ICE ZONE Smith's 2 goals in debut key win

Mahoning Valley won its first home game of the season 4-2 over Dayton.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Todd Smith really knows how to make a grand entrance.
Playing in his first game of the season, Smith scored two goals in the first 12 minutes to help the Mahoning Valley Phantom Rockets defeat the Dayton Gems 4-2 in the Continental Elite Hockey League at the Ice Zone Sunday.
Smith scored on his first shot of the season at 3 minutes, 10 seconds of the opening period, then followed that with a goal at 8:38 to stake the Phantom Rockets to an early 2-0 lead. It was a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
"On my first goal it was a wide open net as Casey Keefer fed me the puck," Smith said.
"The second goal was all Dave Wilmert," he added. "It was a gorgeous pass and all I had to do was tap it in. Both Casey and Dave made it really easy for me to score tonight."
First win at home
The Phantom Rockets (2-2-1) won at home for the first time this season. Dayton (1-5-1) is winless in its last five games.
Coach Bob Hawthorne, a perfectionist who expects improvement by his team every game, said the Phantom Rockets are executing. But he was disappointed that they got away from their system.
"There's still plenty of room for improvement," he said. "We played our system to a 'T' early, then got away from that.
"Penalties hurt us. Many were our fault which caused us to reach and grab at the end of the game."
The trio of Smith, Chad Blumes and David Wilmert figured in the Phantom Rockets' first two goals. Terry Saunders made it 3-0 on a goal assisted by Brooks Harvey and Brennan Mugala.
Out-shot early
Despite its lead, Mahoning Valley was out-shot 16-10 in the opening period. The Gems increased their advantage in shots to 26-16 in a scoreless second period.
"We spotted them three goals early and it was just too much to overcome," said Dayton coach Aaron Ellis. "We had a couple of opportunities early but failed to capitalize on them."
Dayton's Brandon Fackey and Brolin scored in the third period, to cut Mahoning Valley's lead to 3-2. Fackey was assisted by Daniel Brolin and Derek Nova, while Brolin was assisted by Nova and Pat Stewart.
Mugala found the net at 18:57 to put the game out of reach, giving the Phantom Rockets a 4-2 advantage with just 63 seconds remaining.
Dayton finished with a 35-25 shots-on-goal advantage.
Promising goalies
"We have the goalies of the future in Justin Carland and Nick Signet," Hawthorne said. "Both have adapted well to our system and I am comfortable with either one in goal."
The Phantom Rockets will go on a three-game trip to Michigan at Traverse City, Brownstown and Detroit, before returning for a five-game home stand beginning Nov. 9.