Capitols goalie stops 51 shots to beat Phantoms

January 18, 2015 at 12:04a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

One night after suffering their first shutout loss of the season at the hands of the visiting Madison Capitols, the Youngstown Phantoms managed 54 shots.

It wasn’t enough as the Phantoms fell 5-3 on Saturday to their Eastern Conference foes at the Covelli Centre.

The Capitols, in their first year of existence in the United States Hockey League, swept the two- game series, thanks in large part to goalie Darren Smith’s 51 saves.

“We were the better hockey team tonight,” Phantoms coach Anthony Noreen said. “We deserved better. We outplayed them, we outworked them.

“Bottom line is they got a lead on us in the first,” Noreen said. “They were extremely disciplined and structured. They blocked a ton of shots and their goaltender played really well.”

The Capitols netted three goals in the opening period. Nearly three minutes into the game, Hunter Luhmann — assisted by Luke McElhenie and Alec Vanko — beat Phantoms goalie Colin DeAugustine for a 1-0 lead.

The real blows came in the first period’s latter stages when the Capitols scored twice in a minute-and-a-half. Guillaume LeClerc gave the Capitols a 2-0 lead with 3:12 remaining in the period.

With Tyler Nanne in the penalty box for interference, Madison forward Freddy Gerard, a Cleveland native who plans to play hockey at Ohio State, picked up a loose puck in the Youngstown end and beat DeAugustine for an unassisted shorthanded goal.

“Shorthanded goals kill you,” Noreen said. “They’re a real confidence boost for the other side. They were extremely opportunistic with the chances they had.”

Noreen lifted DeAugustine for Chris Birdsall to start the second period. Birdsall was in goal on Friday when the Capitols won, 4-0.

The Phantoms were the aggressors in the second period, but had no success on their power play (0-4).

Smith robbed Matt Alvaro with 15:39 left in the second period before James Winkler’s wrist shot off a face-off beat Smith six seconds later.

Any momentum was short-lived as two unsuccessful Phantoms power plays preceded Nanne’s goal 20 seconds after the second man-advantage ended for a 4-1 Capitols lead.

In desperation, the Phantoms continued to push the pace into the third period. Bryan Lemos knocked in a rebound off a slapshot from East Palestine’s Matt Miller to cut the Phantom’s deficit to two five minutes into the final period.

Smith — and a willing and able cast of defenders who blocked shot-after-shot — was up to the task in the waning moments despite the onslaught.

“Last year, I actually faced 76 in a game,” Smith said. “Guys were blocking shots but these games are nice. You’re always in the game and shots are coming every 10 seconds are so.

“I just felt great right from the get-go, tracking pucks well and reading shots. I felt awesome out there.”

Phantoms forward Ryan Lomberg sent a wrist shot wide to Smith’s right with 2:40 left. With 1:26 left in the game, Mitch Hults’ empty netter — only their second shot of the third period — preceded Max Letunov’s goal 15 seconds later.

Madison finished with 21 shots.

The Phantoms’ penalty killers foiled the Capitols’ one power play.

With the win, the Capitols (17-10-5, 39 points) moved into a tie with the Phantoms (17-11-5, 39 points) for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs and the Capitols now hold the tiebreaker.

Up next for the Phantoms are four games against first-place Cedar Rapids. The first two will be played next weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.