Phantoms pull out 4-3 win Saturday

Mike Maltese's goal with 3:18 remaining proved to be the game winner.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- As the North American Hockey League season nears its halfway point, you can still hear Mahoning Valley Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt saying that his team can be a title contender, if and only when they learn to play a full, 60-minute game.
That being the case, then Mainhardt might look back in March on Saturday night, when the Phantoms defeated the Alpena Ice Diggers, 4-3, as the time when his young team came of age and played that complete game at both ends of the ice.
Mike Maltese's goal with 3:18 remaining proved to be the game winner and goalie Ryan Zapolski, who was pulled the night before, returned to reject 51 Ice Digger shots as the Phantoms swept the weekend series to remain in third-place in the North Division.
Trail Barons by two
The Phantoms improved to 14-9-2 overall (30 points) and remain two points behind the Cleveland Barons (14-11-4, 32 points), a 5-2 winner over Traverse City on Saturday.
Alpena dropped to 6-18-3 (15 points), losing their fourth straight outing and their sixth in the past seven tries.
"We executed absolutely everything the way that we should have, sticking to the game plan the whole night. When you do that, good things usually happen," Mainhardt said.
"This is that first complete game for us in quite some time and I must say that it feels really good," he added. "Both teams are tired but that is when you have to push on. This is an excellent example of a young team buying into the system."
Second straight win
The win was the second straight for Mahoning Valley and its fifth in the past seven outings.
Alpena struck first when Drew Pierson scored his team-best 11th goal of the season at 16:14 of the opening period for a 1-0 Ice Digger advantage.
Craig Dulman's power play goal for the Phantoms with just five seconds remaining then knotted the score at 1-all.
Drew Satterley's goal, his team-leading 12th at 4:12 of the second period, gave the Phantoms a 2-1 advantage as Mahoning Valley outshot the Ice Diggers, 20-13 in the period.
"[Drew] Satterley is a really skilled big man. He has great hands for a person his size and tremendous overall ability," said Mainhardt.
"[Ryan] Zapolski was great in goal for us as well. He bounced back from the night before and time and again kept Alpena honest around the net."
Alpena's Nolan Craner knotted the score at 2-all with a slap shot at 17:13 of the final period, but Anthony Ciraulo answered with a shorthanded goal just 1:08 later as the Phantoms regained the lead, 3-2.
Erik Peterson's goal for the Ice Diggers with 6:06 remaining tied the score at 3-all, but Maltese's eighth score of the year at 3:18, his team-best fourth game-winning shot, proved to be the difference.
Zapolski recorded his 11th win of the season despite Alpena's 54-53 shot advantage.
The Phantoms continue their seven-game home stand Friday and Saturday against the Traverse City North Stars. Game time is 7 p.m. both nights at The Ice Zone.