HERSHEY, PA – The Hershey Bears won game four of their best-of-seven series 3-2 against the Philadelphia Phantoms in controversial fashion to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
With 2:46 left in the game, referee Francis Charron called a penalty on the Phantoms Nate Raduns for holding the Bears Greg Amadio near the Phantoms net just as James Van Reimsdyk shot the puck into the net for what appeared to tie the game at 3-3. Charron’s call canceled out the goal and the Phantoms’ chances.
The Phantoms had to play catch up all night. The Bears got off to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Staffan Kronwall and Mathieu Perreault. Kronwall scored on the power play on a blast from the point for the 1-0 lead. It looked as though the Bears would go to the dressing room with that lead, but Perreault went in on a breakaway, deked left on Phantoms goaltender Scott Munroe, and deked right for a backhand shot that beat Munroe for the 2-0 lead.
The Phantoms got to within one when Joe Kalinski skated down the right wing boards with the puck while a mass of players fought for position in front of the Hershey net. Kalinski staked in front of the net and shot high to beat Michal Neuvirth at 15:54 of the second period. Hershey20looked to have put the game away when they scored on a tic-tac-toe play by Chris Bourque, Karl Alzner, and Alexandre Giroux who snapped a one-timer on the power play at 1:20 into the third period.
The Phantoms came back once again thanks to a three-on-one by Kalinski, Andres Nodl, and Lasses Kukkonen, who took a drop pass just in front of the Phantoms net and put a wrist shot past Neuvirth to once again get within one at 3-2 at the 6:19 mark.
That set the stage for Charron’s call on Raduns to break the backs of the Phantoms and put them in a three-game hole. Needless to say, Phantoms Head Coach John Paddock and Amadio saw things completely different after the game.
“It’s complete [bleeping] robbery,” said Paddock. “We got screwed by Charron. I’m not saying Hershey didn’t play well or they didn’t deserve to win. We got screwed by the referee.”
Meanwhile, as might be expected, Amadio agreed with the call.
“When it affects the goalie trying to make the save, you can’t do that,” said Amadio. “I was playing him (Raduns) in the corner one-on-one. I’m not sure what he was trying to do, really. He just got physical there and the ref happened to call a penalty.”
Regardless of how the call was viewed, the stage is now set for the Bears to not only eliminate the Phantoms from the p layoffs, but eliminate them from existence. The Phantoms are looking for a new home for next season or will fold temporarily since their current home, the Wachovia Spectrum will be demolished at the end of the calendar year.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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