Phantoms and Barons may tangle in playoffs

Cleveland goaltender Kenny Reiter has been a pain for Mahoning Valley.
BOARDMAN -- The likelihood that the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and the Cleveland Barons will meet in the first round of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) playoffs seems pretty good at first glance.
Yet, much rides on this weekend's series at The Ice Zone between these two teams. Face off tonight and Saturday is at 7 p.m.
The Phantoms have had recent difficulty getting the puck past Cleveland goaltender Kenny Reiter, who shut out the Phantoms in their previous two meetings last month.
The standings
The Barons (32-17-4) lead the Phantoms (31-16-4) by two points for second place in the North Division and have played two more games than Mahoning Valley.
A Phantoms sweep would go a long way towards ensuring home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
However, the Phantoms and the Barons aren't conceding the North Division regular-season title to the U.S. National Team (33-11-4).
Team USA has dropped their last two games, including a 2-1 loss by the Under-18 Team in Springfield last Saturday; their first loss in 15 NAHL games this season.
Their lead over Cleveland and the Phantoms are two and four points, respectively.
Notes
In Saturday's 7-4 win in Traverse City, the Phantoms scored on their first two power play opportunities to break an 0-for-24 slump over the prior five games.
Their penalty killing has caught fire, stopping 58 of their last 62 shorthanded situations and, in the process, elevating them to fourth in the league overall at 87.1 percent.
Since December, both teams have maintained a pair of players among the top 10 in NAHL scoring.
The Phantoms' Anthony Ciraulo (70 points) and Marc Menzione (69) rank third and fourth, respectively.
Cleveland's Carter Camper (77 points) ranks second while Josh Leonard stands eighth with 64.