Jared Ross

Jared Ross thought the pain in his stomach was the acid reflux he experienced every few months, but by the time the Phantoms' bus had arrived in Syracuse, N.Y., for a game against the Crunch on Jan. 16, Ross knew he needed medical attention. An ambulance took Ross to a hospital, where his appendix was removed the next morning. "I was more worried about missing any games," Ross said. "I knew the All-Star Game was coming up, and I was pretty excited to play in that. I knew if I had the appendectomy that I'd have to miss a couple weeks and miss the All-Star Game, so that was a big concern.

Jared Ross scored the deciding goal at 10 minutes, 57 seconds of the third period last night as the Phantoms earned a 5-4 AHL victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Wachovia Spectrum. Bridgeport rallied for three straight goals after Ross scored but came up short.

Jared Ross' power-play goal early in the third period provided the winning margin as the Phantoms beat the Norfolk Admirals, 3-2, yesterday in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. Oskars Bartulis and Rob Sirianni also scored for the Phantoms. Scott Munroe made 26 saves on 28 Norfolk shots.

Patrick Maroon's goal in the ninth round last night ended a marathon shoot-out and gave the Phantoms a 2-1 AHL win over the Lowell Devils. Andreas Nodl scored the regulation goal. Jared Ross and Jonathan Matsumoto also scored in the shoot-out.

The Flyers sent Steve Downie, a first-round draft pick in 2005, and Jared Ross down to the Phantoms today, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. Downie, 21, was scoreless in four games this season for the Flyers. He played 32 games for the Flyers last season and 21 games for the Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate. Ross, 26, was the only American on the Flyers' roster. He was scoreless in two games this season.  

Claude Giroux snapped a 3-3 tie in the third period and the Phantoms beat the Hartford Wolf Pack, 6-3, last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. David Laliberte scored and Jonathan Matsumoto connected on a penalty shot in the final period. Jared Ross netted two goals and Boyd Kane added another for the Phantoms.

Jared Ross scored a natural hat trick - three consecutive goals - and brought the Phantoms from behind in a 4-3 win over the Springfield Falcons last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. It was the fifth natural hat trick in Phantoms history and boosted their record to 7-1. With his team trailing, 2-1, in the second period, Ross scored the last two goals of the period and the first of the third period to give the Phantoms a 4-2 lead. Scott Munroe made 23 saves to improve to 2-0.

The Phantoms got balanced scoring and strong goaltending last night to beat the Binghamton Senators, 5-2, in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. The win was the sixth in their last nine games and allowed the team to move within five points of a playoff spot in the AHL East. Five players scored and Scott Munroe made 27 saves as the Phantoms took a 3-0 lead, saw it dwindle, then stormed home. Jared Ross got his first goal as a Phantom. Denis Tolpeko, Eric Meloche, Mark Cullen and Pete Zingoni also scored.

Patrick Maroon recorded a hat trick to lead the Phantoms to a 5-2 win over the Binghamton Senators last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. The left winger scored early in the first period and added both Phantoms goals in the third. Jared Ross and Jeffrey Szwez also scored for the Phantoms (14-11-0-0) before Binghamton (11-9-2-3) got its first goal. Scott Munroe stopped 20 of 22 shots for the win. The Senators' Jeff Glass stopped 9 of 12 shots in the first period.

Scott Munroe made 46 saves to shut out the Providence Bruins and lift the Phantoms to a 2-0 AHL victory yesterday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Munroe stopped 40 shots in the first two periods alone. Claude Giroux and Jared Ross scored for the Phantoms (8-6), who won for the sixth time in seven games. Giroux's goal came midway through the second period. Ross scored early in the third. Tuukka Rask turned away 26 shots for Providence (7-4-1).

"Sweet Home Alabama" may be Jared Ross' unofficial theme song, but the Flyers' rookie center looked pretty comfortable in his adopted home yesterday afternoon. Ross, the first player in NHL history from Alabama, scored his first NHL goal to help the Flyers outlast the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3, and get back into this increasingly nasty Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The Huntsville, Ala., native scored with 16 minutes, 18 seconds left in the third period to give the Flyers a 5-2 lead.

