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Short-handed goal helps sink Phantoms
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Phantoms had the USHL’s second-best power play percentage entering Saturday night’s game against the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
Lumberjacks forward Griffen Molino admitted after the his team’s 3-1 win at the Covelli Centre that stopping the Phantoms’ high-powered offense was a big point of emphasis in preparations leading up to the game.
“We knew they had some really skilled forwards and one of the best power plays in the league, so yeah, we worked on it in practice and really put a lot of effort into shutting that power play down,” Molino said. “It was a great effort by the [penalty kill] guys tonight.”
The Lumberjacks (8-4-0, 16 points) were 5-for-5 killing penalties and Molino scored a short-handed goal with eight minutes left in the third period that ultimately was the difference.
“We gave it to them,” said Phantoms coach Anthony Noreen. “You have a power play with eight-and-a-half minutes left in a game. Our power play’s been one of our catalysts all year.
“By no means were we good tonight. We definitely need to be better.”
The Phantoms power play was the Lumberjacks’ catalyst in the third period. After Molino’s goal, they killed off the rest of the penalty and sucked whatever life that was left out of the Youngstown bench.
“It’s a game-changer,” Noreen said. “I thought we went back and did a good job on the rest of that power play, but [short-handed] goals change games.”
Phantoms forward — and St. Louis Blues second-round draft pick — Max Letunov was the best player on the ice for the better part of the first two periods.
He missed a wide-open net late in the first period and then was robbed by Lumberjacks goaltender Eric Schierhorn in the opening minutes of the second.
He finally found the back of the net at the 9:18 mark of the second period for his seventh goal of the season. It gave the Phantoms (6-3-1, 13 points) a 1-0 lead.
“I’m always trying to be a leader on this team,” Letunov said. “I’m always trying to score. Obviously in the first period it didn’t go in, but I just worked hard and got a goal.”
Noreen was pleased with his forward’s effort on the offensive end and said that’s what the coaching staff expects of him each time out there.
Less than three minutes after Letunov’s goal, Matheson Lacopelli provided the answer for the Lumberjacks. Lacopelli, a third-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks this year, snapped a wrist shot past Colin DeAugustine to tie the game.
The score remained tied until Molino’s game-winner at 12:00 of the third period. Special teams were a point of emphasis for the Lumberjacks and ultimately preserved the win for them.
“You’ve got to level your head after that goal and get set again, because it can just come right back to haunt you if you let it,” Molino said. “So yeah, we locked it down and killed the rest of that penalty, which was big.”
The loss snapped the Phantoms’ three-game winning streak and it was their first loss at home in four games.