Phantoms play well in 3-0 loss to 'Dogs

Mahoning Valley trailed by only 1-0 with one minute left, then gave up two empty-net goals.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- For 59 minutes of intense hockey, one goal separated the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and the Bozeman IceDogs.
Josh Heidinger's first-period goal was the only tally in the game until the final minute as IceDogs goalie Matt Dalton and Phantoms net-minder Ryan Zapolski exchanged save after save.
But after Zapolski was lifted for an extra attacker, the IceDogs scored two empty-net goals to post a 3-0 victory Friday in the North American Hockey League's Robertson Cup tournament semifinal at The Ice Zone.
The IceDogs advanced to tonight's championship game against the two-time defending champion Texas Tornado. Faceoff is at 7:30 p.m.
The Phantoms will play Southern Minnesota at 2 p.m. in the third-place game.
"We weren't clicking on all cylinders tonight," Dalton said. "It was a hard-fought game, a good battle.
"They worked so hard, they worked their butts off," Dalton said after stopping 33 Phantoms shots. "They should be proud, they deserve to be here. Their goalie played a helluva game."
Zapolski is outstanding
Zapolski stopped all but one of the 33 shots he faced.
"Five-on-five, we played with them the entire game, but stupid penalties challenged us," Zapolski said. "They've got one of the best power plays in the league."
A two-man advantage for the IceDogs helped set up the first period's only goal. During a penalty kill, Phantoms defender Bret Larson was caught for checking from behind.
Although the Phantoms were able to skate off the 48-second two-man advantage, the IceDogs scored seconds later when Graham McManamin fed Josh Heidinger in the faceoff circle to the left of Zapolski. His shot beat Zapolski for a 1-0 lead that Bozeman nursed the rest of the game.
"Graham made a great play off the faceoff to keep it in," Heidinger said. "[Ryan] Bunger was in front doing what he does best, making a lane for me, so I just put it where I had to."
Zapolski said he "didn't see it. It was a good shot and screen."
The Phantoms had their own two-man advantage late in the first period, but Dalton, the NAHL's regular season Most Valuable Player, stopped both shots.
Neither team scored in the second period as Zapolski and Dalton were stout.
Best chances came early
The Phantoms' best chances came late in the period. First, forward Mike Maltese rushed the net but couldn't get a shot off. Then Bunger was called for charging into Zapolski.
During the power play, the Phantoms produced several shots on Dalton and one deflected off the goal post.
For the Phantoms, it was their second loss in two nights after a 31-day break.
"We showed a lot of heart coming back from a month off," Zapolski said. "That's the best team in the league out there and we lost to them by one goal."
Thursday, Southern Minnesota defeated the Phantoms, 5-2.
Texas won the four games the Tornado and IceDogs played in the regular season.
"You only have to win one game -- it doesn't matter what happened before," Dalton said.
Texas rallies to win
In Friday's other game, Texas rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Southern Minnesota, 4-3.
"We'd rather be third than fourth but ... third-place seems like little consolation at this point," Southern Minnesota coach Pat Cullen said.
The Express led the Tornado, 3-1, late in the second period before surrendering three unanswered goals and being limited to three shots on goal in the final 20 minutes.
"We just might have not had as much left in the tank," said Cullen, referring to their victory over the Phantoms. "We played a difficult game [Thursday] night and it was a short turnaround. That might have been a factor but we're not making excuses."
williams@vindy.com