USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantom Philes: The Road Beckons

Published on February 10, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - These are the Phantom Philes, a weekly comprehensive look at Youngstown's very own stop on the road to the National Hockey League.

Turnabout is fair play when it comes to scheduling, as the Youngstown Phantoms are soon to discover.

Immediately following a stretch in which they played nine of 11 games at Covelli Centre, the Phantoms (14-24-2, 30 points) will experience the exact inverse during their next 11 contests, featuring a soon-to-commence four-game road trip and a season-long five-tilt swing Feb. 26-Mar. 6.

Youngstown will be trying to snap two negative streaks this weekend as they play three games in three nights in three different Great Plains cities. Both a six-game road skid and a seven-game overall losing streak are still alive heading into a Friday night matchup with the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Stampede.

Solidly stationed in third place in the West Division, the Stampede (22-9-9, 53 points) are tied with Omaha for the most potent offense in the USHL; both they and the Lancers are scoring 3.98 goals per game.

But it's been Sioux Falls' defensive acumen that's most evident in the season series with Youngstown, as the Stampede and goaltender Clay Witt have limited the Phantoms to four goals in three games, all won by the Herd. Matt Lindblad, with eight points (goal, seven assists) in those three wins, has been the toughest member of the Stampede for the Purple and Orange to track.

From there, the Phantoms will drive nearly four hours southwest to Lincoln, Neb., for their fourth and final matchup with the Stars (12-24-6, 30 points), who tied Youngstown in the overall standings with a Tuesday home victory over Sioux Falls, snapping a 2-11-6 freefall since Dec. 12.

The Phantoms have gone 0-1-2 against Lincoln in their inaugural USHL campaign, including a thrilling 7-6 overtime setback Oct. 16 and their lone shootout to date, a 4-3 loss in the tiebreaker Nov. 28. Youngstown's leading scorer Taylor Holstrom and defenseman Luke Eibler have netted a pair of goals each versus Lincoln.

The weekend will wrap up in adjacent Omaha Sunday evening as the Lancers (28-11-3, 59 points), who have been overtaken by Fargo for the top spot out West, will be trying to reclaim the first slot which they held all season until just last week.

Boosting the Lancers' league-leading offense are star forwards Matt White (25 goals, 38 assists) and Erik Haula (22 goals, 34 assists), who rank second and fourth, respectively, on the USHL's scoring leaderboard. Omaha goalie Jeff Teglia is also among the league's elite, ranking first on the 14-team circuit in minutes played and second in wins, saves, save percentage and shutouts.

PHANTOMS GAMES THIS WEEK...

Friday, February 12 at 8:05 p.m. @ SIOUX FALLS

Saturday, February 13 at 8:05 p.m. @ LINCOLN

Sunday, February 14 at 6:05 p.m. @ OMAHA

FOLLOW THE PHANTOMS ALL SEASON LONG!

Listen to Voice of the PhantomsMatt Gajtka describe exciting Phantoms hockey on Youngstown's ESPN 1240. Broadcasts begin approximately 15 minutes prior to opening faceoff. Phantoms fans outside the listening area can log onto www.wbbw.com and use ESPN 1240's streaming audio player, so there's no need to miss a second of the action.

"Phantoms Phever" is an hour-long weekly talk show that brings you an inside look at your Youngstown Phantoms. Gajtka sets up shop Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Jeremiah Bullfrog's Sports Bar & Grille on US Route 224 in Boardman, chatting with coaches, players and front office staff about northeast Ohio's most exciting team and the great sport of hockey. Catch "Phantoms Phever" on Youngstown's ESPN Radio 1240 AM and online at www.wbbw.com.

Also, make "Youngstown Phantoms" your friend on Facebook and follow "ytownphantoms" on Twitter to stay plugged into the Phantoms 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

RADIO REPLAYS, PRESS BOX OPINIONS AND MUCH MORE...

Relive heart-pounding Phantoms action on demand! Listen to all the best goal calls from the past week's worth of games and get Gajtka's take on Youngstown's inaugural season in the USHL at the onlineVoice of the Phantoms blog at www.youngstownphantoms.com.

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

Wednesday, February 3: INDIANA 5, YOUNGSTOWN 1

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Indiana defenseman Anthony Bitetto scored twice and assisted on another and goaltender Cab Morris stopped 28 of 29 shots, propelling the visiting Ice to a 5-1 defeat of the Youngstown Phantoms Wednesday afternoon at Covelli Centre.

Rich Young potted the lone goal for Youngstown (14-22-2, 30 points), which has lost a season-high three home games in a row. Getting the call in goal against the defending league champions for the fourth time on the campaign, Jordan Tibbett made 29 saves but remained winless since Dec. 29, a span of six starts.

The Hockey for Health School Day game started at 10 a.m. and drew 4,526 youngsters, the Phantoms' largest crowd of the season, but the extra vocal support couldn't stop the Ice (22-15-2, 46 points) from grabbing an early 2-0 lead and pulling away late in the second for their third win against Youngstown in four tries. The road team has won all four meetings in the season series, with a final matchup scheduled for Indianapolis Feb. 17.

Bitetto started the proceedings with a long-range tally from the left point, as he connected with a drifting shot through bodies into the top-right corner of the net in the opening minute. The goal, Bitetto's sixth, came 37 seconds after the opening faceoff, the quickest allowed by the Phantoms in their inaugural USHL season.

Max Cook raised the Indiana advantage to two at 10:29 of the first with a shifty individual play. Swiveling behind the Phantoms net, the right-handed shooter emerged at the right post and spun a quick forehand past Tibbett, fooling everybody in black jerseys who appeared to think Cook would continue on his backhand into the slot.

