Stars drop series middler, 5-3

Published on January 3, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - It took the Traverse City North Stars more than 43 minutes to build a 3-1 lead on Saturday at Centre ICE arena, and less than three minutes to lose it.

The first-place Mahoning Valley Phantoms avenged Friday's 5-4 shootout loss in the series opener with a come-from-behind effort of their own, adding an empty-netter to their cloudburst of a third period on Saturday, skating away with a 5-3 win.

"This is becoming a disturbing pattern," lamented Stars head coach/ GM Anthony Palumbo. "We've now lost two-goal leads in three different games against Alpena, once against Motor City, and we were up 4-1 against St. Louis. We're losing focus, and I'm starting to think that our physical conditioning might not be where it should."

Tyler Stephens (Rockford, MI/TC North Stars) and Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) opened each of the first two periods with goals, and Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/TC North Stars) made it a 3-1 game at 15:04 of the second stanza after Mahoning got on the board. The Phantoms then kicked off the third period with a blitzkrieg of goals at 3:43, 5:20, and 6:32 to snatch the lead away in a span of just 2:49. Stefan Salituro dumped the puck into the vacated Stars net with 13 seconds remaining to seal it.

The victory pushed Mahoning's lead to four points in the NAHL North Division heading into Sunday's matinee series finale. Traverse City fell to 17-7-5, two up on third-place Alpena and three points on fourth-place Marquette.

"This weekend is like a three-game playoff series at this point," Palumbo surmised. "We won on Friday, they got us back tonight. We'll have to see who wants to win the rubber match come Sunday. But against a team like Mahoning Valley, we have to - HAVE to - play for 60 minutes."

Jean, who barged into the Mahoning crease with the puck late in regulation and nearly tied the contest, also assisted on McLintock's goal. He now has 11 points over his last nine games, and has dished seven assists in his last five outings. McLintock is also red-hot, recording the ninth goal of his last nine games on Saturday.

The contest - dubbed ‘old-time hockey' by many observers - featured a scant five minor penalties all evening. Jean's marker was the only power play tally potted on Saturday. Sunday's matinee is slated to face-off at 12:35 p.m.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2009


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