Unlucky bounce spills Phantoms; North Stars rally for 3-2 victory

David Dermer

Photo

Mahoning Vally's #18 Johnny Meo is trying to start a fight with Traverse City's #6 Tyler Stephens, during the final seconds of Sundays game.

By Tom Williams

“I put the brakes on and was lucky to slide one past him. He’s [Jordan Tibbett] one of the best goalies in this league for a reason.”

Kyle Bonis, Traverse City North Stars captain

YOUNGSTOWN — Ahead 2-0 late in the second period, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms appeared to be well on their way to the win that would assure them home-ice advantage in the first round of the North American Hockey League playoffs.

That edge remains elusive.

The Phantoms’ Sunday cruise was abruptly halted when the Traverse City North Stars netted three goals within a span of 2:11 for a stunning 3-2 victory at the Chevrolet Centre.

The backbreaker came just 11 seconds into the third period when North Stars captain Kyle Bonis pounced on a loose puck and poked it past Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett.

“I’ll call it a lucky bounce,” North Stars coach Anthony Palumbo said. “That’s really what it was.

“Our defenseman cleared the zone and he flipped it up in the air,” Palumbo said. “This ice is a little soft and the puck bounces [here] a little bit more, and it bounced by their defensemen,”

Phantoms assistant coach Curtis Carr agreed about the fluke.

“It took a funny bounce right off the draw,” Carr said. “It bounced over a couple of sticks and their guy happened to be Johnny-on-the-spot and put a nice move on Jordan.”

Bonis said he saw Tibbett coming out “for the pokecheck.”

“I put the brakes on and was lucky to slide one past him,” Bonis said. “He’s one of the best goalies in this league for a reason.

“It was a huge momentum swing,” Bonis said. “At the beginning of the period, we talked about coming out hard and it was just awesome to get a goal that fast. We played lockdown ‘D’ for the rest of the period. ”

Playing their third contest within 48 hours, the Phantoms took the lead late in the first period on defenseman Cullen Lundholm’s power-play goal set up by Nick Shkreli.

With the second period winding down and the Phantoms’ George Saad in the penalty box, Brandon Saad beat North Stars goalie C.J. Motte with a backhand shot for a 2-0 lead. Lundholm and Meo assisted on the shorthanded goal.

But the North Stars roared to life as Tim Opie put the puck past Tibbett with two minutes remaining in the period. Fifty-nine seconds later with the Phantoms’ Jordy Trottier in the penalty box, Bonis scored his first goal of the game for a 2-2 tie.

“We took a couple of shifts off and took a bad penalty and they were able to capitalize on two of our mistakes to get the momentum,” Carr said. “They fed off of it. We kept pushing but obviously their goaltender played well.”

Motte made 40 saves, including several tough ones late in the game. Tibbett stopped 29 shots.

The win moved Traverse City (30-17-6, 66 points) into second place alone in the NAHL’s North Division. They and the first-place Phantoms (34-14-5, 73) have five regular season games remaining.

Team USA (30-14-4, 64) has 10 games remaining, including Tuesday’s 6 p.m. showdown against the Phantoms at the Chevy Centre.

Next weekend, Team USA will be split into two squads, giving it twice as many chances to make up ground on the Phantoms and North Stars.

With their fourth game in five days looming, Carr said, “We’ll have a light skate tomorrow to get the lactic acid our legs and hammer home some point that we feel we need to work on after these last couple of losses.”

After a 9-2 loss on Friday, the North Stars won Saturday’s game, 4-1.

Palumbo said playing three times within 48 hours “is not unusual for us and Mahoning Valley because we are such a long distance apart.

Citing “the economy of travel — an extra bus trip down, hotel rooms,” Palumbo said,” It’s tough on the boys but it’s just part of being in the league and having a travel partner that’s eight hours away.”

williams@vindy.com