Phantoms lose 2-0 to Barons

It was the third loss to Cleveland in the last four meetings.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- It's been feast or famine the last four times Mahoning Valley has taken to the ice against the Cleveland Barons.
Unfortunately for the Phantoms, Cleveland has held the upper hand in three of those contests.
Rikky Akkerman and Clark MacLean each scored a goal, and Kenny Reiter registered his third shutout of the season, all against Mahoning Valley, as the Barons defeated the Phantoms, 2-0 in a North American Hockey League game Monday night at The Ice Zone.
"It's always a tough game when you play the Barons. Tonight, both goaltenders were excellent in goal and that was the difference in the game," Mahoning Valley coach Bob Mainhardt said.
"We had hoped for our power play to work a little better, so we'll just go back to the drawing board and regroup for our next game. Both teams are jockeying for home ice position come playoff time and with half of our remaining games coming against either Cleveland or the division-leading U.S National team, we like our chances the rest of the way."
Barons end two-game skid
The Barons (29-17-4) snapped a two-game tailspin and have won six of their last eight games.
They are tied with the Phantoms (29-16-4) for second place in the North Division with 62 points. The U.S. National team leads with 64 points. The Phantoms lost for just the third time in their last 11 games.
"We had a tough weekend. After defeating the U.S. National team earlier in the month, 7-0, we became a little too confident. We took things a little too lightly and the result was two losses by a goal apiece to both the Nationals and the Springfield Jr. Blues," Barons coach John Fritsche said.
"It was all goaltending for us tonight. While Reiter was excellent in the net, we feel that when Bobby Jarosz is added to the mix we have two outstanding goaltenders that we can count on.
"Both goalies have been solid, have a comfort zone and are playing with plenty of confidence right now," said Fritsche.
"I'm not worried about our stats. We'll just try to win the remainder of our games and let the chips fall where they may."
Opening goal
Akkerman got the Barons on the board with his seventh goal of the season at the 14:36 mark of the opening period.
When MacLean added his second score of the season at 11:11 of the second period, little did either team expect it to be the last goal of the game.
The Barons improved to 14-8-1 in 23 road games this year, despite the fact that the Phantoms held a 45-30 shots on goal advantage.
Mahoning Valley fell for just the fourth time in 20 games at The Ice Zone this year.
The Phantoms travel to Traverse City March 3 for a 7 p.m. game.