Phantoms’ skid grows to four as the Stars win

Alec Rush’s third-period goal gave Lincoln a 3-2 win.

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Phantoms again were in the game until the end, but still suffered another one-goal loss to the Lincoln Stars Saturday at the Covelli Centre in a United States Hockey League game.

After dropping a 5-4 decision in a shootout to Lincoln on Friday night, the Phantoms were edged by the Stars, 3-2, on Saturday for their fourth straight defeat.

The culprit proved to be Alec Rush, who scored his second goal of the season for Lincoln with 7:32 left in the game. Rush’s long shot eluded goalie Matt Mahalak to snap a 2-2 tie.

Rush’s score followed an aborted try by Lincoln at about 13:40 when Cory Hibbeler’s shot deflected off of a teammate’s high stick into the goal but was disallowed because of a high-sticking infraction.

The Phantoms tied the score at 2-2 early in the third period when Brian Dowd scored an unassisted goal into a open net left vacant by goalie Matt Green who went after a puck.

Rush explained how his winning shot materialized.

“The defenseman tried to get [the puck] past me and I pinned it against the boards and skated to the top of the circle and put it in,” said Rush, who was assisted by John McCarron and Jon Puskar.

“It was about a 25-foot shot,” Rush said. “It was my second goal of the year. The goalie [Mahalak] was in good position but I put it in between his pads and arm. He actually got a piece of it.”

Phantoms Coach Bob Mainhardt said that Mahalak “just got beat. It was a good shot. But Mahalak was the reason we were in the game, so I’m not going to fault him. It was a perfect shot in goal.”

Mainhardt said that Dowd’s game-tying goal into an open net resulted when “their goaltender [Green] mishandled the puck. He came out to get the puck. He put it on our player’s stick and it was a nice empty net.”

Mainhardt is hoping that his team can start turning the losing tide that started with 3-0 and 4-2 losses on the road before coming home.

“We knew coming in it would be close. It’s coming down to a goal here and goal there. But hopefully we can begin winning some of these tight games,” Mainhardt said.

The Phantoms (8-8-2-18) will try to regroup next weekend at home when they continue their five-game homestand against the Chicago Steel. Game time on Friday and Saturday will be 7:15 p.m.

Lincoln (8-12-0, 16 points) scored first in the game when Puskar connected for his second goal of the season at 16:13 of the first period with an assist from McCarron for a 1-0 lead.

But Youngstown struck right back at 15:58 when Nick Czinder scored his first goal — and his eighth of the season — on an assist from Tom Serratore to tie it at 1-1.

Early in the second period, the Stars took a 2-1 lead on Ben Lynch’s seventh goal as he drove to the net by himself and slipped the puck past Malalak’s legs. Brodie Reid assisted at 17:09.

It was Lynch’s fourth goal in three games against Youngstown.

The Stars had a 35-24 shots advantage, including a 16-5 domination in the final period that foiled any last-ditch hopes for the Phantoms of tying the score and setting up another overtime session.

Green was outstanding in the net for Lincoln with 22 saves, while Mahalak also played a strong game with 32 saves.

kovach@vindy.com