USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms Knock out Defending Champs, Advance to Conference Finals

Published on April 21, 2013 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - There are few sure things in this world, but one thing is certain: there will be no repeat Clark Cup champion this year. The Youngstown Phantoms as they have throughout the season, came from behind in the third period to win 3-1 and eliminate the defending champion Green Bay Gamblers Sunday at the Covelli Centre.

Center Cam Brown was Youngstown's hero once again, scoring the game-winner with less than six minutes remaining in the final period after a failed clearing attempted led to a free-for-all in front of the Gamblers' net. First-year forward Luke Stork tied the game in the second period and co-captain Alexander Dahl, who was out for the final shift when the Gamblers knocked out the Phantoms on home-ice in last year's playoffs, scored an empty net goal with 22 seconds remaining assure the win and clinch the series 3-1.

"I don't think there was one easy piece of ice for either team at any point during the series, which made for great playoff hockey," head coach Anthony Noreen said. "It's nice, but at no point was beating Green Bay or winning our first-round series our goal. Our goals are much bigger than that."

The tone for the game was set when just two seconds after the puck dropped to open the first period, defenseman Dan Renouf and Green Bay blue liner Brandon Kirk dropped the gloves for a heavy-weight bout. Two more fights would punctuate three periods of bitter, blue-collar play from both sides.

"For them to come out and drop the gloves right away, I think that was a sign that it was going to be our type of game," Noreen said. "It was a great start for a playoff hockey game when two guys who are not just two top-minute getters, but two tough kids, start off with one of the best fights I've seen all year."

Phantoms goaltender Sean Romeo turned away 25 of 26 shots to secure the win, but the best save of the night belonged to defenseman Tommy Davis. Less than seven minutes into the opening period, Green Bay's Kevin Irwin got an clean look from the slot and fired a wrist shot on goal. It appeared a routine save for Romeo, but the puck bounced up and managed to squeak past the goaltender, and as it trickled toward the line - Irwin already hands-raised in celebration - Davis swooped in from the right post and swept it away.

"[Irwin] took a shot and it hit [Romeo's] shoulder and popped up," Davis said. ". I lost it in the seats and then in came right down in the blue paint and I instinctively whacked at it. It was kind of a lucky play - being in the right place at the right time."

However, Green Bay found the back of the net with 6:19 remaining in the period after a neutral zone turnover led to a 3-on-2 rush, and Christian Wolanin fired a wrist shot just underneath the crossbar. Although outshot 10-3 and trailing 1-0 through after 20 minutes, Noreen said the Phantoms were still able to feed off of Davis' goal-saving play during the intermission.

"That was our momentum-stealer," he said. "We just got given a goal . it should have been a 2-0 game but we'll take it as a momentum-shifter.

"We came out and played a much better period in the second."

The Phantoms tied the game 11:49 into the middle period when Kyle Connor walked a puck out of the left corner and, with the Green Bay defense collapsing on him, fed it out between the circles and right into Stork's wheelhouse. After putting a one-timer off the heel of his stick earlier in the period, Stork made clean contact this time and hammered it over Green Bay goaltender Tony Kujava's shoulder.

Youngstown then took the lead off a chaotic play with 5:52 remaining in the third period. Brown dumped it into the right corner and as Kujava left his crease to play it behind the net, the puck took and odd bounce off the wall and shot toward the net. The Green Bay netminder scambled back toward the goal and made a desperate attempt to clear the puck, but fanned on it as John Padulo and seemingly the entire Gamblers defense descended on the crease.

Padulo was able to dig the puck out of the scrum and move it to the right circle for Renouf, who paused, passed up a shot and instead slid it to Brown, who had an open look at the far post for his league-leading fourth goal of the postseason.

"To be honest, I thought Dan was going to shoot it at first," Brown said. "He waited an extra second - everyone was kind of looking at him - and he gave me a gift backdoor.

"I was just saying to myself 'don't screw it up,'" Brown said. "It felt awesome."

The Gamblers frantically pressed to even the score over the remainder of regulation and pulled Kujava for the extra attacker with a minute and a half left. But Dahl was able to knock the puck loose along the goal line and then threw it off the wall and it bounced past Gamblers defenseman Jordan Gross at the point and rolled - and rolled, and rolled - all the way into the open net at the opposite end.

"For the returners, there was definitely a bitter taste with [the Gamblers]," Renouf said. "It's definitely nice to beat them out and see them go home, because they did the same thing to us [last year]. The way we did it with this team, I couldn't be happier."

Phantoms by the Numbers

Shots - 23

Saves - 25

Power Play - 0-for-4

Penalty Kill - 4-for-4

Goals - Brown, Dahl, Stork

Assists - Sam Anas, Connor, Renouf, Padulo

Next on the Slate

The Phantoms will face the No. 1 seed Dubuque Fighting Saints, who eliminated the Muskegon Lumberjacks 3-0 Sunday afternoon, in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The series will get underway later this week in Dubuque, Iowa. Dates and times are to be determined.

Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are on sale now starting at the low price of just $8 a game. Benefits include invitations to exclusive season ticket holder events, discounts at the Phantoms Team Shop and much more. Call 330.747.PUCK (7825) for more information or to reserve seats today. For all the latest news, visit www.YoungstownPhantoms.com, follow the Phantoms on Twitter (@YtownPhantoms) and 'like' them on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/YoungstownPhantoms).

Check out the Youngstown Phantoms Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from April 21, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central