Phantoms drop 3-2 decision to Alpena at Ice Zone

By Greg Gulas

The win assured a return playoff trip for the Ice Diggers against the Phantoms in April.

BOARDMAN — Isaac Viau’s goal at 12:58 of the final period proved to be the difference as the Alpena Ice Diggers defeated the Mahoning Valley Phantoms, 3-2 in a North American Hockey League game Friday night at the Ice Zone.

The come-from-behind win helped the Ice Diggers — they needed just one win in their final two regular season games — secured third place in the league’s North Division as they earned a return trip to the Mahoning Valley in early April for the first round of the playoffs.

“The Ice Zone is a tough place for any team to play and the last time we were here we didn’t exactly have a good experience, dropping both games we played to the Phantoms,” said Alpena coach Kenny Miller.

“Mahoning Valley already has the number two seed in the division locked up and we knew that we needed two points to nail down the third spot. I’m just glad we were able to get the win tonight.

“We’ll rest some players [tonight] and then look to the playoffs,” Miller said.

Tom Healy got Alpena on the board first with his first goal of the season, a power play opportunity at 12:10 of the opening period.

His tally proved to be the only score by either team in the opening session as the Phantoms held a 15-13 shot advantage heading to the first intermission.

Miles Winter’s goal just 47 seconds into the second frame, his 23rd of the season, knotted the score at a goal apiece and when Derek Graham followed with his team-leading 30th netter of the year, the Phantoms had forged a 2-1 advantage.

Both Winter’s and Graham’s goals came with the Phantoms on the power play.

Alpena, skating with a two-man advantage, made the Phantoms pay for their shortcomings as Jon Puskar rattled the back of the Mahoning Valley net with his 24th goal at 15:59, knotting the score at 2-all heading to the final period of play.

When Isaac Viau scored at 12:58, his goal proved to be the difference in the game as the Ice Diggers held on for the 3-2 victory.

“[Mike] DeGrazia skated down the far side with the puck, made a pass to [Jon] Puskar who returned the favor back to DeGrazia for the shot on goal. When the puck bounced back out, I got a clear shot off and was able to bang it home,” Viau said.

“This was a crucial win for us for one very big reason; we now know that we are coming back here in two weeks for the first-round of the playoffs. Instead of sitting back to see who we play, we know exactly what will be happening that first-round,” he added.

Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt was clearly disappointed with his team’s overall effort.

We didn’t play a full 60 minutes. It’s been the same way all year for us. We cannot play half a game and expect to win,” he noted.

“I thought we were past this hurdle but I guess we aren’t. We’ll have a little talk with the team, hopefully get past this and come back stronger [tonight] for the final game of the series.”

Mahoning Valley (33-18-4, 70 points) saw their three-game win streak fall by the wayside, losing for just the second time in their past eight outings.

They are now 19-7-1 at the Ice Zone.

Alpena (30-22-5, 65 points) won for the second straight outing and improved to 15-11-3 in 29 road games this season.

They are now 4-6 in their last 10 outings.

Mahoning Valley outshot the Ice Diggers, 40-31.