Phantoms continue to play Crazy 8s

For the second straight game, Youngstown surrendered eight goals, losing to Sioux Falls on Sunday.

By JOHN KOVACH

VindicaTor sports staff

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Phantoms have lost their offense and defense, and they were unable to find them Sunday afternoon against the Sioux Falls Stampede at the Covelli Centre.

After being walloped by Sioux Falls on Friday, 8-1, the Phantoms again were overwhelmed by the Stampede, 8-3, for their fourth straight loss and 11th defeat in the last 12 games before an announced Family Day crowd of 1,505 fans.

The Phantoms (14-21-2, 30 points) got off to a good start in the United States Hockey League East Division game when Taylor Holstrom, the team’s leading scorer, made the first goal of the game about halfway through the first period.

But Sioux Falls erupted for three quick goals within the final 1:19 of the opening period for a 3-1 lead, then added two more scores in the second period and three more in the third, two of them by Josh Holmstrom, to complete the rout.

Taylor Holstrom believes that the team’s offense and defense just hasn’t been doing its job.

“It’s the little things like passing the puck that we are not doing. We are not playing heads-up. We are not making good passes. We need to get more shots on the net,” said Holstrom. “We had [32] shots today and that wasn’t bad but the shots weren’t that good. You have to pass the puck around until you get a quality shot.”

Holstrom also said the team has been suffering defensive breakdowns.

“We have to play better zone defense and keep the puck out of your zone. You have to be in the right position and be in the right spot and keep the puck out of your zone. The whole team has to do that so that you have no weak links,” he observed.

Coach Kevin Hartzell of the Stampede (21-8-8, 50 points) said his team has a lot of good players.

“We just have that good old-fashioned depth. We play four lines in there, and a couple of them are more experienced,” said Hartzell, noting that his team and the Omaha Lancers “have the deepest teams. We have a tendency to wear teams down because we play a lot of players.”

He also lauded his team’s first line of play. “The [Matt] Bailey-[Josh] Holmstrom first line played well in the third period,” said Hartzell.

The coach conceded that the Phantoms “got off to a good start.” But, “It’s all about confidence. They are young kids.”

Goalies Clay Witt and Matt Mahalak went the distance for the Stampede and Phantoms, respectively, Witt making 29 saves and Mahalak 30. Sioux Falls had a 38-32 shots advantage.

The Phantoms will complete their five-game homestand this week beginning Wednesday at 10 a.m. against the Indiana Ice, capped by games Friday and Saturday against the Waterloo Blackhawks at 7:15 p.m. both nights.

After Holstrom scored the first goal of the game at 10:25 of the first period on an assist from Brent Gensler, the Stampede bunched three more goals in the final 1:19 of opener to take a 3-1 lead.

First, Michael Voran connected at 1:19 on Matt Linblad’s assist, then Matt Zarbo found the net with 45 seconds left on Voran’s assist before Matt Farris’ goal at :27 on Brent Darnell’s assist capped the early scoring burst.

The Phantoms also opened the second period with a goal by Ryan Jasinsky at 10:51 on assists from Jefferson Dahl and David Donnellan to pull within 3-2, but couldn’t sustain the momentum.

The Stampede put two more goals on the board for a 5-2 lead after two periods on Conor Allen’s unassisted goal at 5:37 and Linblad’s tally at 1:26 on assists from Voran and Anthony Day.

Then Sioux Falls reeled off three straight goals, two from Josh Holmstrom, to build an 8-2 command. Clark Cristolfi’s goal at 17:26 on Jacob Johnstone’s assist made it 6-2, Holmstrom’s unassisted score at 15:18 boosted the lead to 7-2 and then Holmstrom struck again at 11:31 on Johnstone’s assist to make it 8-2.

The Phantoms managed to get the last goal of the game as Scott Mayfield connected at 8:46 on Stuart Higgins’ assist.

kovach@vindy.com