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Balanced scoring keys Phantoms, 5-2
By john bassetti
youngstown
Five different players scored goals as the Youngstown Phantoms beat the most dynamic team in the USHL: Dubuque, 5-2, at the Covelli Centre Saturday night.
Richard Zehnal, J.T. Stenglein, Brent Norris, Sam Anas and Dylan Margonari got the goals for the winners (8-4-0), who have a 5-1-0 record at home.
The Fighting Saints (8-3-1) hadn’t played since Nov. 5, when they had an overtime loss to Omaha. Previous to that, Dubuque had a seven-game winning streak.
Youngstown coach Anthony Noreen said the coaching staff saw a couple things on film that the Phantoms tried to exploit — and did, leading to two goals for the home team.
“It’s something we implemented for the first time today. It’s one thing to do the things we always do, but it’s another to be able to draw something up on the board before the game that we’ve never done before and have our guys execute,” he said of the plan, one as part of an offensive scheme and one used during a faceoff.
While Zehnal had a goal and an assist, Noreen also complimented Dylan Margonari, Alex Gacek and Jason Stenglein, as a line, paired with Kevin Liss and Eric Sweetman on the back end; they had the job of shutting down Dubuque’s top line, led by Zemgus Girgensons.
Of the five different players, Noreen said that the big wins this year have been with players other than the regulars.
“It’s nice to get goals from your first line, but when other guys are chipping in — guys who don’t always get goals — that’s when you win big games. That’s a sign of character and depth that you need to carry far into the season.”
Zehnal came to the Phantoms right after Noreen got the job in late August.
“He’s gotten better and better and he’s still a young kid,” the coach said of the 17-year-old Czech native. “Last Saturday was his best game yet, but tonight he out-did that.”
Zehnal scored the game’s first goal on a left-handed shot from the middle at 11:42 with an assist from Pat Conte.
His assist came on Anas’ goal that put Youngstown up, 4-2.
Of his goal — his second of the season — Zehnal said: “We dumped it in and [Pat] Conte went on the boards and got the puck back and Anas got it out to me in the slot and I just shot it. It was a screen in front of the net and it just went in.”
Noreen commented about goalie Matthew O’Connor.
“The No. 1 thing we ask our goalie is to give us chance to win. We don’t look at the scoreboard or worry about goals or shots ahead. When we needed him to make big saves, he made big saves continuously.”
“They definitely have some good offensive skills, so we wanted to isolate them on the walls a bit. With skilled players like that you want make sure they stay on the perimeter. We had to get back support from our forwards cutting back to the middle, so that made it a lot easier for me.”
Aside from that, O’Connor said, was that rebound control helped the Phantoms.
“If there’s a shot on net, I think that the defenders did a good job tying it up and I did a good job killing the play and getting the whistle. So that’s the best way to shut down an offensive team — just eliminate the quality scoring chances.”
After Zehnal’s goal, Dubuque tied it, 1-1, at 5:16 on Max Gardiner’s unassisted goal.
The Phantoms went back on top, 2-1, after J.T. Stenglein’s recovery of a loose puck and goal at 1:35 with Alex Gacek getting the assist.
Youngstown finished the first period with a 2-1 lead, although Dubuque had a 12-9 edge in shots-on-goal. Through the first 12 minutes of the second period, only two shots were attempted — two by Dubuque and one by Youngstown.