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Rare 10-round shootout gives busy Phantoms a boost
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
In his eight seasons as a coach with the Youngstown Phantoms, Brad Patterson doesn’t recall participating in a shootout that went more than eight rounds.
Then came Sunday’s USHL game in Bloomington, Ill., where the Phantoms and Thunder were tied 2-2 after regulation and five minutes of overtime.
That set the stage for a memorable shootout won by the Phantoms in the 10th round. After Dominic Dockery beat Thunder goaltender Gabriel Mollot-Hill for the only goal in the shootout, Ivan Kulbakov made a glove save on Cameron Burke to secure the win.
After two scrappy games against the Dubuque Fighting Saints (one an overtime loss, the other a regulation defeat), the Phantoms’ first-year head coach said the extra point provided a needed lift after a tough weekend.
“Three games in three nights with travel mixed in,” Patterson said Monday of the busy weekend. “We had a couple of heated games in Dubuque and we really need that one [point].
“We lost in overtime on Friday and regulation on Saturday so it was good to get those two points. That victory kind of salvaged the weekend, [giving us] three out of six points.”
The Phantoms (20-7-5, 45 points) are in the thick of the Eastern Conference race. They trail the Chicago Steel by five points, the Fighting Saints by three and the Muskegon Lumberjacks by one.
Patterson admits that as overtime periods wind down and a shootout looms, he and assistants Jeff Potter and Tom Upton start thinking about six skaters they want to consider for the first three attempts.
“Every staff does it differently,” Patterson said. “We start with three-to-four skaters that we consider to be our top shooters, then a couple of others who are playing well that game.”
Like the National Hockey League, USHL rules limit each shooter to one attempt.
Against the Thunder, Coale Norris, Max Ellis, Alec Mahalak, Austin Pooley, Evan Wisocky and Curtis Hall took the first attempts.
So what happens when the game remains tied after six rounds? Patterson said the coaches confer and negotiate. Samuel Solensky, Alex Esposito and Marshall Moise preceded Dockery, who was Potter’s choice.
Kulbakov made 27 saves before the shootout, then stopped all 10 Thunder attempts.
“When a 10-round shootout ends up going 1-0, it speaks volume about the goaltending,” Patterson said. “Ivan in net gives you a chance to win.”
After traveling home Sunday night, the Phantoms took Monday off.
“And any points you earn in a conference game pay off at the end,” Patterson said.
This week’s schedule is a bit unusual — they’ll play the Sioux Falls Stampede on Thursday and Friday at the Covelli Centre then have the weekend off.