Ice Continue Tear on the Road with 7-4 Matinee Victory
January 22, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Indiana Ice News Release
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
Charles Dickens was either referring to London and Paris in the late 1700's or the first period of Wednesday's contest between the Youngstown Phantoms and the Indiana Ice at the Covelli Centre.
After the dust settled, however, it was the visiting Ice that emerged victorious in the special matinee contest, 7-4. The win was their ninth consecutive road triumph, matching a franchise-high nine-game road tear in the 2010-2011 season.
Five different Icemen recorded multiple-point contests, including Ice newcomer Sam Kurker with a goal and an assist in the match. Jason Pawloski earned his 19th win of the season with 16 saves on 20 shots on net.
It was almost as if there were two completely different first periods when a fight between Dwyer Tschantz and Conor Lemirande marked a monumental shift in momentum in Indy's favor.
Youngstown had the first five minutes of the contest on lockdown, finding twine on their first two shots on net. Maxim Letunov and Keifer Sherwood tallied the goals to give the hosts a 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the contest.
That's when a fight between the 6-5, 220 Tschantz and the 6-5, 235 Lemirande broke out in front of the team benches. Although brief, Tschantz's victory in the tussle was worth the time in the penalty box as the Ice rallied for five unanswered goals in the next 15 minutes to secure the lead for the rest of the game.
Indy wasted little time putting that momentum to use with Timothy Shoup recording his third goal of the season just 77 seconds after the bout. Ensuing first-period tallies by Jason Salvaggio, Kurker, Tyler Pham and Tschantz would provide all the offense necessary for the win.
A pair of unanswered goals in the second and third periods pulled the Phantoms back within one, but Brian Pinho's third period goal halted all Youngstown momentum while Alex Talcott was the beneficiary of a lucky hop as his center-ice wrister beat Phantoms' netminder Sean Romeo to finalize the tilt at 7-4.
Penn State commits Scott Conway and Denis Smirnov both extended point streaks with a pair of assists in the contest.
Smirnov is riding a six-game wave while logging 10 points (4G, 6A) in the stretch. Conway's 11-game tear is tied for the longest active streak in the USHL and sits only two games shy of tying the Ice franchise mark set by Daniil Tarasov (Worcester-AHL) in the 2011-2012 season.
Indy continues their road march this weekend as the team travels to Iowa for weekend contests with the Des Moines Buccaneers on Friday (1/24) and the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Saturday (1/25).
Hockey returns to the Circle City on Thursday, January 30th as the Ice host Team USA for "College Night" from Pan Am Pavilion at 7:05 pm. College students with a valid college ID are eligible to receive special $5 admission and $1 beer prices. Must present valid college ID to get special discounts.
United States Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2014
- Fighting Saints Go for Jackpot Friday on Vegas Night - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- USHL Update - Week 18 - USHL
- Team USA, Ripe with Olympic Potential, in Town for "Food Bank Night" - Youngstown Phantoms
- Phantoms Come up Short on Wednesday Morning Matinee - Youngstown Phantoms
- Ice Continue Tear on the Road with 7-4 Matinee Victory - Indiana Ice
- Phantoms' School Day Game Rescheduled for March 21 - Youngstown Phantoms
- DM Bucs Weekly Notes - Des Moines Buccaneers
- Stampede Weekly Update: Herd Travel to Tri-City this Weekend, Return Home Next Friday for Thomas Van - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Deere Sweaters Next Weekend - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Phantoms Offer Free Admission for School Day Game - Youngstown Phantoms
- Tri-City Prevails in 4-3 Shootout Win at IceBox - Tri-City Storm
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