Sweep of Stars Secures Home-Ice Advantage for Phantoms in First Round
Published on March 17, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
BOARDMAN, Ohio (Monday, March 17, 2008) - After falling behind 3-0 in the first 20 minutes of their three game series this weekend against the Traverse City North Stars, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms abruptly turned things around, outscoring the Stars 17-3 in the final eight periods, and clinching home-ice advantage in the first round of next month's North American Hockey League Playoffs.
"Clinching gives us a bit of a comfort level - we know we are going to have the home-ice advantage in at least the first round," said Phantoms assistant coach Curtis Carr. "It gives us some breathing room, and an opportunity maybe to pull guys in and out of the line-up, so we don't have to play guys with bumps and bruises, and make sure we are healthy for the playoffs."
Entering Friday's game, the Stars had gone 9-0-1 in their previous 10 games. After Kyle Bonis notched two and Eric McLintock buried a rebound to put Traverse City up 3-0 with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, it appeared they were just going to keep on rolling.
Kyle Bailey's powerplay goal midway through the second period, however, and then two in a row by Stefan Salituro, including the game-tying goal at 6:47 of the final frame brought the Phantoms back and forced extra time. Brian McGinty's snipe in the eighth round of a shootout finally won it 4-3.
"Hats off to them. They sprung a break, scored, and got us away from our game plan for about 10 minutes there," said head coach Bob Mainhardt after Friday's game. "But we were able to re-gather our composure and come out and play a very solid 40 minutes after that."
Saturday's game looked as though it was going to be just as close as Friday's after the teams skated to a 1-1 tie at the first intermission. But a five-goal second period from the Phantoms and a physical, fight-filled, third period sent fans at the Ice Zone into a frenzy and sealed a 7-2 triumph.
"Usually it takes the first period for us to get adjusted," said Carr after Saturday's win. "Each night, it seems like, in the second period we have a good idea of what the game plan is going to be and we can go from there."
The second period domination rolled over into Sunday afternoon as well. After a slow start and a scoreless first period, Kyle Bailey's hat trick, and three points each from McGinty and Salituro, led the Phantoms to a four-goal second period en route to the 6-1 decision.
It has been the play of the Phantom's fourth liners that has led the team to six wins in the last seven games. Salituro shined the brightest, scoring four and assisting on three more to lead the team to its fifth sweep of the year. Salituro now has a point in each of his last six games.
After picking up an honorable mention for Player of the Week last week, Bailey slotted five goals against the Stars (21-21-12, 54 points) and added a helper as well. Additionally, McGinty also tallied two goals and three assists while playing on the team's fourth line.
"I'm a firm believer that, at this level, there is no excuse not to have four lines of players that can get the job done," said Mainhardt. "We've got four lines that, on a lot of other teams, could be on the top two lines. Everybody has to step up at different times, everyone has to contribute, and we've been relying a lot on them."
The Phantoms defense also played a major role in the successful weekend, only giving up an average of 26.3 shots per game. Phantoms goaltenders Jordan Tibbett and Garrett Bartus combined for a .924 save percentage while holding the league's second-best powerplay unit to just two goals on 16 opportunities.
Mahoning Valley is now 33-17-4 on the year and has reached the 70-point plateau for the third straight season. Although the second place Phantoms are 20 points behind the division leading St. Louis Bandits (44-9-2, 90 points) with just four games left in the regular season, they have moved seven points clear of the Alpena Ice Diggers (29-22-5, 63 points) in third.
The Ice Diggers will play their final games of the season this coming weekend against the Phantoms at the Ice Zone in Boardman. More than likely, the weekend series will be a preview of a first-round playoff matchup between the two rivals.
Game time is set for 7:15 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night. Catch all the 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 March 17, 2008
- Sweep lifts Phantoms into playoffs - NAHL
- Jets Weekly - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- Phantoms Midget AAAs Are National Tournament Bound - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Sweep of Stars Secures Home-Ice Advantage for Phantoms in First Round - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Jet's Player of the Week - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
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