Phantoms stay unbeaten at home

Mahoning Valley scored five times in the second period to beat Alpena 5-3.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- There's just no place like home for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms.
Having dropped their last two outings on the road against the Cleveland Barons -- and struggling with their self-confidence (according to head coach Bob Mainhardt) -- the Phantoms used a five-goal barrage in the second period to defeat the Alpena Ice Diggers, 5-3 in North American Hockey League action Friday night at The Ice Zone.
"Two losses last week against the Cleveland Barons left us a little short on confidence," Mainhardt said. "To start out slow tonight, have the type of second period that we had and then pitch a shutout in the final period, that will definitely help us with our confidence."
Mahoning Valley (10-8-1) is undefeated in three home contests and has beaten the Ice Diggers all three times they've met this year.
"We knew that we had to get plenty of shots off tonight, create some traffic around the net and, quite frankly, get some ugly goals if we expected to win the game," Mainhardt said. "That is exactly what we did.
"Five different players scored for us and that makes me feel good. We've got the kind of depth that we can do that. All of our lines need to produce in order for us to be successful," he added.
Alpena (5-14-3) has lost seven of eight.
Early deficit
The Ice Diggers' Ricardo Yesue gave Alpena a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season at 5:00 on a power play opportunity. Anthony McIntyre made it 2-0 when he scored his sixth goal of the season with two seconds left in the first period.
Mahoning Valley outshot Alpena 13-12 in the opening period.
"We didn't come down hard on them at the intermission, but we did point out that despite our shot advantage, we still trailed 2-0 in the contest," Mainhardt said. "They got the message and the second period for us was the turning point in the game."
Taking control
The Phantoms scored four goals in a span of 5:04 to take a 4-2 advantage in the second period. Chris Fairbanks got the scoring started at 10:58 with his second goal of the year, cutting the Alpena lead to 2-1. Owen Meyer tied it with his eighth goal at 8:52.
Anthony Ciraulo scored his team-leading 10th goal of the year just 1:11 later gave the Phantoms a 3-2 advantage and Marc Menzione's registered his ninth goal of the season at 5:54.
Steve Culbertson's scored his fifth goal of the campaign for the Ice Diggers at 3:18 to draw Alpena to within a goal at 4-3.
Brad O'Shell rounded out the scoring with his third goal of the year just 18 seconds later to secure the Phantoms' 5-3 victory.
Neither team could find the net in the final period of play.
Mahoning Valley held a 52-42 shots advantage as Ryan Zapolski (7-4) rejected 39 Ice Digger attempts. Johnny Morrow and Phil Greer combined to stop 47 Phantom attempts, with Morrow turning back all but three of those.
The teams will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at the Ice Zone.