Saad’s two goals power Phantoms

Stefan Salituro and David Chaney each earned three points in Mahoning Valley’s 4-2 victory.

STAFF REPORT

MASON CITY, Iowa — The North American Hockey League’s rookie of the year displayed his scoring skills in the opener of the league’s championship competition.

Brandon Saad scored two goals to lead the Mahoning Valley Phantoms to a 4-2 victory Tuesday over the Bismarck Bobcats in the Robertson Cup at the North Iowa Ice Arena.

Stefan Salituro recorded a goal and two assists while defenseman David Chaney had three assists.

The Phantoms continue the round-robin portion of the tournament tonight at 8:30 when they play the host North Iowa Outlaws.

“Game one was a really important one to win,” said Salituro, whose three points tied him for the team playoff lead with Cole Schneider at nine. “It gets our momentum going in the right direction and really gets the load off our back.”

Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett, who stopped 25 shots, said, “Bismarck came out with a great start.

“Our emotions were pretty high,” Tibbett said. “Once we were able to get those in check, we started our run against them.”

The Phantoms seized control of the game during their first power-play opportunity. With Jordan Singer in the penalty box for high sticking, Saad beat Bobcats goaltender David Bosner for a 1-0 lead. Chaney and Salituro assisted.

Thirty-one seconds later, Nick Kenny scored by stuffing a rebound of a Michael Pateras shot past Bosner. Nick Shkreli also assisted.

Eighty-five seconds later, after Matt Grogan replaced Bosner, the lead was 3-0 when Salituro raced into the Bobcats’ zone on a rink-wide feed from Chaney. The Phantoms forward lifted a wrist shot over the blocker of Grogan for the Phantoms’ third goal in 1:56.

The Bobcats’ Derek Kimbro scored the only goal of the second period.

Saad’s second goal restored the Phantoms’ three-goal advantage in the final period. Chaney and Salituro assisted on the power-play goal.

Isaiah Bennis scored the Bobcats other goal.

“Two big things you need in the playoffs are goaltending and special teams,” Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said. “I thought we did a good job on both.

“Our power play was very strong and Jordan’s goaltending when Bismarck took it to us early set the tone for the whole game.”

Tibbett improved his postseason record to 6-3; Grogan made 11 saves for Bismarck.

Back in September, the Phantoms defeated the Outlaws, 4-1.

“I don’t think that win means much at all,” said Mainhardt of the early-season triumph. “I don’t even think our guys really remember that game.

“It was a long time ago and both teams have gotten a lot better since then.

“North Iowa is a heck of a hockey team, so we’re going to have that game early in the year out of our minds and focus on [today],” Mainhardt said.

Thursday, the Phantoms will play the Wenatchee Wild. Friday, the Phantoms will face the two-time defending champion St. Louis Bandits. The Phantoms lost to the Bandits in the past two championship games.

The two teams with the best record after the preliminary round robin will advance to the Robertson Cup finals on Sunday afternoon.