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Shootout magic
Photo
Phantoms forward Luke Stork (27) moves to keep the puck away from Muskegon defenseman Rasmus Bengtsson, left, during Sunday’s game at the Covelli Centre. The Phantoms won 3-2 in a shootout.
Anas, Walker net Phantoms another bonus hockey win
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
With Sam Anas leading the way, the Youngstown Phantoms don’t fear shootouts.
Following Sunday’s five-minute overtime at the Covelli Centre, Anas and Nathan Walker scored against Muskegon goaltender Jordan Uhelski while Phantoms netminder Sean Romeo stopped two of the Lumberjacks’ three shots.
Walker’s goal gave the Phantoms (25-20-0, 50 points) a 3-2 victory, their fifth win in the past six games.
It all starts with Anas, the skater Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen picks to go first in the shootout.
“Sammy goes first every time,” Noreen said after his team’s 12th win in 16 contests. “He’s our best guy on breakaways.”
The Phantoms improved to 4-0 in shootouts.
“The common theory of most coaches is you save your best guy for third,” Noreen said of the three-shots-per-team format. “It’s always been my belief that if you can get the lead, if you get the first goal, you can take control of the shootout.”
The Lumberjacks’ Chad McDonald opened the shootout by misfiring a backhand shot wide of Romeo.
Anas skated left to draw Uhelski out of the crease, then pulled the puck back and tapped it into the goal.
“The ending move is sort of my signature move,” the second-year Phantom forward said. “I put it between my legs, a little bit of a wrinkle to that move to try something new, try to throw the goalie off.
“I like going first,” Anas said. “Not that there is less pressure, but I feel pretty confident and it’s good for the team in scoring [first].”
After Rasmus Bengstosson beat Romeo five-hole, both goalies made stops. Romeo’s was a stick save on Christian Heil, who had scored the game-tying goal in the third period.
When he saw Walker skate out for his team’s third shot, Romeo said, “I knew it was over, I knew he was going to score.”
Despite feeling the most heat, Romeo said he appreciates shootouts.
“I just the love the creativity, seeing what guys do [on breakaways],” said Romeo who made 24 saves. “Sam and Walker had two of the [most] unreal goals — you love seeing that.”
Walker followed Anas’ gameplan, drawing Uhelski out to the left, then cutting back for a look at the unguarded net.
“I’ve been working on that move for a while, back in Europe,” said Walker who joined the Phantoms in mid-January. “Today was the first time I could try and execute it.”
He was happy the game was over.
“We played twice in 24 hours so I think everyone else was feeling it as well,” Walker said.
For the second straight game, Alfred Larsson scored the first goal of the game, backhanding the puck past a startled Uhelski. In the second period, the Lumberjacks’ Cameron Darcy tied it by smacking a rebound off Romeo’s pads into the net.
Just after the Lumberjacks had skated off their third straight penalty, Kyle Connor corralled the rebound of his own shot and beat the sprawled Uhelski for a 2-1 lead midway in the third period.
But the Lumberjacks rallied again with a two-man advantage. As the Lumberjacks converged on the Phantoms’ net, Romeo committed to Darcy, who lured the Phantoms goalie out of the crease then sent the puck across to slot to Heil for an easy tap-in.
Bonus hockey followed and the Phantoms remained perfect in games going past regulation (5-0).