Phantoms Grab Three of Four Points Against Machine
February 20, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (Friday, February 20th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms finished their two-game series against the Motor City Machine with three of the possible four points in play following a 3-2 overtime loss on Friday.
On the eve of Kelly Pavlik's world middleweight boxing title fight at the Chevrolet Centre, both teams fought hard but it was the Machine who prevailed, outscoring the Phantoms in the decisive shootout by a margin of 3-1 on goals by Ryan Misiak, Jared Williams and Jared Friedman.
Brandon Saad scored the only Phantoms tally in the shootout.
Motor City opened the scoring on Nate Taurence's third goal of the year as his wrist shot deflected past Mahoning Valley netminder Jordan Tibbett for a 1-0 Machine lead early in the first.
The Phantoms quickly answered on George Saad's ninth marker of the season as Saad swatted a rebound through Machine goalie Joe Moore's legs while falling down to tie the game at one with 6:19 left in the opening stanza.
The two teams would battle to a stalemate in the second period, trading shots and chances but no goals in the middle frame.
Mahoning Valley grabbed a 2-1 lead 4:52 into the third when Alex Lippincott took a Brandon Saad rebound on the power play and stuffed it short-side past Moore for his 13th goal of the season.
The Machine looked to be stymied over the next ten minutes, but their fortunes changed when Brandon Saad and Robert Harrison took penalties on the same play, giving Motor City a 5-on-3 manpower edge.
Following a Machine timeout, forward Jon Bobb converted the two-man advantage, wristing a shot past Tibbett for a 2-2 tie with 4:24 left.
Neither team could break through in the remaining four-plus minutes or in overtime, setting up Motor City's shootout success.
Tibbett made 42 saves in net but saw his record fall to 22-5-2 on the season; Moore stopped 23 Phantom attempts and improved to 3-5-0.
The Phantoms' (31-11-5, 67 pts) division lead slipped to nine points over Traverse City (26-12-6, 58 pts); the North Stars clipped Marquette 4-3 in a shootout on Friday.
The last-place Machine (9-35-1, 19 pts) have now won three of their last five games, including a sweep last weekend of Traverse City.
Youngstown native and defending world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik had a ceremonial hydration weigh-in before the Phantoms-Machine contest, weighing in at 173 lbs. hours after he officially weighed in at 159 lbs. for Saturday's title defense against top contender Marco Antonio Rubio.
The announced crowd of 2,650 gave Pavlik a standing ovation as he stepped onto the stage at center ice to weigh in for the second time on Friday. Pavlik waved to the Youngstown faithful before departing the ice.
The doors open at the Chevrolet Centre for the Pavlik-Rubio bout at 7:00 PM on Saturday.
The Phantoms return to action at the Centre on Tuesday morning when they welcome the US National Team for a special 10:00 AM game.
The game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin at 9:45 AM.
Phantoms individual game tickets are on sale at the Phantom Box Office at the Ice Zone. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.
North American Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2009
- Phantoms Grab Three of Four Points Against Machine - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- LaBelle lifts Stars in shootout - Traverse City North Stars
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Tops Alpena, 5-1 - U.S. National Team
- Busy Week ahead as RoadRunners begin Six-Game Homestand - Topeka Pilots
- Jr. Blues Look For Revenge This Weekend Vs. Wildcats - Springfield Jr. Blues
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