Phantoms need win for top mark

The first 100 fans Saturday will receive a free ticket to the Thunder's opener.
BOARDMAN -- The Mahoning Valley Phantoms enter the final weekend of the North American Hockey League's regular season with one last mission before tackling the playoffs next week.
With one win over the U.S. National Team, the Phantoms will secure the league's best overall record for the 2006-07 season. Tonight's opening faceoff at the Ice Zone is at 7.
Saturday's regular-season finale is set for 2:30 p.m. The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free ticket to the Mahoning Valley Thunder's franchise-opener at the Chevrolet Centre at 7 p.m.
The Phantoms (45-14-1, 91 points) lead the St. Louis Bandits (43-14-3, 89 points) for the league's top mark.
Should the Phantoms split their weekend series and the Bandits win their final two games at Texas this weekend, the Phantoms would capture the regular season title by virtue of more wins.
Milestones
Center Dustin Cloutier's four-point performance last week gave him 79 points, breaking Marc Menzione's team scoring record of 75, set last season. Cloutier is tied for fourth in NAHL scoring.
Goaltender Ryan Zapolski, who will finish as the league leader in wins, leads the league in save percentage at .928. Fairbanks' Kenny Reiter, whose regular season ended last week, follows at .926.
Captain Chris Fairbanks, a left winger who leads the Phantoms with 18 points in 13 games versus Team USA, has registered an assist in five consecutive games.
Playoff dates
The Phantoms have announced playoff dates for their best-of-five semifinal series against the Marquette Rangers.
The top-seeded Phantoms will host games one and two at the Ice Zone on Thursday and April 6 before traveling to Marquette for games three and four, if necessary, on Apr. 9-10.
Games three and four will both be played at the Berry Events Center on the campus of Northern Michigan University.
Should the series require a game five, it will be played at the Ice Zone on Apr. 14. All five games will have a 7:30 p.m. start time.
Team USA (28-28-4) will meet the Alpena Ice Diggers in the other North Division semifinal series.