USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Connor's 100th USHL Point, Piccinich's Shootout Winner Lifts Phantoms

Published on February 28, 2014 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Returning to the Covelli Centre for the first time since February 9, the Phantoms thrilled the home crowd with a shootout victory on Thursday night.

After the Fighting Saints gave Youngstown a bit of a scare by scoring with 10 seconds left to tie the game, the Phantoms regained their composure and were able to pull through.

"We've been in this situation many times; unfortunately, we've given up some goals late, and we've let that be the decider," said Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen. "Obviously, tonight was a huge two points against a very good team. Top to bottom, I loved the effort from everyone."

Max McHugh opened the scoring for the Fighting Saints just two minutes into the first period on what appeared to be a fluky bounce in the goal crease. However, just over two minutes later, Luke Stork evened things up for the Phantoms, with Josh Melnick and Maxim Letunov getting credited with assists.

Heading into the second period tied at one, Tyler Spezia gave the Phantoms their first lead of the night with a wrist shot from the right side. Fighting Saints netminder Kevin Reich got a piece of the attempt from Spezia, but it had enough mustard on it to find its way to the back of the net.

After taking offense to a previous play that involved a scramble in front of Colin DeAugustine, JJ Piccinich dropped the gloves with Fighting Saints forward Keegan Ford. For Piccinich, it was his first USHL fight, and it was something he was upbeat about in retrospect.

"Yeah it was my first," laughed Piccinich. "He hit me a couple of times, and I remember falling, getting up, and just closing my eyes and swinging."

Coach Noreen was pleased with Piccinich's effort and willingness to stick up for his teammates.

"Loved it, that's us! We've talked about it since day one," exclaimed Noreen. "We don't care whether you can fight, you can't fight, if you're the biggest guy, or the smallest guy. If we're going to preach team toughness, everyone has to be willing to go. I go back to the old saying, 'how much do you really know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?' It's always good to see a guy get his first one. You realize it doesn't hurt as bad as you might think. The guys were really excited for him!"

Dubuque seemed to gain a bit of momentum after the fight, as Shane Eiserman deflected a shot from the point that found a way behind DeAugustine to tie the game. Less than a minute later, Kyle Connor got in on a clear breakaway. After several dekes, the future Michigan Wolverine was able to slide the puck underneath Reich, putting Youngstown up 3-2 after two.

At the 8:53 mark of the third period, Letunov gave the Phantoms a two-goal lead, with Piccinich and Connor picking up assists-notable for Connor in that it was the 100th point of his USHL career.

Under a minute later, Dubuque drew within one when Eiserman's attempted pass from the corner behind the goal line tipped off of a crowd in front and in.

"There are unfortunate bounces, but we just kept going," Noreen said about the goal. "If it were us getting the next goal and going up 5-2, we would've said the same thing. The important thing is that there is a consistent message. The plan is working, let's stick to it, help each other out, block shots, and keep going. We blocked a ton of shots late in the game."

Despite that mentality, the Fighting Saints eventually tied the game with ten seconds remaining, as Alexx Privitera went top shelf on DeAugustine after the Phantoms got caught in a long shift defending a six-on-five.

"The energy drops a little bit, but not for too long at all," said Piccinich after losing the lead. "We were confident. On the bench, the energy stayed high as much as possible. I felt like we deserved the win, and I felt like that was important going into overtime."

Coach Noreen credited recent experiences in Des Moines and Chicago for helping his team stay confident.

"We've been there before, and it's a little bit rattling at first," said Noreen. "You never like to give up a goal with ten seconds left, especially when you feel you had it. We just told the guys with two minutes left, take one minute to hit the reset button, take a breath, and let's go get a win. We had nothing to lose here."

Neither team found the back of the net in the overtime period, so a shootout was needed to settle the outcome. Tied 1-1 entering the final shooter of the initial three-man lineup, Piccinich sealed the deal for the Phantoms with a shot that went high glove-side on Reich.

"I've always been a believer that you've got to go with your guys," Noreen said on his shootout strategy. "If you're going to go down, go down with the guys that you feel are going to give you the best chance to win. We've always gone with the same lineup; that's the best shooter at the top. You try and get the lead right away and hope that your goalie can backstop you. Tonight we got a big save from Colin, Kyle scored, and it gave us a huge advantage the rest of the way."

"[Reich] was deeper than when Kyle went on him," Piccinich said when describing his mentality on what move he would use. "He tried to play Kyle a little more, but it didn't really change what I was going to do. I knew I was going to do that this time. Not always, but this time, I knew I was going to do that."

It was the fourth shootout of the season for the Phantoms, and the team's third win in that fashion.

"The message before the game was that we had a young kid that we wanted to dedicate the game to," Noreen said. "Jacob Sypert inspired us tonight, and he was the person that we wanted to dedicate this victory to."

Phantoms by the Numbers

Shots - 34

Saves - 37

Power Play - 0/3

Penalty Kill - 3/3

Goals - Stork (13), Spezia (8), Connor (22), Letunov (15)

Assists - Melnick (14), Letunov (20), Sherwood (16), Ruggiero (3), Nenadal (3), Piccinich (23), Connor (37)

Next on the Slate

Youngstown will continue this weekend of play with a home date on Saturday against the Des Moines Buccaneers. Fans can receive a four-pack of tickets for $20 by calling the Phantoms' office at 330.747.7825 and mentioning the code "4PACKFB."

Single game tickets are on sale now for all Phantoms' home games at the Covelli Centre. Phantoms 10-Game Flex Plans are also available starting at the low price of just $89. 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 February 28, 2014


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