DOUG ROSS lives on the side of a mountain now, separated from a world that moved too fast, used too many things, made too much noise. "He's anti-technology," Jared Ross was saying about his dad after scoring his first NHL goal in the Flyers' 6-3 playoff victory over Pittsburgh yesterday. "No cable. No cell phone. No computer. "He just got an answering machine a couple of weeks ago. " He has a television, though, and 1,500 feet above Huntsville, Ala., his rabbit ears can pick up the NBC affiliate with hardly any snow on the screen at all. "So I'm sitting alone in my front room, talking to my mother," Doug Ross was saying over the phone.

David Laliberte's hat trick led the Phantoms to a 6-3 win over the Albany River Rats last night in the ever-tightening AHL East race. The Phantoms are just three points behind Binghamton for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division, and have a game in hand. Binghamton lost a shoot-out last night to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Laliberte's effort was badly needed by the Phantoms, who had fallen behind, 3-1, in the Wachovia Spectrum. Laliberte scored less than two minutes into the second period and tied the game 15 minutes later.

Scott Munroe made 36 saves to lift the Phantoms past the Binghamton Senators, 3-1, last night in an AHL game at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The win pulled the Phantoms within six points of Binghamton in the race for the final playoff spot in the AHL East. Jared Ross put the Phantoms on the board with a little more than five minutes to go in the first period. Jonathon Kalinski and Patrick Maroon scored early in the second period for a 3-1 lead, and Munroe made it stand up. The Senators outshot the Phantoms, 19-2, in the third period but could only get one of those shots past Munroe.

After battling to a 1-1 tie in overtime, the Phantoms lost a 3-2 shoot-out with the Binghamton Senators last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Phantoms (35-27-5) trail the fourth-place Senators (37-25-8) by eight points for the last playoff spot in the East, but have three games in hand. Rob Sirianni, on a feed from Jared Ross, had given the Phantoms a 1-0 lead in the second period. Ilya Zubov tied it a little more than three minutes later.

Jonathon Kalinski's goal with 20 seconds remaining in regulation gave the Phantoms a 2-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Phantoms (35-27-5) had tied the game when Jared Ross scored on a power play 55 seconds into the third period. Janne Pesonen's power-play goal with 51 seconds left in the first period had given the Penguins (43-23-4) a 1-0 lead that stood until the Phantoms took over down the stretch.

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers erased a two-goal deficit with a pair of third-period goals and eventually took a 3-2 shoot-out win over the Phantoms last night in an AHL game at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The Phantoms (32-26-4) have not won in two seasons in Connecticut. They took a 2-0 lead in the second period when Jonathan Matsumoto and Jared Ross scored before Bridgeport (38-21-4) tied it in regulation with a pair of goals in the third. In the shoot-out, Ross was the only Phantom to score against goalie Kris Mayotte.

Keith Aucoin scored as overtime expired to give the Hershey Bears a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Phantoms last night in an AHL game at the Giant Center. The Phantoms (30-24-2-1) got a point to pull within three of Binghamton in the East Division playoff race. Jared Ross' goal with 4 minutes, 57 seconds remaining in the first period gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead. The Bears tied it 15 seconds into the second period, but the Phantoms went up by 3-1 on goals 37 seconds apart by David Laliberte and Jeff Szwez.

Patrick Maroon's hat trick in the second period spurred the Phantoms to a 7-2 win over the Portland Pirates last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. Boyd Kane also scored in the second period as the Phantoms built a 5-0 lead. He added a goal in the third. Rob Sirianni and Jared Ross also scored for the Phantoms. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 25 of 27 shots for the win. The Phantoms (30-24-1-1) are in fifth place in the East Division, trailing Binghamton by four points for the last playoff spot.