Phantoms welcome an ailing Machine

By Greg Gulas

The first-place Phantoms have two home games this weekend.

YOUNGSTOWN — At first glance, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and Motor City Machine appear to represent the best and worst of the North American Hockey League’s North Division.

Situated at opposite ends of the standings, the Phantoms (20-8-3, 43 points) are atop the division by two points over Traverse City (18-7-5, 41 points).

The Machine on the other hand, are 6-23-1 (13 points), and they visit the Chevrolet Centre this weekend having won just one of their last six games.

They’ve won just three times in 14 road outings this year, but their lone win during that six-game span was a big one as they defeated Traverse City, 6-4, on Dec. 21. The win was arguably the biggest this season for newly appointed coach Sean Clarke’s team.

Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt is quick to point out that Clarke continues to slowly, yet methodically build a solid foundation for the league’s first-year entry.

“This is a good team that can make some noise of given the opportunity to do so,” Mainhardt said. “Don’t let their record fool you, especially on the road.

“They’ve made some changes behind the bench and have some excellent players,” Mainhardt said. “They are definitely a team that can strike quickly and have done so on us already this season.”

The teams have met five times this season with Mahoning Valley holding a 4-1 series advantage.

They’ve won three of the four contests played in Detroit, needing overtime to post a 4-3, come-from-behind victory at the Chevrolet Centre on Nov. 30 during the North Division Showcase.

Mahoning Valley has outshot the Machine 156-111 in those five outings, but only a 17-11 scoring advantage.

The Phantoms have outscored Motor City 7-2 in the third period this season, and Mainhardt acknowledges that those final 20 minutes and an overtime session have been the key to their success.

“We’d like to think that our conditioning is at the top of the league, but we’re still a work in progress,” he said. “While we have held the upper hand at times, we’ve also allowed some teams to come back on us and that is something that we definitely have to work on.”

Goalie Jordan Tibbett, who has rejected 61 of 66 shots against the Machine, is 3-0 against Motor City while Garrett Bartus, 1-1 against Motor City and 6-4-2 overall, has been coming on of late and will draw the starting assignment Friday.

Forward Nick Kenney, whose three goals and three assists against Traverse City last weekend earned him the North Division player of the week award, expects a tough battle but likes his team’s chances, especially with Tibbett and Bartus minding the net.

“Both Jordan and Garrett] are playing excellent right now,” Kenney said. “They’ve kept us in games and that has been a big key to our success.”

Returning to the Phantoms line-up after a five-game absence will be forward Brandon Saad, who recently helped lead Team USA to a bronze medal at the World Under-17 Challenge in Vancouver, B.C.

Saad, whose four goals and five assists led all scorers in the preliminary rounds, was named to the first-team all-tournament team.

Mainhardt is elated that his third leading scorer (he has 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in 24 games this season for the Phantoms) is back on familiar ice.

“Brandon is a special player and he’s obviously been a big part of our success this season. Our team is not built around one player, but he’s definitely one player who has been a big part of our success thus far,” Mainhardt said.