Patrick Maroon scored 25 seconds into overtime to give the Philadelphia Phantoms a 3-2 win over the Lowell Devils on Monday afternoon at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., in the AHL’s 2008 preseason opener.
Maroon, Jonathan Matsumoto and Michael Ratchuk each posted a two-point game for Philadelphia in the winning effort.
Lowell opened the scoring 3:59 into the contest when Eric Castonguay jumped on a loose puck at neutral ice and went in one-on-one with a Phantoms defender before beating goaltender Jacob DeSerres. But the Phantoms answered on the power play at 12:10 when Ratchuk fired a low shot from the left point that went through skates and past Lowell goaltender Jeff Frazee.
The game stayed tied through the second period, but Philadelphia jumped back on top early in the third. Mike Hoffman took a pass from Chase Watson and beat Frazee inside the left post, giving the Phantoms the 2-1 advantage.
Philadelphia protected the lead until late in the third, when the Devils went on the power play with 2 ½ minutes remaining. Matt Halischuk knocked home a loose puck in front just 22 seconds into that power play, knotting the game at 2-2.
But Maroon wasted little time ending the afternoon. He took a pass from Chris Zarb in the slot and went top shelf to Frazee’s stick side. Matsumoto helped set up the goal for his second assist of the day. Maroon and Ratchuk each finished with a goal and an assist in the contest.
DeSerres started and played the first 30 minutes, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced. Michael Teslak played the second half of the game and turned aside six of seven.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 at the New Jersey Devils’ practice facility in Newark, N.J.
Get the complete AHL preseason schedule here.
