With playoff hopes fading, every game counts

Photo

Youngstown Phantoms goaltender Matt O’Connor

By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The good news for the Youngstown Phantoms is that goaltender Matthew O’Connor is back on the ice practicing.

The not-so-good news is that the season may be over before he can return to action.

The Phantoms (21-29-6, 48 points) enter the final week of their second USHL season on a six-game losing streak.

They’re desperate for one victory or even two overtime losses in their final two road games (tonight in Des Moines, Iowa, against the Buccaneers and Wednesday in Cedar Rapids against the RoughRiders).

Otherwise, their final two home games this weekend at the Covelli Centre could have little meaning.

Last weekend, the Phantoms dropped a pair of heartbreakers to Team USA, first losing 1-0 at home. On Saturday, the Phantoms’ final road trip began with a 4-3 overtime loss in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“It is good to pick up the point,” Phantoms coach Curtis Carr said of his team, which overcame three deficits to force overtime. “The way we played our last two games I feel we deserved a lot more than just a point.

“Unfortunately we did not get the bounce [on Saturday] and we will need to be ready to play out in Des Moines,” Carr added.

The Phantoms are chasing the Waterloo Black Hawks (22-28-7, 51 points) for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Phantoms have four games remaining while the Black Hawks have three games to play.

Since injuring knee ligaments in mid-February, O’Connor has spent time at his parents’ home in Toronto resting and rehabbing.

After missing two more months of action because of a hip flexor, O’Connor backstopped the Phantoms to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Lincoln Stars on Feb. 12.

He injured his knee during a team practice.

O’Connor said he thinks the soonest he could return would be next week — when the postseason begins.

That leaves Jordan Tibbett (7-10-2) to tend goal for the Phantoms in their final four games. Tibbett has played every game since Feb. 13 and had a four-game winning streak from Feb. 25-March 4.

But the Phantoms haven’t won since a March 11 game at Waterloo.

The schedule could favor the Phantoms. The Black Hawks play at Dubuque on Wednesday against the first-place Western Conference leading Fighting Saints (27-12-8, 82 points).

Tonight’s Phantoms’ opponent — the Buccaneers — are 27-24-6, 60 points and chasing the Sioux City Musketeers for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference.