Bartus Shines in Phantoms 4-1 St. Patrick's Day Triumph
Published on March 17, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (Tuesday, March 17th, 2009) - Goaltender Garrett Bartus made 39 saves and earned his 12th win of the 2008-2009 season as the Mahoning Valley Phantoms up-ended the hard-charging U.S. National Team 4-1 at the Chevrolet Centre on Tuesday.
Bartus made 19 of his 39 stops in the third period as the Phantoms held off a furious late charge by the Nationals, who pulled goalie Brandon Maxwell in an effort to rally from a 4-0 third-period deficit.
Mahoning Valley came out of the gates fast on Tuesday, scoring twice in the first six minutes as linemates Josh Bussell and Brad Smith tallied goals on rebounds in front of Maxwell to give the Phantoms a 2-0 lead just 5:34 into the opening frame.
Team captain Johnny Meo said after the game that the quick start was just what the doctor ordered for the Phantoms against Team USA.
"Getting those two goals so quickly gave us a huge boost right from the start," said the third-year veteran center, "and we just grabbed the momentum and took it to them the rest of the way."
The Phantoms would extend the two goal lead eight and half minutes later when forward Jordy Trottier rolled the puck past a screened-out Maxwell for a 3-0 advantage with 5:26 remaining in the first.
Brandon Saad would cap the early offensive outburst when he outraced USA defenseman Sam Calabrese into the Nationals' zone and stuffed the puck through Maxwell's pads for his third short-handed goal of the season and a 4-0 lead with 4:19 left in the first.
The teams would remain deadlocked thanks to solid goaltending from Maxwell and Bartus until USA forward Luke Moffatt tipped home a rebound from the front of the Phantoms' net to spoil Bartus' bid for a shutout with 5:06 remaining in the game.
Soon after Moffatt's marker, Nationals head coach John Hynes pulled Maxwell for the extra attacker for almost five full minutes, but Team USA was unable to solve Bartus the rest of the way.
Bartus improved to 12-7-3 on the year and 2-2-0 against the National Team.
Maxwell made 14 saves as his overall record slipped to 14-9-1 on the 2008-2009 season.
The win gives the North Division-leading Phantoms' (35-14-5, 75 pts) a leg up for the division crown as they extended their division lead over the Nationals (31-15-4, 66 pts) and Traverse City (30-17-6, 66 pts) to nine points with four games remaining.
Team USA, which has eight games left in the regular season and four games in hand over Mahoning Valley, got an 8-3 win on Tuesday from their Under-18 team over Motor City.
Following the game, the Phantoms auctioned off the special edition St. Patrick's Day jerseys that they wore for the special holiday matchup, raising thousands of dollars for Phantom Fireworks Youth Hockey at the Ice Zone in Boardman.
The high bid of the night was on white, green and gold uniform of goaltender Jordan Tibbett for $350.
The Phantoms will not have much time to admire their important divisional win as they make the trek to St. Louis, MO, on Friday to open a two game series against the arch-rival St. Louis Bandits at the Hardees IcePlex. Friday's contest is set for an 8:15 PM start.
The game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin at 8:00 PM.
Phantoms individual game tickets are on sale at the Phantom Box Office at the Ice Zone. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.
The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 17, 2009
- Stars' Radke headed to LSSU - Traverse City North Stars
- Bartus Shines in Phantoms 4-1 St. Patrick's Day Triumph - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Falls to Mahoning Valley, 4-1 - U.S. National Team
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Downs Motor City, 8-3 - U.S. National Team
- Outlaws Drop Two of Three in Playoff Dress Rehearsal - North Iowa Outlaws
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