Craggs’ goals, Birdsall’s 42 saves propel Phantoms over Saints

February 15, 2015 at 12:08a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

There is magic in the night when one of your least likely goal scorers doubles his season production to generate a surprising victory.

Lukas Craggs scored twice (his third and fourth goals in 29 games) in the Youngstown Phantoms’ 3-2 victory over the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Saturday at the Covelli Centre.

The Phantoms (24-13-5, 53 points) won despite being outshot 44-24.

“We didn’t have it tonight, there is no doubt about it,” Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said after his 101st career victory. “We were good but we weren’t at our best.

“There have been a lot of times when we’ve felt like we deserved to win and we didn’t get it,” Noreen said. “Those are the ups and downs of a [long] season. We didn’t deserve this one but we got it.”

Goaltender Chris Birdsall made 42 saves. Asked if he saw too much action, Birdsall said, “Maybe a little bit but I like getting a lot. It keeps me more focused, more involved.”

The Phantoms’ fifth-consecutive victory lifts them into third place ahead of the Fighting Saints (24-12-4, 52 points) in the Eastern Conference standings. They remain two points back of the second-place Muskegon Lumberjacks with 18 regular-season games remaining.

Craggs’ first goal came after Chase Pearson won a faceoff in the Fighting Saints’ zone, giving the Phantoms’ a 2-0 lead midway through the third period.

“We decided to try a [set] play and luckily it worked out,” said Craggs who pounced on Pearson’s pass and fired a quick shot past Fighting Saints goaltender Jacob Nahama.

Minutes later, the Phantoms were killing a penalty when Ryan Lomberg was whistled for slashing. During the Fighting Saints’ two-man advantage, Seamus Malone sent a rebound off Birdsall into the net.

After killing off the rest of Lomberg’s penalty, Craggs pounced on a rebound of a Kyle Connor shot and restored the two-goal lead. Taylor Best also assisted.

“It’s great to get [another series sweep],” Craggs said. “We’ve been beat up a little bit, but the whole team pulled through.

“We’re playing great hockey right now.”

The Fighting Saints dominated the third period, outshooting the Phantoms 17-6. Malone’s second goal with 5:37 remaining turned up the heat.

Defenseman Matt Miller said it was important that the Phantoms remained positive.

“We couldn’t [afford] to get down,” Miller said. “There was a lot of hockey to play. We went into a defensive shutdown mode.”

Birdsall credited the Phantoms’ penalty killers, who stopped five Saints power plays.

“Our guys did a good job blocking shots and stuff, guys like Lomberg, [Josh] Melnick, [Matt] Alvaro,” Birdsall said. “As a goalie, seeing that boosts up your confidence. You know your teammates are doing everything they can to help.”

Max Letunov’s third goal of the weekend (he scored twice in Friday’s 6-4 victory) gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Melnick set up Letunov, whose shot deflected off a defender’s stick, bounced off Nehama and trickled into the net.

This weekend’s sweep was the Phantoms’ first at home since Jan. 9-10 against the Green Bay Gamblers.