USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Bradley Blasts 3 from the Point, Phantoms Win Firefight in Des Moines 8-6

Published on January 22, 2012 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


DES MOINES, Iowa - One night after a goaltending clinic was put on in Buccaneer Arena, the Youngstown Phantoms put on a very different show, led by defenseman Chris Bradley. The RPI commit netted a hat trick as the Phantoms (19-11-3, fourth East) defeated the Des Moines Buccaneers 8-6 in a Saturday night firefight.

Dylan Margonari scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner, while short-handed, and Zach Tatrn, Richard Zehnal and JT Stenglein also chipped in with goals. Goaltender Matthew O'Connor turned away 27 of 33 shots to record his 16th win of the season.

"Chris has been great for us all year, but the goals just didn't seem to be going in for him," Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. "Then all of the sudden today he comes out and puts three pucks in the net.

"Before the game, we coaches were saying we need some more offense out of our defensemen. It was great to see. There was no one who deserved it more than him."

After only mustering a single goal in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Buccaneers (13-15-3, fifth West) Friday night, the Phantoms erupted for three in the first period on Saturday. Tatrn got things started at the 6:45 mark when he poked in a rebound off a spinning slap shot from Mike Ambrosia. Zehnal put the Phantoms up 2-0 less than nine minutes later when he pounced on another rebound, this one off a Daniel Renouf shot from slot.

Then with just 2:02 left in the period, Bradley made it 3-0 with a 4-on-4 goal right off the face off. Austin Cangelosi won the draw back to Ambrosia, who moved it up to Bradley at the point, who sent a low wrist shot to the far post, which deflected off the stick of a Buccaneers defender and past Kasdorf.

The second saw a rash of whistles as both teams combined for 22 penalties, and leaned heavily on special teams for the vast majority of the period. The Buccaneers scored a pair of goals on a four-minute power play after Pat Conte was called for checking from behind. Chad McDonald got the first at the 2:35 mark and then Gasper Kopitar added another 53 seconds later to make it 3-2. Then Trent Samuels-Thomas completed the comeback with a rebound goal at the 4:45 mark.

Noreen chose to call his timeout to refocus his team, and Stenglein answered the call on the very next shift. The Greece, N.Y., native protected the puck in traffic and put a low wrist shot in to make it a 4-3 game and give Kasdorf the hook.

"[In the timeout] we told the guys, 'Let's take a breath. Let's get back to what we do,'" Noreen said. "Give full credit to JT for getting us back in the right direction when it could have been very easy - especially the way the penalties were going for us there - to fold up shop and let them run away with it."

Bradley netted his second of the night with a low-lying laser from the point that beat replacement goalie Christian Frey at the 8:59 mark as the Phantoms enjoyed a 5-on-3 advantage. A minute later and still a man-up, Margonari made it 6-3 when he outmuscled the Des Moines defense for the puck in front of the net and put it past Frey.

Then at the 17:07 mark, while the Phantoms faced a 4-on-3 penalty kill, Margonari intercepted a puck in the neutral zone, blew past the Buccaneers defense and tucked it in on the five-hole to make it a 7-3 game.

"Dylan's acceleration is what separates him from the average player in this league," Noreen said. "It was on full display tonight. When you get into those short-handed areas, there's more space for a guy like him. And if he get's a hole, he's gone."

But 13 seconds after play resumed, McDonald put one past O'Connor at the other end to cut the lead to three goals. Then with just 3 seconds remaining in the period, and the Buccaneers enjoying another power play, Cal Decowski put a wrist shot in from the goal line to make the score 7-5 heading into the third.

"I think that was the longest period I've ever been a part of in hockey," Noreen said. "It was basically a special teams match up the entire time."

Kasdorf returned to man the net in the third, and Bradley beat him just 1:16 in. Alexander Dahl forced a turnover behind the Des Moines net and he moved the puck up to the point, where RPI commit stepped into a vicious one-timer. The puck flew through traffic and past the blocker of Kasdorf to make it an 8-5 game and complete Bradley's hat trick.

"His best asset might just be his patience," Noreen said. "Des Moines is such a tough team to get shots from the point against and Chris consistently got them through.

"He could have had five tonight."

Des Moines was able to cut into the lead one last time when Decowski found himself on a short-handed breakaway that slid one past O'Connor after the initial save. But the Phantoms locked down for the remainder of the period and killed off an additional three power plays to skate out of Des Moines with an 8-6 victory and a spit in the two-game series.

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