Sunday, April 25, 1999
PHILADELPHIA 5, MIGHTY DUCKS 2
One more loss and out
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PHILADELPHIA — The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks knew going into their opening-round playoff series against the defending Calder Cup champion Philadelphia Phantoms that they would have to play their best, stay out of the penalty box and have some bounces go their way to have a chance to win the series.
After playing well in a series-opening 4-3 loss Thursday at Philadelphia, the Ducks got off to a strong start Saturday, taking a 2-0 lead midway through the first period on goals 56 seconds apart by Craig Reichert (power play) and Joel Kwiatkowski.
But then the Ducks stopped winning one-on-one battles and fell to the Phantoms 5-2.
The Ducks, down 0-2 in the best-of-five series, face elimination today at 3:05 p.m. in the Gardens.
“They outworked us, they outplayed us, our penalty killing needed to be better, and our power play didn't get the job done, plain and simple,” Ducks center Bob Wren said.
Added Ducks captain Craig Reichert: “We got off to a good start, but for whatever reason, we just stopped skating. And their forwards were just too strong for us today.”
The Ducks lost the game in the second period, when the Phantoms scored three times on goals by Dennis Bonvie, Peter White and Richard Park to take a 4-2 lead. Jim Montgomery scored the clinching goal with an empty-net tally at 19:23 of the third period.
Philadelphia outshot Cincinnati 45-29.
The Mighty Ducks have won just three of their 26 meetings against the Phantoms in two seasons.
Cincinnati ....... 2 0 0—2
Philadelphia ....... 1 3 1—5
First period: 1. Cin, Reichert 2 (Crowley, Wren), 10:03 (ppg). 2. Cin, Kwiatkowski 1, 10:59. 3. Phi, Belanger 1 (Healey, White), 15:29 (ppg).
Second period: 4. Phi, Bonvie 2, 5:54. 5. Phi, White 3 (Belanger, MacIsaac), 10:56. 6. Phi, Park 1 (Montgomery, Joseph), 18:34.
Third period: 7. Phi, Montgomery 2 (White), 19:23 (eng).
Shots on goal: Cin 8-9-12=29. Phi 17-20-8=45. Power play opportunities: Cin 1-6. Phi 1-for-6. Goaltenders: Cin, Askey (44 shots, 40 saves. 1 eng; record 0-2). Phi, Boucher (29-27-2). Att: 8,554.
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