PREVIEW Phantoms

Who: Phantoms vs. Traverse City North Stars.
Gametimes: 7:15 p.m. today and Saturday at the Ice Zone.
Internet: mvpphantoms.com.
Phantoms notes: Mahoning Valley is 26-13-4 and in second place in the NAHL North Division behind St. Louis. The Phantoms are 2-3-1 in their last six games, but one of the wins was last Saturday, 4-1, against Marquette. Derek Graham leads the Phantoms with 26 goals, 32 assists and 58 points. Miles Winter has 19 goals and Chad Boeckman 31 assists. Boeckman has a team-best plus-21 plus-minus rating. Johnny Meo has 20 assists. Goalie Garrett Bartus is 17-7-3 with a 2.69 goals against average, and Jordan Tibbett is 7-6-1 (3.34).
North Stars notes: Traverse City is 14-19-10 and in last place in the North. The North Stars haven’t played since sweeping Alpena 4-2 and 3-1 on Feb. 1-2. They had lost 13 of their previous 14 games before that. Nathan Urbaniak and Harrison Niemann both have 18 goals and 27 assists to lead Traverse City. Goalie Brandon Stephenson is 6-12-4 with a 3.46 GAA.
Up next: The Phantoms travel for a big series in St. Louis on Feb. 23-24, then return to the ice Zone Feb. 29-March 1 for a pair of games against Alpena.

Vindicator staff report