Saads lift Phantoms to 2-1 series lead

By Tom Williams

YOUNGSTOWN — The return of brothers Brandon and George Saad to the lineup has the Mahoning Valley Phantoms one victory away from their fourth straight trip to the North American Hockey League’s Robertson Cup Finals.

Brandon Saad scored two goals and set up his brother on another as the Phantoms defeated the U.S. National Team, 4-0, on Thursday at the Chevrolet Centre.

Goaltender Jordan Tibbett stopped 32 shots as the Phantoms seized a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 NAHL North Division series.

The Phantoms and Nationals will meet again tonight at 7:15 at the Chevrolet Centre. If necessary, Game 5 will be played on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Nationals’ Ice Cube arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Saad, who missed a month of action with a lower body injury, said returning, “feels great. Hopefully we can close it tomorrow and make that trip up to Iowa. I’ve never been to nationals at this high of a level.”

Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said getting the Saads back was “outstanding. We pride ourselves on depth, but with the injuries we haven’t had that luxury.”

Two weeks ago, the Phantoms lost high-scoring forward Jordy Tibbett to a spleen injury in the Traverse City series.

“To get them back obviously helped statistically but also allowed everybody to be fresher and to play a little bit harder,” Mainhardt said.

The Phantoms killed five penalties while scoring once on their five chances.

Mainhardt was pleased with how well Tibbett played at the start.

“They really took it to us in the first 10 minutes and he was able to hold us in and give us a chance,” Mainhardt said.

Tibbett wasn’t surprised.

“They come out strong every game,” said Tibbett of the Nationals’ early 7-1 shot advantage.

About 12 minutes into the game, Brandon Saad stole the puck just outside the Phantoms blue line and broke in on Nationals goaltender Brandon Maxwell, beating him with a backhander for a 1-0 lead.

“I was ready to block the shot, but then [defenseman Jarred Tinordi] lost the puck so I took off,” Saad said.

Nationals defender Richie Crowley chased but couldn’t catch the streaking Saad.

“I had a clean path to the goalie and I saw a space between his pads so I deked to my backhand and laid it in there,” Saad said.

With less than a minute remaining in the opening frame, Saad spotted his brother George at the side of the net. George Saad snapped the pass into the top of the net for the 2-0 lead.

“He was talking to me so I just threw it in front and he put it home,” Saad said.

Defender Carl Nielsen also received an assist.

About three minutes into the third period, Brandon Saad bagged his second goal with a shot from the faceoff circle to Maxwell’s left. Josh Bussell and Cullen Lundholm assisted.

Tibbett received a boost from defenseman John Houston when the goaltender skated out of the crease. Houston slid across the goalmouth to block a Nationals shot at the unguarded cage to preserve the shutout.

“I got pretty lucky,” Tibbett said after his first playoff shutout. “The D really helped me out. I was seeing most of the shots.”

Tibbett’s other shutout this season came on Nov. 21 against the Nationals (3-0).

Midway through the third period, Cole Schneider’s power-play goal gave the Phantoms a four-goal cushion. Stefan Salituro and Nielsen assisted.

“We’re all feeling really good — we have a lot of confidence,” Tibbett said. “That should really help — there is no excuse to not come out flying tomorrow.”

williams@vindy.com