With the ice tilting in Indiana's favor, the Phantoms reversed that trend with a power-play goal before the opening stanza ended. Young jumped on a turnover deep in Ice territory and found Czech blueliner Andrej Sustr creeping closer at the top of the right circle. Sustr's wrister was tipped into the twine by the net-crashing Young with 1:39 remaning in the frame, the third of the season for the first-year USHL forward.

The Phantoms pressed hard for the equalizer to begin the second, but Morris, who shut out Youngstown at Covelli Dec. 10, held firm despite numerous point-blank chances and breakaways. Morris' stand gained significance when rearguards Nick Bailen (15:54) and Bitetto (19:07) added on with man-advantage goals later in the second to stake the visitors to a 4-1 lead.

Kevin Goumas finished a quick two-on-one Indiana rush from the left post at 12:19 of the third to stretch the advantage to four scores. Bryon Paulazzo, who has four points (2-2) against Youngstown this season, earned the lone assist after collecting a turnover in the neutral zone.

Go to http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid1048810 for full box score.

Friday, February 5: WATERLOO 3, YOUNGSTOWN 1

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Derek Arnold scored twice in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and pushing the Waterloo Black Hawks to a 3-1 road decision over the Youngstown Phantoms Friday night.

With the score deadlocked midway through the final frame, J.T. Brown sprinted down the left boards and dealt a backhand pass to the charging Arnold at the right post for the go-ahead marker at 10:03. The quick combination play held up as the game winner, giving Waterloo (18-18-2, 38 points) its first win of February after a 7-3-1 January vaulted the Hawks into playoff contention.

Taylor Holstrom scored first for Youngstown (14-23-2, 30 points) for the second time in three games, but he couldn't prevent the Phantoms from extending their losing streak to six and falling eight points behind Waterloo for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division.

Phantoms goalie Jordan Tibbett made 31 saves, including two show stoppers on Tyler Zepeda in the early going to keep the game scoreless. He and Waterloo counterpart C.J. Motte (32 stops) were flawless in the first period as the Hawks outshot Youngstown 10-9.

A negated icing directly led to the first goal of the game, Holstrom's 11th of the season. Jiri Sekac won the race to Dave Donnellan's dump-in behind the Hawks' net and quickly spun the puck into the right circle for Holstrom, who drove a one-timer over Motte's glove.

The Phantoms took three straight penalties to close out the second and the Hawks made them pay by connecting on a power play at 15:02. After a goalmouth scramble, defenseman Zach Palmquist drove the puck back to the goal where it deflected into the wheelhouse of Tyler Barnes, who nailed his 20th into the open left side of the goal.

After Arnold's go-ahead goal in the third, the Phantoms kept the pressure on, drawing a power play on Brock Montpetit's tripping minor with eight minutes to go. But Motte and the Waterloo penalty killers shut it down from there, sending Youngstown into desperation mode.

Arnold sealed the deal in the final minute following frantic Youngstown pressure in the Waterloo zone, taking a transition pass from Montpetit for the empty-net clincher, his seventh, with 30 seconds left.

Go to http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid1048829 for full box score.

Saturday, February 6: WATERLOO 4, YOUNGSTOWN 1

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Dark Side prevailed on Star Wars night at the Covelli Centre, as the Waterloo Black Hawks - powered by goalie C.J. Motte's 28 saves - struck down the Jedi-trained Youngstown Phantoms 4-1 Saturday night.

Motte earned his third win of the season against the Phantoms in four tries, allowing only Tom Serratore's 35-foot slap shot to get behind him in carrying Waterloo (19-18-2, 40 points) over the.500 mark for the first time all season. The Hawks are 10-3-1 since losing in Youngstown Dec. 29 and have vaulted into fourth place in the East Division.

The Phantoms (14-24-2, 30 points) have dropped a season-high seven in a row and 13 of 14 since climbing to 13-11-2 on Dec. 29. The first-year franchise received 30 saves from netminder Matt Mahalak, but couldn't avoid a fifth-straight home loss. They'll hope to stage a Return of the Jedi-style revival on an upcoming four-game road trip.

Not long after Darth Vader dropped the puck, Patrick Divjak capitalized on an early Waterloo power play, banking his 15th of the season off Mahalak's pads and into the cage at 4:52 of the first. Youngstown stayed in penalty trouble, going down two men less than four minutes later, but Taylor Holstrom paid no mind to that, earning a penalty shot against Motte after Dan Sova hooked him on a breakaway.

But Holstrom's attempt to tie the game was denied by Motte's quick poke check, and Derek Arnold tallied soon after from the left post to post the visitors to a 2-0 advantage. Arnold had three goals in the two-game series and has four points in four matchups with the Phantoms this season.

J.T. Brown, who assisted on Divjak's first-period icebreaker, added an even-strength breakaway goal at 16:25 of the second, flipping the puck over Mahalak's glove from in tight to stretch it to 3-0 heading for the third.

Waterloo had been 15-0-1 when carrying a lead through 40 minutes coming into Saturday, and Jamie Hill's one-timer almost guaranteed that record would improve, boosting the Hawks' bulge to four less than five minutes into the final frame.

The only suspense left was whether Motte would earn his third shutout, but Serratore destroyed that thought with 8:01 remaining, blasting the puck under the Waterloo goaltender for his 12th, tying him with Jefferson Dahl and Brett Gensler for the team lead.

Go to http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid1048835 for full box score.

Check out the Youngstown Phantoms Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2010


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