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Murphy had been spending extra time after practice working out with the scratched players on the Phantoms roster, namely David Printz, Charlie Cook, Joey Hope and Riley Cote taking shots at unsigned goaltender Martin Houle, whom the Phantoms brought in from Cape Breton in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as insurance against injuries to either Antero Niittymaki or Neil Little.
After the Phantoms were credited with a disputed goal at 4:58 of the third period to tie the game at 2-2, Murphy drifted in front of Norfolk goalie Craig Anderson, found a loose puck poked there by the hard-checking Boyd Kane, and lifted a backhander past Anderson to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead.
"The reason he got back into the lineup is because his attitude was so good coming into this game," said coach John Stevens. "We thought he’d bring us energy and a little extra scoring."
Patrick Sharp scored 23 seconds into the game to give the Phantoms an early lead, but Norfolk captain Ajay Baines put the Admirals ahead in the second period.
First, while his team was shorthanded, he stripped Dennis Seidenberg of the puck at the Phantoms’ blue line, and then snapped a nasty wrist shot over Niittymaki’s shoulder to tie the game at 1-1.
Then, taking a shift on the power play, Baines backhanded the rebound of a James Wisniewski shot inside the near post to give Norfolk a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
"I’m not going to lie to you, it does creep into your mind that ‘Oh no, we might have to play tomorrow,’" said Eric Meloche. "It was pretty quiet in the locker room (between the second and third periods), but we stayed focused and knew that if we kept pressuring their defenders, we’d get chances and we got some good bounces at the end."
One of the more fortuitous bounces for the Phantoms came early in the second period when a Dennis Seidenberg backhander from the blue line wormed its way toward the goal line and hovered around the goal line.
The red light went on, but referee Harry Dumas wasn’t sure if it crossed the line or not. After a brief consultation with the goal judge, the goal was awarded to Seidenberg, although Meloche said after the game that he got a piece of it before it went in.
Anderson said the puck bounced on the goal line and then was gloved by Ads forward Colin Fraser who threw it out of the crease.
Meloche added an empty-net goal with four seconds to play to seal the victory and vault to the Phantoms into the East Division Finals where, just like last year, they’ll meet the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins.
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All the buzz has been about Jeff Carter, but the Phantoms appear set to get yet another super prospect reinforcement.
Mike Richards, who was drafted 13 picks after Carter (24th overall) in the first round of the 2003 NHL draft, will sign an amateur tryout contract with the Phantoms today and will play in Game 1 Wednesday night. Richards arrived in town after his junior hockey team -- the Kitchener Rangers -- were eliminated from the OHL playoffs last week.
Richards captained Team Canada to a gold medal in the World Junior Championships earlier this year.
He and Carter were teammates on that team and became close friends.
