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Phantoms’ Kulbakov blanks Capitols
Ivan Kulbakov made 18 saves
By Codie talley
youngstown
Friday’s home opener for the Youngstown Phantoms was a defensive battle that saw both goalies play outstanding for most of the game.
The Phantoms’ Ivan Kulbakov played the best as the Phantoms defeated the Madison Capitols 2-0 at the Covelli Centre.
Kulbakov stopped all 18 shots fired at him for the shutout.
Madison’s Daniel Lebedeff was a lot busier in goal, stopping 27 shots.
The Phantoms’ defense led by Michael Karow, Marcus Joseph and Dominic Dockery stifled Madison.
SDLqI thought Ivan our goaltender made some big, big stops,” said Phantoms head coach Brad Patterson after his first win at home. “And to get a shutout, Madison had some quality chances.”
Karow also stood out for the Phantoms’ defense.
“I thought we played really well tonight as a team,” the first year Phantoms defenseman said. “For us, it was a lot of getting pucks off the ice and playing it simple because the ice was kind of bad tonight.”
The arena was unusually warm, which created the problems with the ice.
The first period was a back-and-forth defensive battle until Austin Pooley found the net for his fifth goal of the season. Karlow earned the assist on the goal that came with a little more than three minutes to play until the first intermission.
Madison outshot the Phantoms (3-1-0, 6 points) seven to six in the period.
Joseph, Dockery and Ty Farmer did an outstanding job of keeping the puck out of their end.
Second-period action was a lot more fast-paced, but the goalies were on their game.
The Phantoms had nine shots in the period but could not get the puck past Lebedeff. Kulbakov stopped four Madison shots in the period.
The period’s highlight for the Phantoms was killing off Jake Gingell’s penalty with Karow and Brandon Estes excelling.
The Capitols again had a power play in the third but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. With the defense once again throttling the Capitols, the Phantoms added a late insurance goal.
Noah Lalonde scored his first goal of the season with under two minutes to play to seal the victory. Tommy Apap, who picked up his first assist of the season.
Patterson said there is room for improvement.
“I didn’t think we were great probably for the first 30 minutes but I thought in the third period we really turned it around,” Patterson said. “At the end of the day, a win is a win to me. I’m super proud of the guys.”