Wednesday, December 27, 2006

HERSHEY, PA - The Hershey Bears jumped out to a 3-0 cushion and fought their way to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phantoms on Wednesday night at the GIANT Center. The game marked the 900th professional appearance for Phantoms captain John Slaney.

The Bears started the game's scoring at 15:17 of the first period on a solo act by Chad Wiseman. He carried the puck into the Phantoms zone down the right wing side and snapped a wrist shot past the stick side of Martin Houle for the unassisted goal that gave the Bears a 1-0 advantage.

Joey Tenute made it a 2-0 Hershey lead near the game's halfway point. He walked through the slot before firing a high wrister over two prone Phantoms defensemen and past Houle at 9:36.

The lead became 3-0 with 2:48 left in the second period. Kyle Wilson took a pass down low to the right of the net before stepping back in front of the goal line and firing a wrist shot past Houle.

Tony Voce put the Phantoms on the board 34 seconds into the third period. Niko Dimitrakos came down the left wing and dropped the puck to Mark Cullen. Cullen, in turn, played a half-shot, half-pass to the back post, where Voce was waiting to slam it home.

Quentin Laing ended the affair with an empty netter with 18 seconds remaining.

Houle took the loss for the Phantoms, stopping 25 of 28 Hershey shots. Maxime Daigneault stopped 37 of 38 shots in earning the win for Hershey.

Slaney's career now includes 369 games played for the Phantoms. He's played a total of 576 games in the American Hockey League and 268 in the NHL, with the rest coming in the now-defunct International Hockey League.

The Phantoms return to the Wachovia Spectrum on Friday, December 29 to host the Providence Bruins, and will also host the Lowell Devils on Saturday, December 30 at 7:05. 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

Philadelphia Phantoms 1 at Hershey Bears 4 - Status: Unofficial Final

Dec 27, 2006 - Giant Center

1st Period

Scoring - 1. Hershey, C. Wiseman (8) 15:17
Penalties - L. Jonsson Phi (hooking) 1:54, M. Davis Phi (holding) 8:14, M. Grenier Phi (fighting) 13:54, P. Vandermeer Her (fighting) 13:54

2nd Period

Scoring - 2. Hershey, J. Tenute (6) (T. Fleischmann) 9:36
3. Hershey, K. Wilson (8) (J. Tenute, T. Byrne) 17:12 PP
Penalties - G. Pisellini Phi (fighting) 3:29, L. Robitaille Her (fighting) 3:29, T. Fleischmann Her (hooking) 4:29, T. Helbling Her (hooking) 6:57, T. Byrne Her (hooking) 11:15, F. Cabana Phi (hooking) 16:10, T. Byrne Her (tripping) 18:35

3rd Period

Scoring - 4. Philadelphia, T. Voce (6) (M. Cullen, N. Dimitrakos) 0:34
5. Hershey, Q. Laing (8) 19:42 EN
Penalties - D. Tolpeko Phi (goaltender interference) 3:19, T. Fleischmann Her (boarding) 12:02

PHI Shots: 11 13 14 TOTAL: 38
HER Shots: 11 8 10 TOTAL: 29

Power Play Conversion
Philadelphia Phantoms 0-5. Hershey Bears 1-4.

Goaltenders

Philadelphia Phantoms
Houle 5-6-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:20 SV: 25 GA: 3

Hershey Bears
Daigneault 9-2-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:51 SV: 37 GA: 1

Start : 7:03 PM
End : 9:23 PM

Attendance : 10685

Referee I: Dean Morton (36)
Referee II:
LINESMAN I: Scott Pomento (25)
LINESMAN II: Bob Goodman (90)