Adirondack at last ended its woes in the Northway rivalry with Albany.
Right wing David Laliberte scored the go-ahead goal and defenseman Joey Mormina, a former River Rat, followed with the game winner as the Phantoms rolled past host Albany, 4-2 on Wednesday night.
After dropping the first four games of the season series, Adirondack (15-14-2-0) prevailed to win its third game in its past four outings and handed Albany (18-14-1-2) its third consecutive loss in the setback.
Center Jon Matsumoto scored a goal and assisted on two others for the Phantoms, and defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori, Laliberte and Mormina each tallied a goal and an assist.
Rookie center Zach Boychuk and center Mike Angelidis each scored for the Rats, who travel north to play at Adirondack today at 3 p.m. to complete the New Year’s week home-and-home series.
Earlier in the game, Phantoms left wing Patrick Maroon took a hit from Rats left wing Nicolas Blanchard and was knocked out of the game 3½ minutes into the contest. Only 10 seconds later, Lehtivuori scored on the power play for a 1-0 Adirondack lead.
Motionless on the ice, Maroon was taken off the ice by stretcher and taken to Albany Medical Center, where he was reportedly conscious and able to move his arms and legs.
Blanchard, who was assessed a major penalty for elbowing, was ejected with a game misconduct and will likely be suspended by the American Hockey League.