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Phantoms lose at home again, by shutout
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
A strong performance by the opposing goaltender combined with a couple of shots that struck metal kept the Youngstown Phantoms from connecting for their second home win of the season.
In Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the expansion Dubuque Fighting Saints, the second-year Phantoms led in shots, 23-20, and had several other scoring opportunities that didn’t result in shots on goal.
Instead, Zemgus Girgensons’ goal about three minutes into the game was the only tally as the Phantoms’ record at the Covelli Centre dropped to 1-4-1
“Tonight, we worked extremely hard,” Phantoms coach Curtis Carr said. “I don’t think we’re getting bounces. We hit two posts and had about three back-door plays that squeaked a little bit short.
“I’m not happy with the loss but to take a positive away from tonight [we] outchanced the top team in the league. And we kept the best offense in the league to 20 shots and one goal,” Carr said. “That shows that when we play to our ability and play within our systems we are competitive. And hopefully those bounces will start coming.”
The Phantoms (5-10-1, 11 points) came close twice to scoring in the middle frame. First, Mike Ambrosia rang a shot off the crossbar behind Fighting Saints goalie Matt Morris (7-0-1).
“He’s been dynamite all year long for us,” Fighting Saints coach Jim Montgomery said of his 17-year-goalie. “What his numbers are right now are a tribute to his work ethic.”
The goal came after Phantoms defenseman Scott Mayfield was penalized for checking from behind. Girgensons took a feed in the slot from Vinny Saponari and shot the puck past O’Connor.
Montgomery said it was obvious the game would have few goals when Morris weathered a Phantoms storm midway through the contest.
“Halfway through the second period, they did a great job of clogging, taking away our time and space,” Montgomery said. “If it wasn’t for Morris, we probably would have been behind.”
On a 2-on-1 breakaway, Phantoms forward Ty Loney slid the puck to linemate Stuart Higgins whose shot shot went wide of the target
With about a minute left, Loney skated into the Fighting Saints’ zone and passed to linemate Cody Strang on left wing. Strang’s backhand attempt went wide, preserving the shutout.
In the final minute, the Fighting Saints (10-3-2, 22 points) pressured so well that Phantoms were unable to clear the zone to give O’Connor a chance to skate to the bench for an extra attacker.
“This was one of the first games in a while where I thought we put a full 60 minutes together,” Ambrosia said. “Obviously, we didn’t get some of the bounces.
“I think we have to look at the positives,” Ambrosia said. “It’s disappointing that we lost but we have to keep on working hard.”