Phantoms gain split against Ice Diggers

Alden Hirschfeld gave Mahoning Valley a much-needed boost.

BOARDMAN — With a five-goal third period Sunday night, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms were able to salvage a weekend split against the Alpena Ice Diggers and move into fourth place in the North American Hockey League’s North Division.

The Phantoms (5-3-0) squandered a 2-1 third period lead Friday night, falling 3-2 to the Ice Diggers (4-4-1).

“We didn’t execute the game plan Friday night,” said Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt. “It’s a learning process because we have a lot of new players.”

Phantoms forward Alden Hirschfeld scored a goal in his first game back after sitting out the first six games due to injury and illness. He had three points on the weekend.

“I was just happy to be back on the ice,” Hirschfeld said. “I was a step slow and got a bit tired out there, but this was good to help me get back in shape.”

With all the injuries in the early going of the season, Mainhardt said Hirschfeld was a much-needed boost.

“Hirsch is obviously a big part of the team and we missed him a lot,” Mainhardt said. “He played great for us this weekend, but we expect even bigger and better things out of him here for the rest of the season.”

Mahoning Valley’s power play sparked the team Sunday. Trailing 2-1 in the final period, the Phantoms scored three goals in a span of 2 minutes, 33 seconds and won 6-4.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Mainhardt said. “It was proven to us on Saturday night what could be done. We just needed to make sure we matched Alpena’s intensity, and we elevated our game plan in order to do that.”

Derek Graham led the way with four assists on the night, moving his team-leading point total to 13. Adam Snead and Brent Dexter each had two goals as well, helping to spark the flurry.

“There is obviously something we need from them every night,” said Mainhardt. “More importantly, all the veterans stepped up and played a strong defensive game and took care of both ends of the ice, and that was the big thing from them.”

Jordan Tibbett notched his first win of the season, stopping 35 shots.

Graham is tied for fourth in the NAHL in scoring. Chad Boeckman (10 points) is tied for 14th.

Mahoning Valley plays two games against the U.S. National U-17 team Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.) in Ann Arbor, Mich. Both games can be seen live on www.mvpphantoms.com.