Winter's two goals spark surge as Phantoms win eighth in row

Mahoning Valley surged past the Traverse City North Stars, 5-2.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Miles Winter's two goals helped spark five unanswered tallies by Mahoning Valley (four via the power play) in the final 24 minutes of action, leading the Phantoms to a 5-2 victory over the Traverse City North Stars in North American Hockey League action Friday night at the Ice Zone.
Mahoning Valley (14-7-1, 29 points) won its franchise-record eighth straight game and remained in second-place in the North Division behind the Alpena Ice Diggers (15-5-1, 31 points), a 5-3 winner over the Marquette Rangers Friday.
It was also the sixth consecutive win for the Phantoms on their current seven-game homestand. They are also 4-1-1 against the North Stars this season, outscoring them 24-14.
"Through the first period and a half, we looked like the team that had just gotten off the bus," Phantom coach Bob Mainhardt said. "We came out sluggish but woke up, got our heads on straight, added a couple of good penalty kills and that was the difference for us tonight.
"It was frustrating early, but this team plays hard all 60 minutes and we needed to do that again tonight in order to win. [Traverse City head coach] Scott [Gardiner] always has his team prepared and while they are struggling right now, you cannot let your guard down because they just keep coming at you. They just do not quit."
The North Stars fell to 7-12-3 (17 points) and are winless in their last 10 outings (0-8-2) -- their last win a 3-2 shootout victory at home against the Phantoms on Oct. 14.
Winter gives team first lead
Winter's second goal of the night at 2:49 of the final period snapped a 2-2 tie and gave the Phantoms their first lead of the night.
"We started slow and I think the reason for that was we might have felt some pressure to keep our seven-game win streak intact," Winter said. "We're a physical team and we need to use that to our advantage. When we finally got rid of our nerves and got the puck deep, that's when we played better as a unit."
Winter's first goal tied the game at 2-2 after the Phantoms staked Traverse City a 2-0 lead.
"On my first goal I had the puck along the wall and when the lane opened up, I was able to beat the goalie to the glove side for the score," Winter said. "On the second goal, I got the puck deep and then worked a give-and-go with [Matt] Quigley.The goalie made a good save on the first try, but I was able to sneak the second shot by him for the score."
Fairbanks, Cloutier score
Chris Fairbanks' goal at 8:38 increased the Phantom lead to 4-2 and when Dustin Cloutier's shorthanded, empty-net shot found the goal at 19:02, it proved to be the icing on the cake for Mahoning Valley.
Ryan Zapolski improved to 13-5-1 when in goal for the Phantoms, rejecting 42 shots while the Phantoms held a 46-44 shots on goal advantage.
It took Traverse City just 1:57 into the game to get their offense going on Harrison Neiman's third goal of the year and when Zach Hitch added a goal at the 13:00 minute mark of the second period, the North Stars had built a 2-0 advantage.
A little over a minute later, Brent Dexter scored for the Phantoms on a power play opportunity, the first of four consecutive power play tallies for Mahoning Valley as they cut the North Star lead in half at 2-1.
The same two teams will meet tonight at 7 in the final game of the series at the Ice Zone.