GLENS FALLS -- The Adirondack Phantoms played just six games in the last 24 days and a league-low 16 for the season. Starting Thursday in Binghamton, business is about to pick up.
The rare Thanksgiving game, the only game on Thursday's slate in the AHL, is a tradition in Binghamton: This is the 36th time a Thanksgiving game has been held in the city.
Over the next 24 days, the Phantoms play 12 times. The grueling stretch comes at a time when the Phantoms are at less than their full power. Captain Jared Ross and left winger Andreas Nodl were called up to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
But the team did get a break Wednesday, when the Flyers sent back right winger David Laliberte, who played the last four games with the Flyers.
Laliberte's offense - he has four goals and 10 points between the two clubs - will help offset the loss of Ross and Nodl, who combined for four goals and seven assists with the Phantoms.
They'll need the help: the Phantoms enter play on Thanksgiving with a league-low total of 35 goals scored. With an 8-7-1-0 record, they have 17 points, good for sixth place in the East Division. However, they enter the week just three points out of fourth place and four out of second.
The Phantoms have a chance to make up ground in the division this week. After Binghamton, they play a home-and-home set Friday and Saturday with division-leading Hershey.
The Phantoms suffered one of their worst losses of the season, 5-0, to Binghamton on Nov. 13. The Senators have some firepower.
Ryan Keller leads the AHL in goals with 14 and is fourth in the league in points. Martin St. Pierre is fifth in the AHL in scoring.
Goaltender Andy Chiodo has won three of his last four appearances.
In their only meeting, the Phantoms beat Hershey 2-1 on Oct. 16, one of Adirondack's best performances of the season. But the defending Calder Cup champions come in hot: the Bears are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.
Alexandre Giroux has 10 goals and 16 assists in 15 games. Goalie Michal Neuvirth, the MVP of last year's Calder Cup playoffs, has won five straight starts.
Posted in Sports, Hockey on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 6:30 pm | Tags: Phantoms, Ahl
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