Phantoms shut out Steel

February 19, 2011 at 12:10a.m.

Youngstown

The scoring skills of defenseman Scott Mayfield and forward Cody Strang that earned them Midseason All-Star honors helped ignite the Youngstown Phantoms’ 6-0 romp over the Chicago Steel on Friday at the Covelli Centre.

Strang set up two first-period goals while Mayfield scored one and assisted on Ty Loney’s second-period power-play goal as the Phantoms (16-23-4, 36 points) took advantage of the USHL’s worst team for their easiest win of the season.

“Not to sound biased but I think Cody Strang is the best all-around hockey player in the league,” said Phantoms coach Curtis Carr, citing Strang’s plus 17 statistic entering Friday’s game. “As a team, we’re minus 39. That’s pretty impressive.”

Plus/minus measures ice time for goals not scored on the power play.

“Scott is an unbelievable talent, he has so much potential,” Carr said. “He’s the top defenseman in the league, he might not have the offensive stats that some guys have. When he was not in our lineup, it showed.”

Strang and Mayfield are split on the USHL not staging an all-star game this year. The midseason honorees were announced before Friday’s game.

“It’s a nice honor but it’s OK to not get worn out in kind of a pointless game,” Strang said. “We’re in a chase for the last playoff spot so it would be nice to stay fresh for the last 17 games.”

Mayfield said, “A lot of my buddies are on the list so I wish there was a game. But we’ve got a big stretch coming up trying to make the playoffs.”

Stuart Higgins scored a goal and set up two others as the Phantoms won for the first time this season by more than three goals. Previously, their largest margin of victory was a 6-3 game at Indiana on Nov. 13.

Also recording two points were Loney, Adam Berkle and Jiri Sekac. Goaltender Jordan Tibbett (2-4) stopped 18 shots for the shutout.

The Phantoms pummeled Steel goalie Connor Wilson with 38 shots and went 4-for-6 on the power play.

Coming off the ice with a 5-0 lead after the second period, Carr told assistant coach Anthony Noreen he didn’t like the feeling,

“I’m so used to being in a tight game, I was worried about how we would handle the final 20 [minutes],” Carr said. “I think I was more nervous for that third period.”

The romp over the Steel (9-26-7, 25 points) served as a warm-up from tonight’s showdown with the Muskegon Lumberjacks (17-18-8, 42 points), the fourth-place team the Phantoms are chasing to earn a home playoff game.

“It’s a huge game,” Mayfield said. “They’re probably our biggest rival this year. I feel that if we play like tonight, we’ll take a win. It could be the biggest win of the season.”

Minutes after Friday’s game ended, Strang said he wished the Lumberjacks game was getting started.

“Right now,” Strang said, “If we play like we did tonight, that would be huge.”

Four minutes in, the Phantoms grabbed a 1-0 lead on their first power-play opportunity. Sekac scored his 14th goal of the campaign after Loney found him alone at the side of the Chicago goal.

Strang assisted on that goal, then set up Mayfield with a pass as he cruised into the slot where he easily beat Wilson.

Berkle, Loney and Ryan Belonger added goals in the second period. Higgins had a power-play goal in the third period.