Phantoms relish joining playoff chase

January 29, 2016 at 12:09a.m.

BOARDMAN

A year ago, the Youngstown Phantoms reached the end of January as one of five Eastern Conference teams pursuing four playoff berths.

The Phantoms went on a tear, winning their next 17 games en route to winning the conference as well as the Anderson Cup as USHL regular-season champion.

Flash forward 12 months where a dozen-or-so new faces are on the Phantoms roster and a new head coach (John Wroblewski) patrols behind the bench. Despite the loss of very talented players to the NCAA, the Phantoms are one of five teams in this season’s Eastern Conference playoff chase.

The Phantoms (18-11-3-5, 44 points) have lifted themselves into contention by winning five of their past six games. They are tied with the Bloomington Thunder (20-11-3-1, 44 points) for fourth place, two points behind the third-place Dubuque Fighting Saints (23-12-0-0). Four of those wins were against the Thunder and Saints.

“It was huge,” said forward Kevin Conley, one of the veterans from last season, on last weekend’s sweep of the Thunder. “We went in there, knew what we had to get done and it paid off.

“It was good to get the job done.”

The Phantoms won both games by 3-2 scores, the second one ending in overtime when Cam Morrison scored. With 21 goals and 21 assists, Morrison is second in the league scoring race, one point behind Muskegon’s Rem Pitlick.

With all the changes, Conley admitted that it could be considered a little surprising that the Phantoms are in a similar position as the 2014-15 team.

“What we did last year was incredible, but there are guys in the room [now] who have the capability [to help us] go on a long streak,” Conley said. “Guys like Cam Morrison and Alex Esposito, they are big parts in our offense.

“They bring it on a nightly basis.”

Lukas Craggs, another forward back for his second season in Youngstown, said he’s not surprised that a playoff chase is at hand.

“Not a bit,” Craggs said. “We’re just playing to our potential and when we do, we’re a hard team to beat.”

The Phantoms face their toughest test of the season this weekend with two games in Iowa against the first-place Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (24-9-2-1), the hottest team in the league.

“It’s right where we want to be,” Craggs said of playing a top contender for the third straight weekend.

The schedule will continue to challenge next weekend when the Phantoms play the Tri-City Storm (16-11-5-4, 41 points) twice at the Covelli Centre.

Cedar Rapids will visit the Mahoning Valley for Feb. 19-20 games, followed by two games against the Thunder at the Covelli Centre to close February.

Conley calls the chase “awesome, the camaraderie of us coming together, knowing we’ve got to get it done to make the playoffs.”