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| Ice Hockey Spotlight: Cullen and Kane are Able; Phantoms Take 6-4 Win Friday, March 23, 2007 By Brian Smith PHILADELPHIA - Mark Cullen posted a hat trick and an assist and Boyd Kane farmed four assists to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms past the Springfield Falcons 6-4 on Friday night at the Wachovia Spectrum. Darren Reid, the third member of the line, had a goal and two assists as the Phantoms won their fourth home contest in a row. Kyle Wanvig opened the scoring for Springfield just 58 seconds in. He took a pass from Eric Healey in the slot and fired a puck on net that banged off a couple bodies before it eluded the glove of Martin Houle for the 1-0 lead. The Phantoms tied matters with 2:41 remaining in the period while on the power play. Mark Cullen had the puck on the right wall and threaded a pass to Reid, who was crashing the weak-side post. The former Falcon knocked the cross home to make it 1-1. Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead 3:34 into the second period with another power play tally. Reid carried a puck over the line and left it for Boyd Kane, who in turn provided the puck to a trailing Cullen. Cullen's wrister hurried past Jonathan Boutin to give the Phantoms their first advantage. Springfield evened the score again with exactly eight minutes remaining in the second period. The Falcons came into the zone on a three-on-two rush, and it was David Spina who finished it off with a low wrist shot to Houle's glove side to make it 2-2. Cullen regained the one-goal lead with 4:37 remaining in the frame. Cullen took a pass from Kane in the right circle and stickhandled around a couple men before putting all the flex his stick would offer into a wrist shot that blurred past Boutin into the extreme upper left corner of the net. Cullen's second gave the Phantoms the 3-2 advantage. But Springfield again tied the game at 17:08 on a power play goal by Stephen Baby. It came after a scrum around the net and only after a discussion between the officials, after which referee Brian Pochmara ruled the puck had crossed the line. Nate Guenin didn't care for that, however, and gave the Phantoms a 4-3 advantage 1:12 before the intermission. Matt Ellison was deep in the left corner and found Guenin pinching in from the right point. Guenin's wrister beat Boutin before he could get back to the right post. Philadelphia took a 5-3 lead 6:38 into the third period. Eric Meloche jarred a puck loose in the Springfield end and it came right to Cabana, who fired the puck just underneath the crossbar. The goal came in Cabana's first game back after missing 14 with an upper body injury. The Falcons gave one last gasp at 15:42 of the third on Spina's second of the night. He came down the right side and lifted a puck over Houle's shoulder to make it a 5-4 game. But Cullen's third of the night put things away with 1:07 remaining. It came after a flurry of activity around the net, and Cullen batted it out of midair. Houle earned the win with 17 saves on 21 Springfield shots. Boutin's loss came after stopping 28 of 34 Phantoms chances. The Phantoms are back in action tomorrow night in Hershey before returning home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday afternoon at 5:05. It's the annual Photo Night, where fans can get their photos taken with their favorite Phantoms on the ice following the game. Individual tickets for all Phantoms games, including $8 tickets for children 14 and under anywhere in the building, are on sale now at phantomshockey.com or by calling 800-298-4200. BOXSCORE Springfield Falcons 4 at Philadelphia Phantoms 6 - Status: Final 1st Period Scoring - 1. Springfield, K. Wanvig (15) (E. Healey, D. Spina) 0:58 2nd Period Scoring - 3. Philadelphia, M. Cullen (11) (B. Kane, D. Reid) 3:34 PP 3rd Period Scoring - 8. Philadelphia, F. Cabana (3) (E. Meloche, P. Zingoni) 6:38 SPR Shots: 4 8 9 TOTAL: 21 Power Play Conversion Goaltenders Springfield Falcons Philadelphia Phantoms Start : 7:04 PM Attendance : 6480 Referee I: Brian Pochmara (43) |
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