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Ivan the Great (passer)
Gallery
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Goaltender Ivan Kulbakov has made countless big saves this season to keep the Phantoms in playoff contention.
In Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Lincoln Stars, the Belarus native chipped in with a tremendous play on offense, firing the puck down ice during a Stars line change to spring Evan Wisocky and Coale Norris on a scoring breakaway.
“He’s got a great savvy for [moving] the puck up, to catch them in transition with the long change,” Phantoms head coach Brad Patterson said. “That was a key point in the game.”
Desperate for a victory after Friday’s disappointing 4-1 loss to Lincoln at the Covelli Centre, the game was scoreless deep into the second period when Stars defenseman Cole Krygier was penalized for interference.
The Phantoms controlled the puck for about a minute before the Stars penalty killers cleared the puck and raced for a change. Three Phantoms also left the ice, but Wisocky and defenseman Alec Mahalak stayed on. Both said that Kulbakov, without being told, shot the puck to Wisocky along the boards near center ice.
“Ivan is smart, he made a good play that led to the 2-on-1 goal,” said Mahalak who wasn’t surprised. “He’s a great goalie.”
Wisocky took the pass, skated into the zone and spotted Norris streaking down the center after jumping off the bench. As a Stars defender closed in, Wisocky slipped Norris the puck and he beat goaltender Josef Korenar for the 1-0 lead.
“There was no communication [with Kulbakov],” Wisocky said. “I saw their team changing, stayed [near] the blue line. Ivan can fire the puck down the ice. Lucky that he put it right on my tape.
“Ivan is such a skilled goalie, he knows what he’s doing,” Wisocky said.
Kulbakov stopped 29 shots in winning his 28th game. The only one he missed came in the third period when Krygier beat him with a long shot from near the boards that went over his glove.
“They had a very good push and we had a weak play on entry, turned the puck over,” Patterson said.
Mahalak set up the game-winning goal by Alex Esposito with 8:46 remaining. Dominic Dockery sent the puck to Mahalak near the blue line. Esposito deflected Mahalak’s shot past Korenar.
“It was a good pass from Dockery,” Mahalak said. “I saw a lane so I decided to throw it to the net.”
Korenar made 24 stops and the Stars killed off five of the Phantoms’ six power plays. The Stars were foiled on their three power-play chances.
“The fans were treated to playoff hockey tonight,” Patterson said. “There’s a ton of resiliency in [my team]. The guys on the bench were great, always upbeat.”
The victory lifts the Phantoms (32-20-5-1, 70 points) into a tie with the Green Bay Gamblers (33-21-2-2, 70 points) for fourth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs when the regular season on Saturday.
The Phantoms need help to secure their fourth playoff berth in eight seasons. That’s because the Gamblers have the edge in the tiebreaker — regulation wins (30 to 27).
The Gamblers’ remaining games are today against the eighth-place Madison Capitols and Thursday against the sixth-place Bloomington Thunder.
The Phantom’ final two games are Friday and Saturday at the Covelli Centre against seventh-place Team USA.