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Phantoms blank Team USA
Gallery
Mahoning Valley Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett collected his first shutout of the season as the Phantoms blanked Team USA 3-0 at the Chevrolet Centre on Friday night.
Tibbett stuffed all 23 shots the Nationals sent his way, improving his record to 9-2-0 on the ’08-’09 campaign.
After the game, the Mahoning Valley netminder was beaming about the goose-egg, which was also his first in two years as a Phantom.
“It means a lot to get the shutout,” said Tibbett. “From a defensive standpoint, we had great hustle and great coaching, and I can’t thank the defense enough tonight.”
After the Phantoms’ defense held Team USA to just six shots through two periods, the Nationals came out firing in the third frame, putting 17 shots on Tibbett in the final 20 minutes of hockey. Phantoms Head Coach and General Manager Bob Mainhardt was proud of Tibbett’s composure in the third.
“It was tough because he didn’t see a lot of shots early on,” said Mainhardt, “but he showed his maturity by staying mentally focused and he made some really big saves when we needed him to.”
Doug Clifford netted the eventual game-winner for Mahoning Valley 10:31 into the first period, bouncing a bad-angle shot off the back of Nationals goalie Jack Campbell for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Cole Schneider followed four minutes later, firing home a back-door feed from George Saad for his second goal in as many games. Nick Shkreli added the icing on the cake, beating Campbell short-side after dekeing through the Team USA defense with 11:11 left in the third period.
Kyle Verbeek assisted on Shkreli’s goal, giving Verbeek and Shkreli a combined 3 goals and 11 assists through seven games in November. The Phantoms are now 5-0-1 in November games where Verbeek or Shkreli register a point.
The Phantoms’ third straight win moves Mahoning Valley (12-4-2, 26 pts) to within two points of idle Traverse City (13-3-2, 28 pts) for first place in the NAHL’s North Division standings.
The Phantoms wrap up the back end of their home-and-home series with Team USA on Saturday afternoon with a 3:00 PM matchup at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, MI.