Phantoms’ skid hits five games in 3-2 loss

The Fargo Force won their eighth straight game and ninth in their last 10 outings.

By JOHN KOVACH

Vindicator sports staff

YOUNGSTOWN — It was the battle of streaks, and which would one of them be broken?

That was the key question entering Saturday night’s United States Hockey League rematch between the Youngstown Phantoms and Fargo Force at the Covelli Centre.

Would the Phantoms break their four-game losing streak that included a 4-2 loss to the Force Friday?

Or would Fargo win its eighth straight game and ninth in its last 10 outings?

It looked like a toss-up at first. As the game progressed into the second period, the score was tied at 1-1.

But then Youngstown ran into an uncommon occurrence: The Force erupted to score back-to-back goals from Garrett Allen and John Stampohar within a brief span of only five seconds at 6:12 and 6:07 to take a 3-1 lead.

And after Andrew Lamont scored his second goal of the game for the Phantoms to pull them within 3-2 late in the second quarter, Fargo managed to shut out Youngstown the rest of the way for the 3-2 win.

Stampohar’s goal a provided the margin of victory.

It was the Force’s eighth win in a row while Youngstown’s skid reached five games.

“Those probably are the quickest back-to-back goals I ever have seen. Seven seconds are the fastest I’ve see before,” said coach Steve Johnson of Fargo (22-9-1, 45 points). But, “I’m sure there have been quicker ones, especially during an open-net situation on a faceoff.”

How did it happen?

“It was just the bounce of the puck and we got it in,” said Johnson, who credited his goalie, Ryan Massa, for the win. Massa had three key saves down the stretch that saved the Force.

“[Massa] won the game for us tonight. He was the best player out there.”

Like Johnson, Coach Bob Mainhardt of the Phantoms (13-16-2, 28 points) said the two quick goals “probably were the quickest I’ve seen. [They] would have broken our back but we responded well.” But, “The big saves that [Massa] made were even bigger than their two quick goals.”

Mainhardt said the Phantoms’ performance was better than Friday night’s 4-2 loss to Fargo.

“We generated opportunities [on offense] but we just couldn’t get [the puck] in,” he said. “Their goalie was outstanding. He was the difference, absolutely.”

The Phantoms will continue their home slate this week with a pair of games against Team USA staring Saturday at 7:15 p.m. The two teams will meet again Monday at 6:30 p.m. before the locals go back on the road.

Youngstown scored early on its first shot of the game as Andew Lamont connected on an assist from Jefferson Dahl at 18:50 for a 1-0 lead.

But the Force tied it near the end of the first period when Matt Leitner found the net with a power-play goal on assists from Chase Grant and Colten St. Clair to make it a 1-1 game.

Then, in the second period, after almost 14 minutes of scoreless play, the Force erupted to score the two goals within a span of just five seconds.

First, Allen scored a power-play goal on assists from Leitner and Eamonn McDermott. Then Stampohar tallied five seconds later with assists from Corey Leivermann and Blake Doerring for Fargo’s 3-1 advantage.

But the Phantoms remained in contention, as Lamont scored his second goal of a game with 41.3 seconds left on assists from Dahl and Cody Strang to pull the home team within 3-2.

Lamont now has eight goals for the season. Massa had 22 saves while Youngstown goalie Matt Mahalak had 26.

kovach@vindy.com