Phantoms crush Ice

Goaltender Jordan Tibbett made 40 saves for the road victory.

INDIANAPOLIS – Despite being outshot 42-28 and forced to kill nine power plays against, the Youngstown Phantoms banded together to construct a 5-2 victory Friday over the defending Clark Cup champion Indiana Ice at the Pepsi Coliseum.

Goaltender Jordan Tibbett made 40 saves, including 19 in the first period, to pick up his sixth win of the season.

Cody Strang (goal, assist) and Taylor Holstrom (two assists) turned in multi-point nights for Youngstown (12-10-2, 26 points), who moved into fourth place alone in the East Division.

After Indiana captain Nick Bailen reduced the Phantoms’ lead to 3-2 in the opening moments of the third period, Youngstown killed a 1:46 two-man Ice advantage.

Shortly thereadter came Stuart Higgins’ whirling unassisted goal on his backhand with 5:23 to go to lock up the win.

Tom Serratore added a flourish to the Phantoms’ first win in three tries against Indiana with an empty-net goal, his sixth, in the final minute.

The road team has now won all three games in the season series between these two clubs.

Youngstown was forced to kill a pair of Indiana two-man advantages in the first period — five power plays in all — and was outshot 18-6 in the frame. Still, the Phantoms escaped with a 1-0 lead with a quick goal in the wake of a quality penalty-killing effort.

Seconds after Ben Paulides escaped the penalty box, Brian Dowd led Adam Berkle with a pass down the right wing. Berkle gathered and fired a short-side wrist shot over Ice goalie Casey DeSmith’s glove hand.

Jefferson Dahl continued his torrid pace by depositing the large rebound of Dan Senkbeil’s left-wing shot to make it 2-0 Youngstown 2:31 into the second.

DeSmith couldn’t find the puck with Dowd lurking. The Phantom kicked it right to Dahl for his eighth of the campaign.

Indiana cut the lead in half less than three minutes later when defenseman Nick Mattson finished a tic-tac-toe passing play with the Phantoms down a man for the sixth time in the game.

Justin Agosta found Shane Berschbach immediately to the right of Tibbett, who pushed it across the crease for a breaking Mattson.

Strang restored the Phantoms’ two-goal bulge at 13:58 of the middle frame with a bullet snap shot from the top of the left circle.

Ryan Jasinsky attempted to center for Dahl, but Strang followed on when it got by his fellow Wisconsinite in the high slot and blistered it into the twine for his second goal in three games and his second point of the period; he earned the secondary assist on Dahl’s marker.

Youngstown concludes its four-game road trip with a showdown with Team USA’s Under-18 squad tonight in Ann Arbor, Mich. Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.