Stars drop finale, 5-1

Published on February 8, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


BOARDMAN, Ohio - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms scored early and often on Sunday in the finale of a three-game weekend series at the Boardman IceZone, toppling the visiting Traverse City North Stars by a 5-1 margin in a contest that was never in doubt.

For Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo, the game looked all-too- familiar to Friday's series opener - a 4-1 Phantoms victory.

"Basically, it was a replay of Friday," Palumbo said. "We didn't play with passion, fire, or any kind of urgency. We seemed pretty content with our two points from Saturday night, and quite ready to just waltz out of town with our two points and call it good."

Nick Kenney had a hat trick for Mahoning, which pulled five points ahead of second-place Traverse City (25-11-5) in the NAHL North Division. After a pair of goals in the first 11 minutes of the contest, the Phantoms added another pair in the second stanza to take a 4-0 lead. Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/TC North Stars) recorded the Stars' lone goal just 56 seconds into the third, but Kenney bagged his third near the eight-minute mark to restore the host's four-goal cushion.

"It's pretty disappointing, and the prospect of having so many road games left concerns me," Palumbo continued. "We have four at Marquette, a couple at Alpena, and three more back here (at Mahoning). Plus we're at (Team) USA and Motor City twice each. We can't play like we did two out of the three games this weekend and expect to be successful."

Brandon Stephenson (Saline, MI/TC North Stars) got a second straight start in net for TC and followed a 39-save performance on Saturday with 38 stops on Sunday afternoon. The North Stars travel to sixth- place Motor City next weekend for a pair of games with the Machine, followed by a weekend north of the bridge at Marquette.

"It's a key stretch for us, and we need to get as many of these points as we can while we're on the road for the benefit of our playoff position," added Palumbo. "We're very good when we choose to be, and we can show some real ... indifference at other times. Forget about records, we have to go to Motor City ready to play our game."

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2009


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