Phantoms Wrap Up Sweep of Motor City with 6-3 Win
January 10, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (Saturday, January 10th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms got another big night from their offense as they swept the Motor City Machine with a 6-3 win at the Chevrolet Centre on Saturday night.
It is the second time the Phantoms have swept the Machine this season; the last time it happened was October 10-11 in Detroit. It is the fifth Phantoms series sweep in 2008-2009.
Michael Gunn opened the scoring with 14 seconds left in the first period, lining a slap shot past Motor City netminder Matthew Delaney for a 1-0 Phantoms lead. Gunn was quick to credit his second goal of the year to a nice assist from teammate Nick Kenney.
"Nick made a great move into [Motor City's] corner and sucked in three players," said Gunn. "He's been playing really well lately so they had to commit to him down there. After that, he found me at the point and I just let it rip."
After a Josh Bussell power play goal tied the game early in the second, the Phantoms ripped off three straight second period goals to seize a 4-1 lead. The goals, from Brandon Saad, Jordy Trottier and Doug Clifford, came in a 10-minute span in the second.
It marked the second straight night that the Phantoms were able to tally three goals in the second period, a period where they had been outscored by opponents 40-26 coming into the weekend.
The two teams traded goals the rest of the way, with George Saad's empty net power play goal with 7 seconds left creating the 6-3 final score.
It was the first time that the Saad brothers both notched a goal in the same game this season.
Cullen Lundholm also scored for the Phantoms, lifting a wrist shot past Delaney with 13:37 left in the third.
Bussell finished the night with two goals for Motor City while linemate Adam Sponseller added his fourth marker of the season late in the second period.
Two scoring streaks were extended for Mahoning Valley forwards as Brandon Saad scored in his third straight game while Kenney pushed his string of games with a point out to five.
After the win, Saad said he had his eyes on bigger things than points.
"It was nice to get the goal and stay on track," said the Phantoms' leading goal scorer (15 G, 10 A, 25 pts), "but the most important thing is that we picked up the win to keep rolling."
The win maintains the Phantoms' (22-8-1, 47 pts) four-point lead over the Traverse City North Stars (19-9-5, 43 pts) for first place in the NAHL's North Division. Traverse City snapped a two game losing streak when they rallied for two late goals to defeat Marquette 3-2 on Saturday night.
Saturday was also Mario Lemieux Foundation night, and the Phantoms wore special edition white, black and gold Foundation jerseys for the game.
The uniforms were auctioned off after the game and Brandon Saad's #22 jersey received the highest bid of the night at $500, even beating out two autographed Mario Lemieux jerseys which went for $450 and $420.
The proceeds of the auction will go to the Foundation to help fund cancer research.
The Phantoms wrap up their three-game weekend with an afternoon matinee on Sunday against the U.S. National Team at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, MI, with a 3:00 PM puck drop.
The game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin at 7:00 PM.
In six games against Team USA, the Phantoms are 4-2-0 this season.
Phantoms season tickets and individual game tickets are now on sale at the Phantom Box Office at the Ice Zone in Boardman. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.
North American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2009
- Stars purloin 3-2 win - Traverse City North Stars
- Phantoms Wrap Up Sweep of Motor City with 6-3 Win - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Rangers cough up lead, lose - Marquette Rangers
- Stars Sunk, 4-1 - Traverse City North Stars
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