By Brian Smith
Philadelphia Phantoms Correspondent

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia earned two points the hard way on Friday night in front of 8,841 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum, as the Phantoms beat the Hershey Bears in overtime, 3-2. Pat Kavanagh shelved the game-winner for the Purple 1:58 into the extra, his team-leading eighth goal of the season.

The first period was scoreless, thanks in large part to some spectacular play from Phantoms backstop Jamie Storr. He gobbled up 12 shots in the opening stanza and then held the fort through the second, with Hershey accounting for the first 10 shots of the frame. The Bears were able to sustain a solid attack in the front half of the period with the Phantoms creating a steady path to the penalty box.

With 2:44 to go in the second period, Ben Eager grew tired of the 0-0 score. He took the puck from his own blue line, through the neutral zone, past three Hershey defensemen and roofed a backhander over the glove of Frederic Cassivi to give Philadelphia the 1-0 lead.

Eager was then awarded a penalty shot with 38 seconds left in the second when he was hooked while on a breakaway. But Cassivi gloved Eager's attempt to keep it 1-0.

In the waning moments of the second, Alexandre Picard's nimble stick set the table for the 2-0 lead. With a poke, the 20-year old kept in the puck at the Hershey blue line and then fired the puck in on Cassivi. The Hershey cage cop bumbled the chest high bid and Josh Gratton was there on the right post to bat home the rebound and give Philadelphia a late two goal advantage.

Hershey cut the lead in half with Graham Mink picking up a loose puck just inside the Phantoms blue line. He was shouldered by Phantoms blueliner Freddy Meyer. Mink was able to shake Meyer and regain control of the puck in the slot before slipping it past Storr to make it 2-1.

The Bears registered the equalizer on their ninth power play of the game. Eric Fehr found paydirt at 14:41 and it pushed the game to overtime.

"We realized that we probably deserved better," remarked Phantoms forward Pat Kavanagh. "But at the same time that's hockey. They got a couple of lucky breaks and all of a sudden it's 2-2 in a game that I thought we pretty much controlled, but we stayed with it."

In the overtime, Kavanagh was sprung on the right wing, faked a slapper and then zipped the puck over the shoulder of Cassivi from 30 feet for the goal and the extra point.

The 6-9-0-2 Phantoms now head to Hershey for the second of two straight with the Bears. The 7:00 pm faceoff is available on the B2 Network on phantomshockey.com and via 610WIP.com. Philadelphia returns to the Spectrum on Sunday for a 5:05 tilt with the Norfolk Admirals.