The Team | RUSH'S GOAL TOPPLES PHANTOMS, 3-2 | ||||
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – When Brian Dowd stashed Lincoln Stars goalie Matt Green’s giveaway into an open net early in the third to tie the game at 2, it appeared perhaps the hockey gods were smiling on the Youngstown Phantoms. If that is to be believed, then call Lincoln defenseman Alec Rush an atheist.
Rush’s wrist shot from the right dot found twine with 7:32 to go in regulation and held up as the deciding goal in the Stars’ 3-2 win over Youngstown Saturday night at the Covelli Centre. Lincoln swept the two-game weekend series and has won all three against the Phantoms this season.
After Phantoms blueliner Ben Paulides drilled John McCarron with a sharp hip check in front of the Youngstown bench, Rush stepped into the void created by the hit and squeezed off his game-winning shot before the Phantoms could cover him. The drive beat goalie Matt Mahalak, who made 32 saves in his seventh straight start, to the glove hand side.
In a relatively quiet encore to Friday night’s pyrotechnic affair, the teams combined for just six minor penalties, four of those issued to Youngstown (8-8-2, 18 points). Both power plays came up empty as well, after three of eight goals were scored with the man advantage in last night’s 5-4 Lincoln shootout win.
The first few minutes were anything but quiet. Jon Puskar converted a backdoor pass from McCarron to put the Stars ahead 1-0 3:47 after the opening faceoff. But a mere 15 seconds later, the Phantoms had their equalizer courtesy of Lincoln netminder Green.
Green fumbled the puck in the right wing corner, turning it over to Youngstown’s Tom Serratore, who found Nick Czinder open between the circles. The USHL leader in shooting percentage at .471 – eight goals on only 17 shots – made no mistake, rifling the puck past a sliding Green 4:02 into the first.
Early in the second, Brodie Reid drifted a breakaway pass for Ben Lynch up the center of the ice. Lynch took it in stride and beat Mahalak (4-5-2) with a well-placed snap shot into the upper-right corner of the goal, boosting his Stars to a 2-1 edge and giving him four goals in three games versus the Phantoms.
Despite his twin stickhandling gaffes, Green (3-2-0) earned his second win in two nights for Lincoln (8-12-0, 16 points), stopping both Brett Gensler and Ryan Jasinsky on breakaways and robbing Jefferson Dahl with a sprawling save in the second. He stopped 22 of 24 shots one night after relieving regular Stars starter Jared Coreau early in the middle frame.
Go to http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid=1048908 for full box score.
Youngstown will try to break its current 0-3-1 skid next Friday against the Chicago Steel at the Covelli Centre. Faceoff is set for 7:15 p.m. as the Phantoms and WFMJ-TV present Pheed the Valley. Bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Second Harvest Food Bank and receive a half-priced ticket. If you bring five, you also get a free ticket to a future game!
The Youngstown Phantoms are a Member Club of the United States Hockey League (USHL), America’s only Tier I hockey league and premier developer of National Hockey League talent with more than 100 alumni on current NHL rosters.
Visit www.youngstownphantoms.com or call the Front Office at 330.747.PUCK(7825) for more information on the Phantoms organization. The Youngstown Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company (Phantom Fireworks), located in Youngstown, Ohio.
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