Phantoms stymie the Force

By TOM WILLIAMS

williams@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Eleven times the Fargo Force power-play unit took the ice on Friday at the Covelli Centre, twice with a two-man advantage.

And 11 times, the Youngstown Phantoms penalty killers kept the Force from scoring in their 2-1 victory over one of the USHL’s top teams. Goaltender Jordan Tibbett stopped 40 shots to earn his sixth victory since Feb. 4.

“It was a great win because it took 20 guys,” Phantoms coach Curtis Carr said. “Our penalty kill was outstanding tonight, Jordan Tibbett was great — your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer and he was.”

Ryan Belonger and Dylan Margonari scored the goals as the Phantoms (20-24-4, 44 points) rallied from a 1-0 deficit.

“Best so far,” said Margonari of the win. “Tomorrow will be even bigger.”

The Phantoms’ win and the Waterloo Black Hawks’ 4-2 loss to Team USA gives Youngstown a seven-point lead in the standings in the race for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

Tonight, the Black Hawks and Phantoms open a home-and-home series at the Covelli Centre.

Margonari’s goal came after linemate J.T Stenglein made a slick move around Force (27-17-4, 58 points) defender Keaton Thompson just inside the Fargo blue line.

I don’t know what it was but tonight we were drawing lot calls and it gave Fargo a lot of momentum,” Carr said. “They were pretty aggressive in their offensive play and they were holding the [blue].

“So after we got back to even, we talked in the media timeout about just chipping pucks past their D to try to create space in the neutral zone and we did it,” said Carr of Stephen Collins’ outlet pass to Stenglein. “J.T. made a heckuva play to send Dylan in to score.”

Stenglein skated sideways to slip the puck past Thompson then retrieve it to flip a pass to Margonari.

“I came in on the loose puck and just threw it on net,” Margonari said. “Bang-bang, it happened so quick. It felt great. That’s the biggest goal for me this year.”

It was definitely one of the biggest for the Phantoms.

“That’s one of the top teams we’ve beaten this year if not the best team,” penalty killer Cody Strang said. “Everyone just did their job and it was a great win.”

What impressed Carr was “that we had three of our top penalty killers out with injuries and for the other guys to step in there and perform the way they did was great to see.”

Stu Higgins, Andrew Sinelli and Chris Bradley weren’t in the lineup.

The first period was easily the Phantoms’ best defensively this season as they skated off five power-plays and Tibbett stopped Colten St. Clair’s penalty shot.

“Stuff like this just builds character,” Tibbett said. “Any time you go through a tough game you just have to grit your teeth and bear through it.”

Strang said the Phantoms found a way at channeling their frustration “about getting too many calls. A lot of times, we let that get to us and it takes our game the other way but tonight we kept working hard the whole game.”

Three minutes into the second period, Force defenseman Garrett Haar’s shot from near the blue line eluded Tibbett.

The Phantoms erased the lead on their first power-play chance. In the faceoff circle to Force goaltender Ryan Massa’s right, Danny Matson sent a pass into the slot to Belonger who tapped the puck into the net. Jiri Sekac also earned an assist.

“We just worked on pressuring the puck everywhere, trying to take away their best two options,” Strang said. “We knew if we could [hold them off], they’s start coming for us and we’d get our chances.”