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Team defense is key for Phantoms
It would be easy to look at last Saturday’s 6-0 victory at Dubuque and point to the Youngstown Phantoms’ scoring outburst as the reason they returned home with three of four points last weekend.
Heck, even Phantoms defensemen Matt Miller and Vas Kolias scored their first career USHL goals in the lopsided win.
What the box score won’t illustrate is a shot-blocking performance that received high praise from Phantoms coach Anthony Noreen.
“I thought we did a really good job protecting the middle of the ice,” Noreen said before a team practice at the Ice Zone in Boardman.
“Defensively, it was by far the most shots we’ve blocked in a game — both forwards and [defensemen],” Noreen said. “We had a lot of guys sacrificing their body for the team.”
The Phantoms (4-2-1, 9 points) welcome the Bloomington Thunder (4-2-1, 9 points) to the Covelli Centre this weekend for the second time this season. If the Phantoms are to stay in the hunt in the Eastern Conference — currently one point out of first place — they’re going to need a similar effort out of their defense.
While Miller, an East Palestine native, was happy to finally see the puck find the back of the net — he had gone scoreless in his previous 81 shots on goal — the goose egg on the scoreboard was much more satisfying.
“We have a young [defensive] core, so we’ve been looking for something like that,” Miller said. “I think it’s amazing to see so early in the year. We have these new guys blocking shots, selling out for the team.
“It’s great to know that we’re capable of that.”
Miller, who’s in his second full season in Youngstown, ranks behind only forward Ryan Lomberg for the team lead in penalty minutes with 26. The experience and physicality he brings to the ice are reasons why he’s a team favorite inside the locker room.
“I feel like a lot of the newer, younger guys definitely look up to me,” Miller said. “It’s a good feeling and it’s definitely a role you gotta just hop in to.
“You have to have the right mind set, because a lot of guys ask questions and I’m more than happy to help.”
One of the new guys Miller’s taken under his wing is Kolias.
A Boston University commit, Kolias refers to himself as one of the little guys (he stands 5-foot-9 without skates). Not your typical hockey defenseman in stature, Kolias is taking advantage of the creativity the Phantoms coaching staff allows it’s blue liners.
“That’s pretty big for me,” said the Schaumburg, Ill. native.
“I like to use my skill set out there and they allow me to do that. They understand that I’m going to make mistakes, but they know I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”
In addition to Kolias, the Phantoms have five new defensemen with no prior USHL experience on the roster.
Dubuque peppered Phantoms goaltender Chris Birdsall with 42 shots last Friday in a 5-4 overtime win for the Fighting Saints. That prompted Noreen to send a message to his team before Saturday’s re-match.
“We challenged our guys, probably as hard as we have all year,” Noreen said. “We felt Friday was the worst game we’ve played as a group, start to finish, no matter what the result ended up being.
“The biggest positive was our response and how we came out and played the game on Saturday night.”
The puck drops tonight at 7:05 at the Covelli Centre.