Phantoms Explode to 6-1 Rout of Alpena
Published on January 30, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
ALPENA, MI (Friday, January 30th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms got up early and never relented, matching their season-high in goals in a 6-1 romp over the Alpena IceDiggers on Friday night.
Leading 1-0 after the first period on Alex Lippincott's eighth goal of the season, the Phantoms rattled off four second-period tallies to seize a 5-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Nick Kenney opened the flood gates in the second period, slamming home a Jordy Trottier power play centering feed past Alpena goaltender Nick Graves 5:04 into the frame.
Lippincott followed 23 seconds later, firing an IceDigger turnover past Graves for a 3-0 Phantoms lead.
After nine minutes of even play between the two sides, Phantom forward Brandon Saad sped up the left side of the Alpena zone past defenseman Jerrod Hartman then deked past the rotation defense of Kyle Hughes, waited out Graves and shelved it for his 16th goal of the year.
After the game, Saad recapped what he saw on the play.
"I had Hartman beat wide, so I cut it back to the middle," said Saad, "then I toe-dragged the middle defenseman to get around him. The goalie went down fast so I was able to beat him high."
Stefan Salituro capped the second period outburst when he slid a wrist shot under Graves' glove for his ninth of the 2008-2009 campaign.
Doug Clifford scored the Phantoms' final goal 1:17 into the third.
Mahoning Valley goaltender Garrett Bartus lost his bid at his first shutout of the season with 13:30 left in the game when Mike DeGrazia lined a one-timer in for the final 6-1 margin.
Bartus said that he really enjoyed his offense putting up big numbers in front of him on Friday.
"The lead made my job a lot easier," said Bartus. "With the guys out there scoring so much I was just able to relax and have some fun in net."
The win kept the Phantoms (25-10-3, 53 pts) two points ahead of the Traverse City North Stars (23-9-5, 51 pts) for first place in the North Division. The North Stars dropped the Motor City Machine 5-1 on Friday to keep pace in the division.
The Phantoms and IceDiggers close out January with the back-end of their two-game series on Saturday at 7:00 PM at Northern Lights Arena.
North American Hockey League Stories from January 30, 2009
- North Stars halt Machine, 5-1 - Traverse City North Stars
- U.S. National Under-17 Falls to Marquette, 4-3, in OT - U.S. National Team
- Rangers Win Thriller - Marquette Rangers
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Drops RIT, 6-3 - U.S. National Team
- Phantoms Explode to 6-1 Rout of Alpena - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- RoadRunners Hit Milestones - Topeka Pilots
- Stars host Motor City, then hit the road - Traverse City North Stars
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