Special Teams Key Phantoms 9-2 Rout
Published on March 13, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (Friday, March 13th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms' offensive surge continued on Friday night as they scored seven unanswered goals to blow out the Traverse City North Stars 9-2 at the Chevrolet Centre.
The Phantoms' special teams were central to the seven-goal outburst as Mahoning Valley tallied two power play goals and two shorthanded goals over the final 30 minutes of play to rout out the division rival North Stars.
Mahoning Valley ran out to an early 2-0 lead after the first period on even strength tallies from Johnny Meo and leading scorer Brandon Saad.
The North Stars, however, answered early in the second period on power play goals from captain Kyle Bonis and center Nathan Urbaniak to knot the game at two.
Stefan Salituro put the Phantoms back on top three and a half minutes later when he wristed home a Michael Gunn rebound to restore the Mahoning Valley lead at 3-2.
Salituro's goal gave everyone on his line with Meo and Saad a tally.
"Our line is playing some good hockey," Salituro said of the combination, "and really I love playing with both of them. We just connect so well out there."
The goal from the second-year veteran opened the floodgates for the Phantoms as Cullen Lundholm followed with his sixth of the year with a shorthanded tally and Saad's second goal of the night made it 5-2 after the second period.
"It shows our maturity and mental toughness [to bounce back]," said Phantoms Head Coach and General Manager Bob Mainhardt, "something we didn't have earlier in the year.
"We've got a young team, and to be able to re-focus and get back to the game plan was something that we are very happy about at this point in the season."
The third period opened with a pair of fights before the Phantoms were able to extend their lead to 6-2 on Nick Shkreli's 11th goal of the season.
Lundholm followed with an even strength score while Jordy Trottier dropped in a power play goal and David Chaney poured in a short-handed marker to give the Phantoms the final 9-2 margin.
Mahoning Valley finished 2-for-5 with the man advantage, giving them 10 power play goals in their last 19 opportunities. Traverse City went 2-for-6 but allowed two shorthanded goals.
Jordan Tibbett made 26 saves in the win, saving his best work for the third period; he made 10 saves including a number of acrobatic stops to stone-wall Traverse City's comeback bid.
His record improved to 23-6-2 on the year and 5-2-1 against the North Stars.
On the other end, Brandon Stephenson made 19 saves in net for Traverse City and saw his record slip to 12-8-4.
Mahoning Valley (34-12-5, 73 pts) extended their first place lead to nine points over idle Team USA (30-14-4, 64 pts) while Traverse City (28-17-6, 62 pts) fell 11 points behind the division-leading Phantoms.
Any combination of points gained by Mahoning Valley and points lost by Traverse City adding up to four will secure the Phantoms home-ice advantage in the first round of April's North Division Playoffs.
The Phantoms and North Stars continue their three-game set on Saturday night at the Chevrolet Centre with a 7:15 PM opening faceoff.
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 7:15 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 13, 2009
- Rangers Top Blizzard - Marquette Rangers
- Special Teams Key Phantoms 9-2 Rout - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Phantoms rock Stars, 9-2 - Traverse City North Stars
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