Weekend Split Keeps Phantoms in First
January 4, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
TRAVERSE CITY, MI (Sunday, January 4th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms finished another three game series 1-1-1 at Traverse City after falling to the North Stars 4-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The Phantoms led 2-0 early in the second period but the North Stars scored four unanswered goals to capture the win.
David Johnstone got Traverse City on the board, scoring on a 2-on-1 from Kyle Bonis with 13:36 left in the second period, making the score 2-1 Phantoms; Mahoning Valley would hold that lead into the third period.
Just 25 seconds into the third, however, the North Stars struck again as Josh Miller fired a Bonis rebound past Phantom netminder Jordan Tibbett to tie the game at two.
Seven minutes later, Kyle Jean scored on a centering feed from Eric McClintock to give the North Stars the lead, which they would not surrender the rest of the way.
Jean would cap off the scoring with 1:03 remaining, batting a loose puck into an empty Phantoms net.
The game turned ugly after Jean's second marker, as the teams combined for 62 penalty minutes in the final minute and three seconds, including three different game misconduct penalties to both teams.
The Phantoms struck first in the contest as Nick Shkreli notched his third goal of the weekend, swatting a Nick Kenny feed past North Stars goalie C.J. Motte with 8:08 left in the first.
The goal moved Shkreli (8 G, 14 A) into the team lead with 22 points.
Johnny Meo built the lead to 2-0 two minutes into the second period when he beat Motte under his glove on an up-ice rush with Alex Lippincott.
Tibbett made 23 saves for Mahoning Valley while incurring only his fourth regulation loss of the season (14-4-1); Motte stopped 27 Phantom shots for Traverse City and improved his record on the year to 8-3-2.
The win pulled the North Stars (18-7-5, 41 pts) to within two points of the Phantoms (20-8-3, 43 pts) for first place in the NAHL's North Division.
North American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2009
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Wins Bronze at World Challenge - U.S. National Team
- TC Overcomes 2-0 Deficit - Traverse City North Stars
- Weekend Split Keeps Phantoms in First - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- U.S. National U18 Team Drops 4-2 Decision to Merrimack - U.S. National Team
- U.S. National U17 Team Edged by CAN Pacific, 6-5 in OT - U.S. National Team
- Bobcats Acquire Treml In Trade - Bismarck Bobcats
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
