Game Story by Geofree Capodanno

PHILADELPHIA – Goalie Cam Ward stopped all 28 shots he faced as the visiting Lowell Lock Monsters shutout the Philadelphia Phantoms, 1-0, at the Wachovia Spectrum on Friday night. The crowd of 7,146 watched Ward set a new Lock Monsters’ franchise milestone by recording his fifth shutout of the season. Ward received the game’s First Star for his performance.

On the other end of the ice, Phantoms’ goalie Antero Niittymaki was spectacular in goal as well. He turned away 22 of the 23 shots he faced, but received no offensive support from his teammates.

Lock Monsters’ center Mike Zigomanis scored the only goal of the game early in the first period. After skating into the Phantoms’ zone, left winger Ryan Bayda got a shot on goal that resulted in a long rebound for defenseman Danny Richardson. Richardson sent a cross-ice pass to Zigomanis, who one-timed the puck past Niittymaki for the goal. It was Zigomanis’ 20th goal scored on the year.

The Lock Monsters had the momentum in their favor following Zigomanis’ first period goal that carried well into the third period. Lock Monsters’ head coach Tom Rowe utilized a collapsing defense that allowed the Phantoms’ into their zone, only to have them force shots towards the goal or press them to make bad passes.

Phantoms’ right winger Mark Murphy gave credit to the defensive stands made by the Lock Monsters. “They did a good job breaking us up coming down the ice,” said Murphy. “They also did a great job in their zone.”

Poor puck management led to the Phantoms’ offensive woes in addition to the defensive strategies employed by the Lock Monsters. In the first period, the Phantoms had trouble moving the puck out their own zone and even turned the puck over several times around center ice. Puck management was a major issue in the second period as well, leading to several odd-man rushes that incited loud boos from the Phantoms’ fans.

Mark Murphy remarked on the Phantoms’ play versus their opponents’ overall effort. “They had a day of rest,” stated Murphy. “We had a lot of chances and…it’s just disappointing.”

It was not like the Phantoms did not have good chances to tie the game. Their best opportunity came when the Lock Monsters’ center and former second overall pick in the 2003 National Hockey League draft, Eric Staal, was penalized on a five-minute major for high sticking in the third period. The Phantoms managed to get a few chances to score, but squandered the rest of the time failing to set up in the Lock Monsters’ zone on the power play. The Phantoms’ highly touted defenseman Joni Pitkanen even turned over the puck two times allowing the Lock Monsters to have short-handed scoring opportunities.

During a post game interview, Phantoms’ head coach John Stevens commented on his team’s failure to capitalize on that crucial power play. “When you get a power play late in the game, you hope to at least get even there,” stated Stevens. “We had a couple of good looks at the net, but bottom line - the power play has got to score.”

Phantoms’ left winger and team captain Boyd Kane reflected on the positive points of the game. “They collapsed by their net and it was hard getting off better shots. I think we played well,” said Kane. “We didn’t score, but we put a lot of shots on goal there in the third period.”

The Lock Monsters victory gave the team 63 points and sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division. The Phantoms’ defeat wasted an opportunity for the team to enter a two-way tie for first place in the Eastern Division with Binghamton, who lost to Bridgeport on Friday, 2-1. The Phantoms and the Lock Monsters face each other again on March 9 in Lowell.

In one last related note, the Phantoms and the Wilkes-Barre Penguins were the only two teams this season who have not been shutout until Friday night. Following the Phantoms’ 1-0 loss, the Wilkes-Barre Penguins were shutout by Hershey in a 2-0 defeat.