YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Defense wins championships, as the sports cliché goes, but let's be honest for a moment: offense is a heck of a lot more fun.No one had more fun Saturday night than the Youngstown Phantoms, as they prevailed 7-6 over the Chicago Steel in a crowd-pleaser at the Covelli Centre on a Tom Serratore goal at 1:16 of overtime. The Phantoms twice rallied from two goals down, including a 6-4 deficit in the third period, to finish their five-game homestand 4-1 and move within one point of second-place Chicago in the East Division.
Serratore was assisted after a gorgeous move by Taylor Holstrom to step off the left wall in the Steel zone. Holstrom guided a pass across to the bottom edge of the right circle to Serratore, who buried a wrister over Connor Wilson's glove to send the Phantoms faithful into bedlam.
Holstrom also set up Andrew Lamont's even-strength goal at 8:04 of the third and Nick Czinder's second of the contest, capping a 2-on-1 rush with 8:46 to go and tying the game 6-6. Holstrom now has five goals and 10 assists for a team-leading 15 points.
Chicago defenseman Mark Adams had quieted the Covelli Centre with a pair of power-play markers less than six minutes apart late in the second period, turning a 4-3 Phantoms advantage to a 5-4 Steel lead through 40 minutes. Alex Carpenter then nailed his second goal of the evening 5:40 into the third to extend the visitors' edge to two goals.
The Steel (8-4-2, 18 points) had previously enjoyed a two-score lead at 4:05 of the second, after Mark Anthoine netted his league-leading 12th goal of the season with the visitors killing a penalty, 1:48 after Greg Wolfe ripped a shorthanded score past goalie Matt Mahalak's blocker. The Phantoms (8-5-1, 17 points) had not given up a shorthanded goal all season until that quick pair.
Down 3-1, Youngstown mounted a quick rally, potting three straight tallies in a span of 3:04 to vault on top for the first time. David Donnellan's first goal of the year, also shorthanded, was sandwiched between Ryan Jasinsky's third and Czinder's power-play slam dunk. Brian Dowd earned the primary helpers on both Jasinsky's and Czinder's goals, using his speed to create space for a backdoor play.
Carpenter's first of the game was the lone goal of the first, coming at 14:51 after a goalmouth scramble. Following Wolfe's shorthanded score that made it 2-0, Serratore deflected Donnellan's point shot for Youngstown's first of two power-play goals 42 second later, before Anthoine restored the two-goal Chicago lead 1:06 after that.
It wasn't a night for goalies, but Mahalak won a war of attrition over his counterpart Wilson, turning away 36 Steel shots for his second straight home win. Wilson got in front of 16 Youngstown drives.
The Phantoms head to the road next weekend for games Friday and Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Sioux City, Iowa. Youngstown returns home to start another five-game homestand Friday, Nov. 27 against the Lincoln Stars.
The Youngstown Phantoms are a Member Club of the United States Hockey League (USHL), America's only Tier I hockey league and premier developer of National Hockey League talent with more than 100 alumni on current NHL rosters.
Visit www.youngstownphantoms.com or call the Front Office at 330.747.PUCK(7825) for more information on the Phantoms organization. The Youngstown Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company (Phantom Fireworks), located in Youngstown, Ohio.
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