Saturday, November 24, 2007
Youngstown rallied to beat the Mudbugs 4-3 in its home opener.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown Steelhounds’ forward Joel Irving felt like he had been slumping lately when it came to scoring goals.
Irving picked the perfect time to break his slump with two late goals including one in overtime to deliver the Steelhounds a 4-3 victory over Bossier-Shreveport before 4,534 fans at the Chevrolet Centre in their home opener.
The win came on the heels of a 14-game, 26-day road trip and kept the Steelhounds (13-1-1) solidly in first place in the Northeast Division of the Central Hockey League standings.
“It was nice to finally get home in front of a nice crowd,” Irving said. “It gives you a little boost. It got me going and we were able to get a big win.
“After playing so long on the road it was nice to come home and show everyone why we are so successful.”
The two teams will face off again tonight at 7:05 at the Chevrolet Center. Irving’s game-winning goal came with 2:58 remaining in overtime on a rebounded shot attempt by Kurtis Dulle.
“Kurtis Dulle took a shot that bounced off the endwall and I just drove to the net and took a little shot that banked off the goalies back.”
Irving also scored the game tying goal with 12:49 remaining in regulation.
“I give alot of credit to the guys,” said Steelhounds coach Kevin Kaminski. “Their passion and their desire to win is what is making us successful.”
Kaminski said he wasn’t happy with the early play of the Steelhounds that led to a couple of power play goals by the Mudbugs in the first two periods.
The Steelhounds let the antics of former player Darryl Lloyd get to them and that resulted in several penalties that forced Youngstown to play short-handed.
“We can’t let that guy get to us,” Kaminski said. “He played here and we know what he does. He’s not a fire but he likes to get under your skin.”
The Penguins rebounded despite just taking advantage of one powerplay goal in nine tries.
“We were trying to be too fancy in the power play,” Kaminski said. “We need to drive to the point and be more aggressive.”
The Steelhounds scored their first goal to tie the game at 1-1 on a powerplay shot by Jason Baird with 12:34 remaining in the first period.
Bossier-Shreveport scored late in the first on a powerplay goal by Dale Lupul to give the Mudbugs a 2-1lead.
Youngstown tied the game at 2-2 on an Eric Przepiorka rebound goal on an assist by Kevin Jarman and Irving before the Mudbugs took a 3-2 lead on a goal with a 5 to 3 powerplay advantage.
“We came in here after the second period and corrected a few things,” Kaminski said. “We’re the team that has come back and win just like we did on the road. “So we stayed poised and calm and had the urgency to come out play and it payed off tonight.”