Depth And Goaltending Leads Phantoms To 2-0 Series Advantage
April 7, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
BOARDMAN, Ohio - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms quest for the Robertson Cup Championship could not have begun more successfully, as they chalked up a pair of wins over the third seeded Alpena Ice Diggers in the opening round of the North American Hockey League playoffs this past weekend at the Ice Zone in Boardman.
The Phantoms appeared to have things well in control after the first two periods of hockey on Friday night. Leading 2-0 and having a full two-minute power play to boot at the beginning of the third period, the Phantoms let the lead slip away by the midway point of the frame.
After the Ice Diggers killed off the Phantoms' man-advantage, Russ Anderson notched a pair of unassisted goals, the last of which coming at the 8:48 mark, tying the game and eventually forcing overtime.
It took over 17 minutes of extra time before Robert Harrison became a hero, wristing home a shot through traffic from the left point. The goal was his second of the night, and instantly gave the Phantoms a 3-2 win and 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
"You know, Harry has got some offensive skill and he really showed that last night," said Phantoms assistant coach Curtis Carr after the game on Friday. "He is pretty smooth with the puck, and when he is playing with confidence, he likes to take chances and jump into the play. Last night, he was playing well, and we were encouraging him to get into the play and take the open ice when he had it."
Another hero of the win on Friday night was Phantoms' netminder Garrett Bartus. Out-dueling his counterpart Nick Graves at the other end in a goaltending showcase, Bartus turned aside a team record 57 shots to earn a win in his first career playoff game.
"It's playoffs, and both goalies made some great saves," said Phantoms head coach Bob Mainhardt. "It really could have gone either way, and Garrett was just able to stop a few more than Graves. Goals are going to be tough to come by in this series - guys are going to have work very hard to get them, and I think that was proven last night."
The Phantoms, however, were able to open things up a bit on Saturday night. Using a five-point night from the number one trio of Derek Graham, Grant Blakey and Alden Hirschfeld, Mahoning Valley rebounded from an early 1-0 deficit to win 5-2. Kyle Bailey, Kyle Verbeek and Johnny Meo each collected two points as well.
"Obviously tonight, Graham was able to bust out of a little miniature slump there and get a couple goals which is good to see," said Mainhardt. "Those three (Graham, Hirschfeld and Blakey) are so strong defensively, that even when they are not necessarily contributing offensively, they still bring a lot to the table. But we've got four lines right now that are playing really well."
Bartus again put on another goaltending display Saturday night, stopping 38 of 40 Alpena shots. On the weekend, Bartus turned aside over 96-percent of the shots he faced - tops among NAHL goaltenders this year in the playoffs.
"Bartus has been outstanding," Mainhardt said after the game Saturday. "He's made the big save when we needed him to. We were fortunate to put a couple more in tonight, and give him a little more breathing room. But he's playing playoff hockey - that's for sure."
Combined with the end of the regular season, the Phantoms have now won eight of their last nine games, 11 of their last 13, and appear to be playing their best hockey of the year. Mahoning Valley is now just one victory away from moving on to the North Division Finals.
Elsewhere in the league, the series with the most immediate impact on the Phantoms is the other North Division semi-final between the first-seeded St. Louis Bandits and the fourth-seeded U.S. National Team.
After trailing early in game one, the Bandits took control of the series and have already finished off Team USA in just three games. St. Louis won 4-2 on Friday, 7-2 on Saturday, and 6-2 on Sunday.
Because St. Louis is hosting the Robertson Cup Championship tournament, the winner of the Phantoms - Ice Diggers series will not only move on to play St. Louis in the North Division Finals, but will also automatically receive an invitation to the Tournament on April 30 - May 4 in Chesterfield, Mo.
The Ice Diggers will now host the Phantoms in Game 3 on Thursday and Game 4, if necessary, on Friday at Northern Lights Arena in Alpena, Mich. Game time both nights is slated for 7 p.m. Game 5, if needed, is scheduled for a 6 p.m. opening face-off on Sunday, April 13 at the Ice Zone in Boardman.
Catch all Phantoms hockey live on the web at www.mvpphantoms.com. The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 7, 2008
- Depth And Goaltending Leads Phantoms To 2-0 Series Advantage - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- IceDiggers To Auction Off Game Jerseys - Alpena IceDiggers
- Wildcats Split with Fairbanks - Wichita Falls Wildcats
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