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Phantoms TOPPLE Team USA IN FINALE
Youngstown
Playoff berth? Check.
First-place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference? Check.
Anderson Cup? Check.
Forty-win season — including a remarkable 21 of the last 23 to close out the regular season? Checkmate.
The Youngstown Phantoms had nothing left to accomplish in Saturday night’s regular-season finale.
That didn’t stop them from putting on a third period clinic, sending the U.S. National under-17 team home with its tail between its legs after a 7-1 victory in front 4,017 fans at the Covelli Centre.
“Great crowd tonight, first off,” said Phantoms forward Kyle Connor, whose two third period tallies were his 33rd and 34th goals of the season.
“It was awesome to play in front of them tonight.”
Connor was a runaway winner in the USHL scoring race, finishing with 80 points in 56 games this season. He had nine more points than second-place Adam Johnson of Sioux City.
“He’s a great player and he’s good with the guys,” said Phantoms newcomer Justin Cmunt, who scored his first career USHL goal as part of a six-goal third period.
“I just want to obviously model my game after his, because he’s doing something right. He’s just a great player.”
After a sluggish start in the first two periods, Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen had a simple message for his players: “Hey, we got a full house. Obviously there’s not a ton on the line, but let’s play the right way and let’s go out on a high note.”
Fourteen seconds into the third period, Connor gave the Phantoms (40-14-6, 84 points) the lead and started an avalanche of scoring from the league’s highest-scoring team. Maxim Letunov netted his 25th goal of the season a few minutes later, followed by a power-play goal from James Winkler.
Then it was Cmunt’s turn to earn his first point in just his second game since joining the team.
“The team I was on this year, we struggled before we started winning again, so I kind of got that in my head of what it takes to win,” Cmunt said. “Obviously these guys all year have known what it takes to win, so I just wanted to help out and keep it simple.”
The 17-year-old forward played 51 games this season for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, before getting called up to the Phantoms as they closed out the regular season.
“This was the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of,” Cmunt said. “It’s good to get that under my belt so in the future I can be ready. It’s a great experience.”
Connor added his second of the night on the power play late in the third and Taylor Best finished off the scoring onslaught with another power-play goal.
Colin DeAugustine stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced in net to improve to 22-6-1 this season.
“All that stuff is obviously great for our organization, great for our town,” Noreen said. “I mean, what a fantastic night to have this many people in the building to see us play. That stuff’s all great, but now the fun part starts.”
The Phantoms open the Clark Cup playoffs with a first-round matchup against the Muskegon Lumberjacks (35-21-4, 74). The Phantoms were 4-1-1 vs. the Lumberjacks in the regular season.
Game one is set for Wednesday in Muskegon, followed by games two and three at the Covelli Centre on Friday and Saturday.
The series is best-of-5.
“I think we get up for road games, obviously,” Connor said. “We’re going to their place and it’s going to be fun. We just wanna get that W.”