Phantoms return to ice for a very busy week

Youngstown hosts Waterloo tonight before hitting the road for three games.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — After a 10-day break, the Youngstown Phantoms return to action tonight when they take on the Waterloo Black Hawks.

The opening faceoff for the USHL game at the Covelli Centre will be 7:15 p.m. Eric Wolford, the new Youngstown State University head football coach, will drop the puck for the ceremonial pregame faceoff.

Tonight’s promotion is called “Christmas Gift Exchange.” fans may bring unwanted holiday gifts to the game in exchange for a half-priced ticket. The gifts will be donated to the Salvation Army.

The game marks the first of four that the Phantoms will play this week. On New Year’s Eve, the Phantoms will celebrate the holiday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when they play the Roughriders.

The road trip continues this weekend in Green Bay, Wis., when the Phantoms play the Gamblers on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Tonight’s game is the first meeting between the Phantoms and Black Hawks. The East Division clubs will meet again four times before the regular season ends.

The Phantoms (12-11-2, 26 points) are tied for fourth in the division with the Chicago Steel. The top four teams in each division qualify for the postseason.

The Phantoms have alternated wins and losses over their past six games, including a 1-1 weekend Dec. 18-19 that was highlighted by a 5-2 road victory over defending league champion Indiana.

Forwards Cody Strang and Taylor Holstrom each registered two-point nights against the champs. Playing in his hometown of Indianapolis, goaltender Jordan Tibbett made 40 saves — 19 in the first period — to claim his sixth win.

Forward Jefferson Dahl stretched his team-best goal-scoring streak to four with tallies against both Indiana and Team USA the following night.

The 9-3 loss to the Nationals on Dec. 18 was the Phantoms’ first blowout loss of the season. Defenseman Luke Eibler had two assists.

After threatening to climb into playoff position with a four-game winning streak to close November, the Black Hawks (9-14-1, 19 points) have gone 1-5-1 in December. They are tied with Team USA for sixth place.

Waterloo has given up a league-worst 4.58 goals-against per game and that trend continued in the Hawks’ final weekend prior to the holiday break, as they dropped 7-2 and 6-5 road decisions to Tri-City and Des Moines, respectively.

Third-year USHL forwards Tyler Barnes and Brock Montpetit are tied for the Black Hawks’ team lead in points with 29 apiece.

Youngstown leads the 14-team USHL in penalty minutes with 755, and as a result the Phantoms’ penalty-killing unit has been getting quite the workout in recent weeks. In the month of December, Phantoms’ opponents have been awarded 65 power plays in seven games for a lofty average of 9.29 per contest.