Mahoning Valley posted its 19th straight win against the USA National team.

Mahoning Valley posted its 19th straight win against the USA National team.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Chris Fairbanks scored twice and goalie Ryan Zapolski registered his third shutout of the season as the Mahoning Valley Phantoms turned back the USA Nationals, 3-0, in a North American Hockey League game Wednesday at the Ice Zone.
The Phantoms (25-7-1) recorded their team-record and league-best 19th straight victory to remain in first place in the North Division over Alpena (22-8-1).
One win from record
They are just one win shy from tying the league's modern-day record of 20 consecutive wins which was set last season by Bozeman.
"Both teams are a little banged up and kind of on break, so this was a nice win for us to get tonight. I can't tell you that I was pleased with our overall effort, but I will say that we did what we had to do tonight in order to win," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
"Fairbanks had a nice game as did Zapolski. It seems like Ryan plays best when he sees plenty of work in the net and with over 1,700 minutes already logged this season, you get glimpses of the defensive force that he really is," added Mainhardt.
Took early lead
The Phantoms raced to a two-goal advantage in the first period on goals by both Dustin Cloutier and Fairbanks.
Cloutier's team-leading 18th goal of the season found its way past Nationals goalie Brad Phillips at the 11:59 mark, while Fairbanks' first goal, with just two seconds remaining in the period, increased Mahoning Valley's lead to 2-0.
"There are no individuals on this team and that is the single, most important reason that I can give as to why we are winning. We're playing good defense and that creates offensive opportunities for us. Coach [Mainhardt] talked all week about getting the puck to the net and it really worked for us tonight," Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks' second goal, at 18:16 of the second period, proved to be the icing on the cake as the National team (11-17-2) lost for the sixth time in their last eight games, and fell to 4-10-0 on the road this season.
Winning streak continues
Zapolski (24-5-1) has been the winning goalie in every game during the Phantoms' winning streak.
"Playing a lot keeps me in game shape," he said. "It was nice to get the shutout tonight, only because I've been so close the past few games. I just couldn't keep the opponent out of our goal, however.
"We're a good team right now. I don't know how we'd stack up against the teams in the other divisions, but we do have the best overall record in the NAHL and that in itself has to mean something."
Scoring machine
In addition to Zapolski's play, the Phantoms also count on four lines that have clicked almost from day one. Mahoning Valley has scored 146 goals and 232 assists, registering 378 total points.
The line of Miles Winter, Cloutier and Nathan Longpre leads with 43 goals and 55 assists. Fairbanks, Derek Graham and Alden Hirschfeld have 31 goals and 49 assists; Mike Fillinger, Johnny Meo and Matt Quigley have 28 goals and 40 assists, and Brent Dexter, Chad Boeckman and Janis Purins have combined 24 goals and 26 assists.
The Phantoms have a two-game home series against the Marquette Rangers Friday and Saturday. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m.