HOCKEY Phantoms are home to Springfield team tonight and Saturday

Youngstown lost both of its previous meetings with the Junior Blues this season.
BOARDMAN -- After a 12-day break, the Youngstown Phantoms will play host to the Springfield Junior Blues for two games this weekend at The Ice Zone.
The Phantoms are 17-14-7 in the North American Hockey League, while Springfield is 26-8-2.
Both games will begin at 7 p.m. today and Saturday.
The Phantoms went 2-2 at the Windy City Showcase, defeating the Fairbanks Ice Dogs (5-1) and Texarkana Bandits (2-0).
They finished the tournament with losses to the Helena Bighorns (4-2) and Minnesota Blizzard (4-3). That dropped Youngstown into fifth place behind the Cleveland Barons (20-16-3, 43 points) and the USA National Team (19-14-4, 42 points) in the NAHL North Division standings.
Playoff battle seen
Earlier this month, the NAHL announced that the top four teams in each of the three divisions would qualify for the playoffs. That means there will be a dogfight for the final playoff spots over the next two months.
"We have a tough road to hoe with six games left against Springfield, and we've had two more games against the Soo added [because Dayton dropped out of the league]," said Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt.
"It's going to make for an interesting finish, but we definitely have our work cut out," Mainhardt said. "Our division has been the toughest division all year, and it's not getting any easier."
Springfield is in second place in the NAHL North, but by a sizable margin. The Junior Blues trail the Soo Indians (29-2-6) by 10 points.
The division heavyweights went toe-to-toe last weekend in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., splitting a pair of overtime contests.
Won and tied
Youngstown lost two previous meetings with Springfield this season, losing 2-0 and then 2-1 in an overtime shootout. Both games were on the road in November.
"Springfield is an in-your-face type club," Mainhardt said. "If you're going to beat them, you're going to know you were in a hockey game. They're very physical. They finish all their hits, and they play very strong defensive hockey."
Springfield has allowed the second-fewest goals (82) in the league behind the Soo (80).
The Junior Blues' leading scorers are forwards Hank Carisio and Dan Riedel with 41 points (21 goals, 20 assists) and 39 points (20 goals, 19 assists), respectively. Carisio also leads the club with 140 penalty minutes.
Springfield's Ian Harper is 14-3-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average, making him one of only two NAHL goaltenders with a GAA below 2.00.
He is tied for the league lead in shutouts (three) with three other players, including Youngstown's Tyler Sims.
Rhyner scored all three
Phantoms left wing Aaron Rhyner scored all three goals for Youngstown in the loss to Minnesota. He and center Rob Rassey, who are tied for the club lead with 14 goals, are the only Phantoms with hat tricks this season.
Coach Mainhardt believes Rhyner's performance against Minnesota is a sign of things to come.
"Aaron has a very good goal-scoring touch," Mainhardt said. "All year, we've been working on making him a more well-rounded player, and that's maybe taken away from his goal scoring. He's really getting his confidence now though."
During the Windy City Showcase, Youngstown traded center Carson Strang to the Cleveland Barons for center Neal Sheehan and left wing Bobby Cahill.
"Sheehan is a kid I've wanted here with the Phantoms since day one," Mainhardt said. "We're real excited about Neal being able to come in and challenge Rob Rassey as our top centerman.
"Bobby Cahill is a young player still in high school who is going to give us some skill right now, but more importantly, he's going to be a great player in the future."
Tickets will be available at the door. Call (330) 965-7500 for information.