Roadrunners Edge Phantoms 3-2 in Robertson Cup Opener
Published on April 30, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (Wednesday, April 30, 2008) - Dennis Brown had two goals and Josh Kamrass had two assists, as the Topeka Roadrunners used over 16 minutes of power play time to their advantage in edging the Mahoning Valley Phantoms 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon in the opening game of the Robertson Cup Championships at the Hardees IcePlex.
Down 2-1 after 40 minutes, the Roadrunners got three third period power plays and two goals to get the comeback win.
"We did not play well at all," said Phantoms assistant coach Curtis Carr after the game. "We came out of the gates really slow; then in the second period, we started to play pretty well, took control of the game; but in the third period, we just let everything go by the wayside."
Having been nearly eight months since the teams last met in the NAHL Showcase back in September, it took over 16 minutes for each team to feel each other out before the Roadrunners drew first blood.
After a turnover deep inside the Phantoms zone, Bryon Paulazzo picked up a loose puck behind the net, used a couple whacks at the puck, and stuffed a wrap-around goal in behind Phantoms goaltender Garrett Bartus to put Topeka up 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
The Phantoms answered in the middle frame. After killing off a 5-on-3 man-disadvantage and a four minute Topeka power play early in the period, Mahoning Valley tied things up at one-all at the 8:29 mark. On the power play, Derek Graham's shot from the bottom of the left circle found its way between the legs of Topeka goalie Bryce Merriam. Robert Harrison and Miles Winter picked up the helpers on Graham's fourth goal of the playoffs.
Just 3:03 later the Phantoms took the lead - again with the man-advantage. Harrison threw a shot in from 55 feet out, and Alden Hirschfeld deflected it out of mid air for his fourth tally of the playoffs to help the Phantoms to a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes.
After a questionable penalty call, Brown tallied his first of the game 4:59 into the third period - firing home a low shot through a maze of traffic and off the left post to tie things up at two.
Five minutes later, just as their power play expired, Brown one-timed home his second of the night, finishing off a 2-on-1 with Kamrass, and giving the Roadrunners the lead for good.
Bartus turned aside 24 of 27 shots he faced on the night while holding the league's best playoff power play unit to officially one goal on eight chances.
"Obviously, it is tough to get in a rhythm when you are constantly on the penalty kill," said Carr. "The one thing we showed is that we can kill penalties, and when we do play our game, we can pretty much dominate."
The Phantoms went 2 for 5 with the power play, but were outshot 27-22 for the game.
Next up, the Phantoms play the host St. Louis Bandits on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. EDT in their second game of the tournament. Mahoning Valley ends the round-robin on Friday afternoon against the Alexandria Blizzard.
"We've got two games left here in the round-robin, and hopefully we can put it together and go from there," Carr said.
Catch all Phantoms hockey live on the web at www.mvpphantoms.com. The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 30, 2008
- Roadrunners Edge Phantoms 3-2 in Robertson Cup Opener - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Rangers Prep for Pre-Draft Camp - Marquette Rangers
- Reichard named Most Valuable Player - North Iowa Outlaws
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
