43
Phantoms rally for shootout win
Sherwood’s late goal forces overtime
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown Phantoms goaltender Chris Birdsall has mixed feelings about shootouts that end hockey games.
“I like them and hate them, [but] they get you going,” Birdsall said after stopping all three shots by the Lincoln Stars in Friday’s 5-4 shootout victory at the Covelli Centre. “You win, they’re good.”
Max Letunov beat Stars goalie Peyton Jones for the only goal of the shootout as the Phantoms (8-5-1, 17 points) snapped their two-game losing streak.
“Pretty rough weekend last week,” said forward Josh Melnick, who scored a power-play goal and set up the overtime-forcing goal. “We got a little lazy in the third period, but we came back. This is a really big win for us.”
After the Stars’ Dominick Sacco tied the game at 2 midway through the third period, things got wacky. Ryan Lomberg’s unassisted shorthanded goal with 5:41 remaining had the Phantoms thinking regulation victory.
But Stars goals by Cam Lee and Chris Klack within 64 seconds made the Phantoms desperate.
With 1:21 remaining, Klack was penalized for hooking. Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen pulled Birdsall for a six skaters to four advantage.
The gamble worked. Melnick took a shot from the point that was blocked. Lomberg grabbed the deflection and passed to Melnick, who spotted Kiefer Sherwood alone in the faceoff circle.
“I was yelling for him to pass it,” said Sherwood, who buried the puck behind Jones with 61 seconds remaining in regulation. “We had been scrambling, I figured I had a little time and space.
“Luckily it went in.”
Melnick wasn’t surprised.
“Great shot,” he said.
Noreen said it was one of the rare occasions when lifting the goalie pays off.
“Obviously, being on the power play helped,” Noreen said. “We told Chase [Pearson] and Lomberg to get in front and screen.
“Credit Kiefer — he takes that shot 100 times a [practice],” Noreen said. “How much he works on it, he deserves to get one in that spot.”
The roller coaster continued in the five-minute overtime when the Stars’ Ryan Cook was penalized for highsticking Lomberg. The Phantoms were unable to convert, setting up the penalty shot contest.
“Getting the two points was huge,” Noreen said. “It wasn’t our best game, we need to be a lot better. But good teams find ways to win hockey games.”
After Patrick Polino gave the Stars (4-7-1) a 1-0 lead early in the second period, the Phantoms roared to life. Melnick tied the game with a shot from the point through traffic.
“I saw a little opening and it actually tipped off a defenseman’s stick right in front,” Melnick said of the power-play goal. “I was a little bit lucky.”
Letunov and Sherwood earned the assists and Trey Bradley deserves credit for screening Jones.
Two minutes later, Matt Alvaro pounced on a rebound and scored for a 2-1 lead.
The Phantoms scored twice on eight power-play chances and killed all five of the Stars’ man-advantages.
Sherwood credited the Phantoms’ second-period surge to more shots.
“Once we shoot the puck [frequently], the lanes start to open up a little bit and we can make the passes we originally wanted to make,” Sherwood said.