Phantoms' Magic Number for North Division Down to Seven
Published on March 20, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
CHESTERFIELD, MO (Friday, March 20th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms' road to their second-ever NAHL North Division regular season title took a slight detour as the Phantoms suffered a 3-2 road defeat at the hands of the St. Louis Bandits at the Hardees IcePlex Friday night.
Despite the loss, the Phantoms' magic number to clinch the division title dipped to seven after Team USA fell 5-4 in a shootout at the hands of Traverse City. The magic number is the combination of points gained by the Phantoms and lost by the Nationals over the final two weeks of the season.
The Phantoms grabbed an early lead after forward Josh Bussell handcuffed St. Louis keeper Keith Kinkaid with a long wrist shot to open the scoring 6:23 into the game.
St. Louis battled back, though, when Brandan Sheehan got free in front of the Mahoning Valley net and beat netminder Jordan Tibbett five-hole to knot the game at one with 9:22 remaining in the first.
Nick Kenney restored the Phantoms' one-goal lead with 4:31 left in the opening frame when he blistered a transition snap shot past Kinkaid to put Mahoning Valley ahead 2-1 after the first period.
The teams deadlocked for the first 11 minutes of the second period before Bandits defenseman Conor Allen lifted a long shot through traffic and past a screened-out Tibbett to tie the game at two.
Allen's goal would be the only of the middle stanza.
The Bandits would pull ahead on Anthany Schooley's eventual game-winner when a power play clear-in bounced off the back boards in the Mahoning Valley zone, off the side of Tibbett's net and right to Schooley, who wired a one-timer behind Tibbett for the 3-2 lead.
Kinkaid turned aside 30 Phantoms shots to improve his league-best record to 29-5-2.
Tibbett stopped 26 Bandit attempts but fell to 23-8-2 on the year and 2-1-0 against St. Louis.
The Phantoms' (35-15-5, 75 pts) division lead was cut to six by the US National Team (32-15-5, 69 pts), who not only picked up the overtime loss point from the U-17 squad in Traverse City (31-17-6, 68 pts) but also gained two standings points courtesy of the Under-18 team's 4-1 at home over Alpena.
The Nationals currently have three games in hand over the Phantoms.
The Phantoms and Bandits wrap up their four-game season series Saturday night at the Hardees IcePlex with an 8:15 PM start.
The contest will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin at 8:00 PM.
Phantoms individual game tickets are on sale at the Phantom Box Office at the Ice Zone. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.
The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2009
- Phantoms' Magic Number for North Division Down to Seven - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Edged by Traverse City, 5-4, in SO - U.S. National Team
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Defeats Alpena, 4-1 - U.S. National Team
- RoadRunners Continue to Roll - Topeka Pilots
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