Kyle Wilson and Andrew Gordon each contributed a goal and an assist and the Hershey Bears shut down the Philadelphia Phantoms on seven power play opportunities en route to a 4-2 win in Game 1 of the East Division Semifinals on Friday night at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the series with the victory, which was the first playoff game at the Spectrum in seven years.
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- The Phantoms had seven power play opportunites in the contest and failed to convert on a single one of them. It’s possible that they miss the presence of Jared Ross, a major cog in their power play unit. During the regular season, Philadelphia has the eighth best power play in the AHL
The Bears, the number one seed in the East Division, never trailed in the game. In addition to Wilson and Gordon, Jay Beagle and Oskar Osala scored for Hershey. - For the Phantoms, Lasse Kukkonen and Jonathan Matsumoto scored. Matsumoto took nine shots on goal in the game.
- James van Riemsdyk put up a -1 rating and registed two shots on goal.
- The Phantoms played all home playoff games at the Wachovia Center in 2003/04, their Cup-winning season in 2004/05, and last season. They missed the playoffs in 2005/06 and 2006/07./
Game 2 is Saturday evening at the Spectrum. If Hershey wins the series in five games or less, Saturday will be the final game in the history of the building.
