Late collapse costs Phantoms at home
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Special teams breakdowns in the third period proved costly for the Youngstown Phantoms in Friday’s 5-2 loss to Omaha at the Covelli Centre.
With the game tied 2-2, the Phantoms surrendered a 5-on-3 power-play goal to the Lancers.
Then awarded a power-play chance to tie the game, Lancers forward Stefan Demopoulos pounced on a Phantoms giveaway near the blue line and beat goaltender Matt O’Connor for a breakaway goal for a 4-2 lead.
“We made a very bad decision with the puck, put it on the wrong guy’s stick and it went into the net,” Phantoms coach Curtis Carr said after the Phantoms’ home record dropped to 1-3-1. “That seemed to be the one that kind of took the wind out of our sails.
“Shorties can kill you and that’s what it did tonight,” Carr said.
The Lancers outshot the Phantoms 13-2 in the final frame. The third-period collapse overshadowed a strong first-period performance by the line of Cody STrang-Ty Loney-Jiri Sekac.
Loney’s goal about six minutes into the game gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead. The score came after a fluky bounce off the backboard to Loney about 12 feet to the side of the Lancers’ net. His swift backhand shot beat Omaha goaltender John Keeney.
After Nick Oddo scored the first of his two goals (both shots came from near the goal line to the right of O’Connor), Sekac put the Phantoms ahead.
“Jiri had a great shot,” Loney said.
Loney, Sekac and Strang each had two points.
In his first game back since spending two weeks with Team USA and earning tournament MVP honors, defenseman Scott Mayfield said, “I think right now we’re in a little bit of a slump that we’re going to come out of it.
“Our first line is rolling right now,” Mayfield said. “[The Lancers] capitalized on our mistakes.”
The Lancers (7-4-2, 16 points) tied the game on Colin Markison’s power-play goal early in the second period. The Lancers forward picked up his own rebound off of O’Connor’s pads and sent the puck into the net.
The Phantoms were flat for the finish.
“We didn’t come out in the third with the same sense of urgency we did in the first two periods,” Carr said. “We played pretty well in the first two periods and maybe he guys thought it was going to come easy in the third.
“We just didn’t show up,” Carr said.
With the Phantoms shorthanded, Jordan Young was called for hooking, giving the Lancers a two-man advantage.
Perched to O’Connor’s right, Oddo snapped the puck past the Phantoms goalie for the go-ahead goal.
About eight minutes into the period, the Lancers’ Mitch Hughes was penalized for crosschecking. As the Phantoms were trying to break out of their zone, Quinn Smith’s pass was intercepted by Demopoulos who had a clear path to the goal. His backhand tap past O’Connor doubled the Lancers’ lead.
The Phantoms finished the power play with no shots on Keeney.
“Once [they get] momentum, it’s really hard to stop a good team like that,” Loney said. “Once we start capitalizing on our scoring chances, the tide will definitely turn our way.
“Obviously, this is disappointing,” said Loney in his second game back after missing four with a groin injury. “We had a lot of chances that we definitely should have buried.”
“The Phantoms (5-9-1) return to the Covelli Centre ice tonight at 7:30 to face the Dubuque Fighting Saints, the West Division leaders.
“We just need to bear down more, put the puck into the net,” Loney said.