Wednesday, January 24, 2007
It was Mahoning Valley's eighth straight win over its division rivals.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- The Mahoning Valley Phantoms scored three times in the second period, twice off the stick of Dustin Cloutier, to defeat the U.S. National Under-17 squad, 4-2 in a North American Hockey League game Tuesday night at the Ice Zone.
It was the eighth straight win by the Phantoms over their North Division rivals, as they improved to a league best 32-10-1 and opened an 11-point lead over second-place Alpena (26-10-2).
The Phantoms have registered a league-best 195 goals in 43 outings; an average of 4.5 per outing
"We played much better tonight defensively and our penalty kill was very good as well. We can still improve, however, and that is our goal," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
"[Dustin] Cloutier does it all for us and I was especially happy for the way that he played tonight. [Ryan] Zapolski had another excellent game in goal and while I am sure that he wishes he had a few of those shots back from Saturday night, he made the stops when we needed them and that is all that counts.
"As for [Janis] Purins, he has been great all season long in doing the little things and tonight when we needed a big goal, he got it for us."
Taking the lead
After a scoreless first period in which each team had just nine shots on goal, Mahoning Valley's Brent Dexter needed just 27 seconds after the intermission to break the deadlock when his shorthanded goal gave the Phantoms a 1-0 advantage.
Cloutier's first goal at 6:28 increased the lead to 2-0 and when he found the back of the net at 15:29, the Phantoms had built a three goal lead with just 20 minutes remaining.
Both Nathan Longpre and Miles Winter assisted on Cloutier's two tallies as the Phantoms outshot the U.S. Nationals, 18-7 in the period.
Power play goals by Sam Lofquist (5:22) and Justin Florek (8:43) pulled the Under-17 squad to within a goal at 3-2, but Janis Purins' ninth tally of the year at 16:02 gave the Phantoms a 4-2 lead and their eventual two-goal margin.
"Tonight was not our greatest game against the U.S National team, but we were able to work the puck down low in the corners and our crisp passing proved to be just the difference. After taking a 3-0 lead, we got a wake-up call early in the third period and just buckled down the rest of the way," Purins said.
"My linemates, [Kurt] Washnock and [Johnny] Meo were the catalysts. The goal came just at the right time for us; right when we needed it most."
Playing well
Then Phantoms held a 36-23 shots on goal advantage as Zapolski registered his league-best 31st win of the year. He is 31-7-1 this season.
The Phantoms' magic number is nine to clinch a playoff spot and after going 3-0 on their recent homestand, they will hit the road for four games. Mahoning Valley travels to Traverse City this weekend for a two-game set with the North Stars and then two games at Alpena with the Ice Diggers the following Friday and Saturday.
They return to the Ice Zone Feb. 16 to face the Ice Diggers in the first of a two-game weekend set.