St. Louis Chisels out Win to Take 2-0 Series Lead
Published on April 19, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. - A two point night from Mahoning Valley Phantoms forward Alden Hirschfeld was not enough, as the St. Louis Bandits used three shorthanded goals, and two points each from Mike Hull and Ben Miller, to take a two games to none lead in the North Division Finals with a 5-2 win on Saturday night at the Hardees IcePlex.
It took just 4:05 for the Bandits to get on the board first. With his team shorthanded, Hull found the rebound of a Ben Warda shot and fired it home through a screen in front of Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
Just four minutes later, Hull found Miller wide open on the bottom of the left circle to bury a one-timer and put St. Louis up 2-0. The goal, Miller's second of the playoffs was also assisted by Tom Brooks.
The Phantoms responded, however, three minutes later when Derek Graham led a 2-on-1 from his own zone all the way down the ice, before feeding defenseman Jon Madden in the slot. Madden registered his second of the playoffs between the legs of Bandits goalie Mike Johnson and cut the St. Louis lead to one heading into the first intermission.
Mere seconds after killing off a Phantoms' power play, Miller collected his second of the night 6:53 into the middle frame, blasting home a shot from the blue line under Tibbett's glove.
Hirschfeld answered with his first netter of the playoffs just 90 seconds later, burying the rebound of Robert Harrison's shot from the right wing.
St. Louis retook the two goal margin at the 13:53 mark of the second period when David Makowski capitalized on a scrum in front of the net, and put the Bandits up 4-2 after 40 minutes.
Patrick McCadden's shorthanded empty-netter with just 1:04 remaining closed out the scoring.
Tibbett turned away 33 of the 37 shots he faced in his first start of the playoffs. Johnson made 26 saves for his second win in as many appearances. Neither team was successful on the power play.
The best-of-five series returns to the Ice Zone in Boardman for Game 3 at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday night. Join Spatz from 93.3 âThe Wolf' as well as the Mahoning Valley Thunder cheerleaders and enjoy dollar drafts at the pre-game party from 5-7 p.m.
Game 4, if necessary, is scheduled for Friday night at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice Zone as well. Catch all Phantoms hockey action 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 19, 2008
- St. Louis Chisels out Win to Take 2-0 Series Lead - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- NAHL Announces 2008 Calendar of Events - NAHL
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