Friday, February 16, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Potulny scored in the first round and the sixth round of a shootout to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 2-1 shootout win over the Portland Pirates in front of 7,041 on Friday night at the Wachovia Spectrum. Niko Dimitrakos scored in regulation for the Phantoms and Scott Munroe returned from injury to make 29 of 30 saves in regulation and four of six in the shootout.

After nearly 28 minutes of scoreless hockey, Dimitrakos finally broke the deadlock when he took a pass from a falling Matt Ellison in the left circle and snapped a wrist shot past Sebastien Caron at 7:28 of the second period. The power play tally gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead. It also extended their power play goal scoring streak to nine games, while Ellison's personal point streak clicked to six games with the helper.

Just over three minutes into the third period, while operating on their fourth power play, Portland finally found the net. Joe Motzko intercepted a Philadelphia clearing attempt in the high slot and fired a wrist shot through traffic that beat a screened Munroe high to the stick side for an unassisted goal and a 1-1 tie.

Neither team scored the rest of the way nor through a five-minute overtime period, sending the game to the breakaway contest. Potulny gave the Phantoms an early lead, but Motzko tied it up in the second round. Darren Reid scored in the fourth round, only to see Geoff Peters tie it in the fifth. That set the stage for Potulny's sixth-round success opposite a Motzko miss in the same frame.

Munroe recorded the win in his first start since leaving a shootout with a groin injury on January 19 vs. Bridgeport. Caron absorbed the loss despite 21 saves on 22 regulation shots and three of six in the shootout.

The Phantoms travel to Wilkes-Barre to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night at 7:00. They'll return to the Wachovia Spectrum on Sunday to welcome former head coach and captain John Stevens back to the building for his induction into the Phantoms Hall of Fame prior to the 5:05 start against the Norfolk Admirals. 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

Portland Pirates 1 at Philadelphia Phantoms 2 (SO) - Status: Final SO
Feb 16, 2007 - Wachovia Spectrum

1st Period

Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - E. Weinrich Por (hooking) 4:02, K. Huskins Por (slashing) 9:45, R. Potulny Phi (slashing) 9:45, R. Cote Phi (cross-checking) 12:38

2nd Period

Scoring - 1. Philadelphia, N. Dimitrakos (13) (M. Ellison, N. Guenin) 7:28 PP
Penalties - P. Zingoni Phi (high-sticking) 0:24, G. Amadio Por (cross-checking) 6:06, J. Motzko Por (roughing) 11:50, R. Cote Phi (interference) 15:50

3rd Period

Scoring - 2. Portland, J. Motzko (17) 3:04 PP
Penalties - N. Dimitrakos Phi (slashing) 2:48, P. Zingoni Phi (elbowing) 4:51, C. Wilson Por (hooking) 7:22, R. Carter Por (roughing) 10:41, T. Grant Phi (roughing) 10:41, N. Dimitrakos Phi (hooking) 12:49, T. Grant Phi (hooking) 18:50, B. Melin Por (roughing) 19:25, N. Baumgartner Phi (slashing) 19:25

OT Period

Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - No Penalties

Shootout

Round 1 - PHI - Ryan Potulny - Yes
Round 1 - POR - Mark Hartigan - No
Round 2 - PHI - Stefan Ruzicka - No
Round 2 - POR - Joe Motzko - Yes
Round 3 - PHI - Niko Dimitrakos - No
Round 3 - POR - Clay Wilson - No
Round 4 - PHI - Darren Reid - Yes
Round 4 - POR - Ryan Carter - No
Round 5 - PHI - John Slaney - No
Round 5 - POR - Geoff Peters - Yes
Round 6 - PHI - Ryan Potulny - Yes
Round 6 - POR - Joe Motzko - No

POR Shots: 6 7 17 4 0 TOTAL: 34
PHI Shots: 7 9 5 1 1 TOTAL: 23

Power Play Conversion
Portland Pirates 1-7. Philadelphia Phantoms 1-4.

Goaltenders

Portland Pirates
Caron 6-6-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:49 SV: 21 GA: 1 [SOL]

Philadelphia Phantoms
Munroe 8-9-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 65:00 SV: 33 GA: 1 [W]

Start : 7:06 PM
End : 9:41 PM

Attendance : 7041

Referee I: Francois St. Laurent (38)
Referee II:

LINESMAN I: Leo Boylan (97)
LINESMAN II: Jim Doyle (75)