis Seidenberg also assisted on Peluso's ninth goal at the 3:57 mark.

Philadelphia moved ahead 2-1 at 15:32 of the third when MacNeil deflected a Mike Siklenka shot off Admirals defenseman Duncan Keith and past Anderson for his fourth of the year.

Stafford capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining. Randy Jones collected the assist on Stafford's sixth goal.

Philadelphia outshot Norfolk, 36-16, as the Phantoms matched a club record for fewest shots allowed in a road game. The team also accomplished the feat on Nov. 15 at Bridgeport.

The Phantoms return home to face the Hershey Bears on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. Philadelphia then begins a three-game road trip on Thursday in Toronto. The trip also includes stops in Syracuse and Hamilton.

Phantoms Notes: John Slaney and Joey Hope were injured scratches, while Craig Berube and James Laux were healthy scratches ... Jones has five points (1G, 4A) in his last five games ... The all-time series with Norfolk is tied at 15-15-2-2.