Jr. Blues get their fifth win in a row

The game was the last time the Blues and Phantoms would compete during the regular season.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Four unanswered goals in the final period, all coming within a 3:43 span, helped lift the Springfield Jr. Blues to a 5-2, come-from-behind victory over the Mahoning Valley Phantoms in a North American Hockey League game Thursday night at the Ice Zone.
The loss was just the second in 25 home outings this season by Mahoning Valley (44-13-1), which, despite the loss, remained the league's top overall team with 89 points.
The Jr. Blues (26-28-4), just 10-14-4 on the road, won for the fifth consecutive time and forged a three-way tie for third place as they look to earn one of the final two Central Division playoff spots.
"This was a great goaltending battle tonight. Despite the final score, both goalies were outstanding," Springfield coach Chris Wyler said. "We felt that if we could get the pucks to the net, then we would have a chance to score. During the final intermission, I told our guys that we can win this game if we continue to play with the same intensity in which we started the game.
"Mahoning Valley is a great hockey team, and Bob [Mainhardt] has done a tremendous job with them all season long. While they have had their playoff position locked up for a few weeks now, we have not and that probably caused us to play with a little more desperation tonight," he added.
First score
After a scoreless opening period, the Jr. Blues got on the board first when Derek Carr's fourth goal of the year registered at 10:48 of the second period. It took Springfield 31 shots before finding the back of the net.
The Phantoms tied the score at 17:47 of the stanza on Dustin Cloutier's 40th tally of the year, and when Alden Hirschfeld added his netter just 30 seconds later, the Phantoms had a 2-1 margin.
The game was the final regular-season contest between these two teams. Mahoning Valley had won the first game, 7-2 on Oct. 6 and suffered their only shutout this year the next night, 4-0.
When Cloutier's shot registered, the goal broke a 102:48 scoreless draught against the Jr. Blues this season.
"We just didn't do the little things that win you games. We were disorganized in our fore check and didn't play our game," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said. "Give them credit, as they did a great job against us all night. It's not too hard to understand why they've won five straight games."
What happened next
Ryan Kretzer's goal at 14:44 of the final period got the scoring parade going for the Jr. Blues, knotting the score at 2-all. When Steve Mohler's goal just 1:20 later drew the red light, Springfield took the lead for good at 3-2.
Troy Mattila, the seventh-round selection of the New York Islanders and 190th overall pick of the 2006 NHL Draft, then scored his 11th goal of the season (he was playing in just his 12th game this year) at 17:39 to give the Jr. Blues a 4-2 lead while Jon Gaffney's empty net score at 18:27 put the game out of reach.
Springfield spent just eight minutes in the penalty box and Mahoning Valley 12, though neither team could cash in when sporting a man advantage, the Jr. Blues failing in five tries and Mahoning Valley scoreless on three attempts.
Both teams had 43 shots on goal.
The Phantoms will play host to the Alpena Ice Dogs tonight and Saturday at the Ice Zone. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.