Zapolski sets NAHL mark for wins in Phantoms' rout

Ryan Zapolski picked up his 39th victory of the season in Mahoning Valley's 8-2 win.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Mike Fillinger had two goals and an assist, and 14 Phantoms figured in the scoring as Mahoning Valley easily defeated the USA National Team, 8-2 in a North American Hockey League game Saturday night at the Ice Zone.
Also, Ryan Zapolski, who rejected all but two USA National shots while in goal, notched his 39th win of the campaign to established a league season record.
"It's really nice to get the record, but this win tonight is a true reflection on our team," said Zapolski (39-8-1). We struggled a bit heading into our series with USA this weekend and even struggled for a period and a half Friday night. Since that time, however, we've played better and tonight were able to put it all together at both ends of the ice."
The Phantoms scored early and often, registering four goals in each of the first two periods.
Fillinger's first goal of the night just 2:22 into the contest got the scoring parade rolling for Mahoning Valley and when Johnny Meo added his fourth tally of the season at 4:59, a shorthanded shot, the Phantoms had a 2-0 advantage.
Goals by Miles Winter (8:28) and Chris Fairbanks (12:40) made it 4-0 in favor of the Phantoms but when Robbie Czarnik scored at 14:42, the Phantoms lead was trimmed to 4-1 after the first 20 minutes of play.
"We had a much better start tonight and that really pleased me. Our defense was excellent and if the truth be told, most of our offense was created from our defensive play," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
Increased lead
Eric Ringel's goal, a two-man advantage power play at 6:47, increased the Phantoms' lead to 5-1, while goals by Alden Hirshfeld (10:32), Dustin Cloutier (14:10) and Fillinger's second of the night (16:39) made it 8-1.
Cloutier's goal, a power play score, was his team-leading 39th of the season.
"We had a rough two weeks and are finally getting back to the way we should be playing. We felt that our weekend series with the USA National Team was the beginning of our playoff push so it was great to see everyone, from top to bottom, contribute," Fillinger said.
USA's Patrick Gaul finished the scoring with his eighth goal of the season at 4:11 of the final period.
The Phantoms held a 40-31 shots on goal advantage, connecting on 2-of-8 power play opportunities. The USA National Team was just 1-of-3 when they had a man advantage.
Mahoning Valley plays host to the Springfield Jr. Blues at the Ice Zone Thursday at 7 p.m.