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| Ice Hockey Spotlight: Phantoms Come Back on Senators Munroe, Dimitrakos Anchor 3-2 Win Wednesday, January 17, 2007 By Mike Thornton BINGHAMTON, NY - Phantoms goaltender Scott Munroe had a pretty ordinary night going through the first two periods of Wednesday night's game between the Philadelphia Phantoms and Binghamton Senators at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The third period, however, changed everything. Munroe set a franchise record with 28 saves in the third period and tied an 11-year-old franchise record with 47 saves overall to backstop the Phantoms to a 3-2 win over the Senators. Niko Dimitrakos provided the game-tying and game-winning tallies, while Eric Meloche also scored for the Phantoms, who finished up a four-game road swing with the victory. For the first time in seven games, the Phantoms scored the game's first goal. While operating on the power play, John Slaney fired a wrist shot from the right point. Meloche was able to get his stick on the puck and redirect it past Binghamton goaltender Kelly Guard to give Philadelphia the 1-0 lead at the 4:54 mark. Slaney's assist was his 498th AHL point, putting him just two away from becoming the first AHL defenseman to reach the 500-point plateau. Binghamton jumped out to the 2-1 advantage on two power play goals before the break. The first came at 6:35 when Andrew Ebbett hit Josh Hennessey with a headman pass at the Philadelphia blue line. Hennessey skated to the hash marks before firing a snap shot past Munroe to tie the game at 1-1. Jeff Heerema knocked home the second tally at 14:06, tipping home a centering pass from Cory Pecker that came from behind the net. Dimitrakos tied the affair at 2-2 while on the power play. He was stationed at the left post when Boyd Kane played a perfect back door pass from the right circle. Dimitrakos directed the puck into the yawning net at 14:13 of the second period. Dimitrakos then tallied the game winner just 17 seconds into the third period. He took a pass from Meloche and fired a snap shot from the left circle off Guard's stick side and into the cage. Munroe's 28 third-period stops broke the franchise record of 23 saves in a period set twice before, by Brian Boucher on Nov. 1, 1997 at Kentucky and by Neil Little on Dec. 29, 2004 vs. Norfolk. The 47 total saves matched a performance by Little on Nov. 1, 1996 in the same Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena against the Binghamton Rangers. The Phantoms were outshot 47-29 on the evening and 28-5 in the final frame. Guard took the loss with 24 saves on 27 Phantoms chances. Philadelphia returns home on Friday, January 19 at 7:05 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It's NASCAR Night with the Phantoms, with the first 5,000 fans taking home a Phantoms matchbox car courtesy of Ransome-Cat. Also, the No. 31 Jeff Burton Cingular Chevrolet Monte Carlo will be on hand, and Dover International Speedway will be bringing up its Tire Changing Challenge. BOXSCORE Philadelphia Phantoms 3 at Binghamton Senators 2 - Status: Final Jan 17, 2007 - Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena 1st Period Scoring - 1. Philadelphia, E. Meloche (3) (J. Slaney, J. Timonen) 4:54 PP 2. Binghamton, J. Hennessy (14) (A. Ebbett, A. Hedlund) 6:35 PP 3. Binghamton, J. Heerema (20) (C. Pecker) 14:04 PP Penalties - S. Collymore Bng (hooking) 2:57, D. Printz Phi (cross-checking) 5:43, D. Tolpeko Phi (slashing) 12:46 2nd Period Scoring - 4. Philadelphia, N. Dimitrakos (11) (B. Kane, N. Baumgartner) 14:13 PP 3rd Period Scoring - 5. Philadelphia, N. Dimitrakos (12) (E. Meloche, P. Zingoni) 0:36 PHI Shots: 10 12 5 TOTAL: 27 Power Play Conversion Goaltenders Philadelphia Phantoms Binghamton Senators Start : 7:07 PM Attendance : 3588 Referee I: Chris Brown (86) LINESMAN I: Jim Harper (59) |
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