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Phantoms clinch East crown with 5-1 win over Muskegon
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Over the past nine weeks when the Youngstown Phantoms have won 19 of 20 games, head coach Anthony Noreen often has said it’s different players stepping up each game to take charge.
Saturday, it was the most heralded Phantom’s turn as Kyle Connor produced his second five-point game and first hat trick of the season in the Phantoms’ 5-1 victory over the Muskegon Lumberjacks before 2,422 at the Covelli Centre.
“It’s always pretty cool,” said Connor of watching hats sail to the ice as the Phantoms broke the season record for wins.
It was an extremely memorable night for the six-year franchise. About an hour after the game, the Phantoms (38-14-5, 81 points) clinched first place in the Eastern Conference when Cedar Rapids lost to Tri-City. 4-1.
That means the Phantoms will have home-ice advantage for the first two rounds of the USHL Playoffs and can pick the format for the first-round series against either Muskegon or the Dubuque Fighting Saints.
The Phantoms’ magic number for clinching first place as USHL regular-season champion was reduced to two after Sioux City, the first-place team in the Western Conference, lost 4-1 to Waterloo.
Tri-City (36-16-6, 78 points) is the only team that can surpass the Phantoms to win the Anderson Cup outright.
It’s going to be a fascinating week as the Phantoms have three games to earn two points.
Connor (32 goals, 42 assists, 64 points) took over the lead in USHL scoring, moving five points ahead of Sioux City’s Adam Johnson, who only has one game remaining in the regular season.
“He’s doing it at the right time,” said Noreen of Connor, who is projected to be a first-round pick in June’s NHL Draft. “Those were goal scorer’s goals — it’s not like they were backdoor tap-ins.”
Just 3:20 into the game, Connor beat Lumberjacks goalie Eric Schierhorn with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle.
Late in the period, Connor had a second chance when Matheson Iacobelli pulled him down on a breakaway. Awarded a penalty shot, Connor skated in tight on Schierhorn then lost control of the puck before attempting a shot.
He made up for it early in the second period on a power play. Connor fired a backhander wide of the goal, swept around behind the net to retrieve it and went to the slot, where his quick shot made it 2-0.
“[Kiefer] Sherwood shot the puck originally and I tried backhanding the rebound,” Connor said. “It was sitting back there and I picked it up and came around and shot it.”
Sherwood’s younger brother Kole, an affiliate player, made his USHL debut and scored the third goal.
“Kyle made a great pass from across the ice,” Sherwood said. “It was a happy feeling.”
Chase Pearson scored the fourth goal on the power play. Connor sealed the win with another successful shot from the faceoff circle.
Goaltender Chris Birdsall made 27 saves for his 17th win.
The Lumberjacks’ loss keeps them in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a point behind third-place Dubuque.