Jordan Tibbett set a team record with 50 saves on Friday night as the Phantoms won a dramatic 3-2 OT thriller. Tibbett faced another 40 Saturday but was on the wrong end of the 3-2 score 24 hours later. To sum it up, Tibbett stopped 90 shots in two games, seemingly too many.

“It looks like a lot of shots, but we did a good job taking away the prime scoring areas.  They [Sioux City] are a team that does not score a lot of goals, and if you look at their shots they were just coming across the blue line and throwing the puck on net”, remarked Coach Curt Carr after the game.

Despite being outshot 17-3 in the first period, the Youngstown Phantoms found themselves in a scoreless game.  Credit  Tibbett for a couple of nice saves in the opening period.

Brett Gensler got Youngstown on the board first with 16:54 left in the second period. Gensler’s 16^th goal, which leads the team, came on a power play. Taylor Holstrom and Tom Serratore picked up assists on the man-advantage tally.

Nick Sorkin snuck the puck past a heavily screened Tibbett with exactly four minutes to go in the second period.  Dan Ford picked up an assist on the game-tying power play goal.  Sorkin fired from in-between the right face off circle and blue line around moving traffic.

Ryan Jasinsky, who was recently hampered with shoulder problems forcing him to miss several games, attempted to stuff the puck in from close range but was denied by Musketeer Goalee Jake Hildebrand. Jefferson Dahl collected the rebound from close range and knocked it in with 12:14 left in the game. Jasinsky was credited with an assist on the even-strength chance.

With 9:38 left, Adam Schmidt tied the game at 2-2 on a power play goal.  Stephan Vigier and Sorkin collected a point each with assists on the goal.

Mitch Zion put the Musketeers ahead 3-2 with 8:09 to go in the game.  The even strength goal gave Sioux City their first lead in the game.  Zion gathered the puck just outside of the goal crease on a rebound and drove it past Tibbett who was shaded left from the save he had just made.  Tommy Olczyk and Matt Paape were credited with assists on the goal.

Time ran out on Youngstown and pulling the goaltender as a last resort neither helped nor hurt the outcome for the Phantoms.  Put it in the books, Sioux City 3, Youngstown 2.

Interestingly, Coach Carr opted to start Ty Loney (left) and Dylan Margonari (right), two youngsters who have not been Phantoms very long, over experienced players.  “We are walking a fine line right now because we want to continue to perform and win games, but we also have some young guys who can return next year, so we want to make sure we do what we can to develop them for next season.  Dylan and Ty played hard and earned the ice time that they are getting.”

The Phantoms dropped to 17-33-3 in their inaugural campaign, while Sioux City improved to 21-23-8 on the season.  The Phantoms take to the road next weekend to face Omaha and Sioux City on consecutive nights.  Be sure to tune in to AM-1240 to catch Matt Gajtka as he calls the action from afar.

The Youngstown Phantoms returned home after completing a 1-3-1 road trip. The record on that trip failed to show that the Phantoms were in every game against three very good teams. Friday night, Sioux City rolled into town 20-23-7 and barely alive in the playoff hunt, a win was paramount for the Musketeers to stay alive.

Taylor Holstrom sent the audience home after 65 minutes of hockey and an extended shootout when he beat Sioux City Goaltender Matt Skoff on a five-hole shot.  The shootout goal came in the seventh round of the tiebreaker.  The teams were even at two apiece in the shootout when Brett Gensler tied it up with the last shot setting up Holstrom’s heroics.  The end result was the noisiest 1,300 people I have ever heard and a 4-3 Phantoms win.

Tom Serratore got the Phantoms on the scoreboard just 2:05 into the contest. The unassisted goal gave the Phantoms a lead on a Friday night, a good omen considering Youngstown had not won on a Friday game in eight straight chances. The goal was Serratore’s 14^th of the season.

Jefferson Dahl pushed the Phantoms lead to 2-0 when he beat Sioux City Goaltender Matt Skoff (pictured making a save). For Dahl, it was the 14^th goal on the year. The goal was scored at the 9:17 mark of the first period. Jiri Sekac picked up the assist on the even-strength goal. The Phantoms, who had not won a game at home since January, were playing hard early.

Sioux City got on the board when the Phantoms Adam Berkle picked up a ten-minute major for his role in a fight. The power play opportunity was successful for the Musketeers as Stephan Vigier tallied with assists from Dan Ford and Tommy Olczyk. The goal cut the Phantoms lead to 2-1 and Sioux City kept the one-man advantage because of the major penalty. The Phantoms killed off the remaining six minutes of the Musketeers power play.

With just 1:20 gone in the second period, Sioux City tied the game at two goals apiece. Nick Sorkin scored after taking a pass from Olczyk who picked up his second assist of the game. Richard Zehnal was also given an assist on the game-tying score. The remaining 18:40 of the period went scoreless and the teams remained deadlocked at two goals each.

The Phantoms took a 3-2 lead on Jiri Sekac’s even-strength goal. Dahl and Serratore picked up assists on the go-ahead tally with 13:33 elapsed in the final period. The Sekac goal came amid several flurries in the Musketeer zone over a span of two minutes.

Holstrom had a chance to make it a 4-2 game but he fanned at an open net (above).  He would later atone for the whiff and then some.

Vigier snapped in his second power play goal of the evening to tie the game at 3. Vigier beat Jordan Tibbett on a hard-angle wrist shot from the bottom of the right face off circle. Picking up assists on the goal were Adam Schmidt and Sorkin.

At the end of regulation, the teams remained tied at three goals each and overtime would be needed to decide a winner in the contest. After three periods, the Phantoms were out shot by the Musketeers 46-27. Jordan Tibbett made some pretty high-quality saves to keep things tied as the Phantoms who were 2-1 in overtime games this season, pressed onward.

In the overtime session, the Phantoms first since November 27^th at home, nobody scored forcing a shootout.

Ryan Carpenter took the first shot for the Musketeers. Wide Right.

Cody Strang had first crack for Youngstown. Wide Right. 0-0

Alex Krushelnyski beat Tibbett high. 1-0 Musketeers.

Jiri Sekac was next. Backhand shot. 1-1.

Richard Zehnal up for Sioux City. Nope. 1-1.

David Donnellan up for the Phantoms. High and Wide Right. 1-1.

Dan Ford, nope.

Andrew Lamont, nope. 1-1.

Final round, Tommy Olczyk good on a sliding move. 2-1, Sioux City.

Brett Gensler, with a chance to tie it, Good! 2-2.

Final shot, Danny Wurden, nope.

Jefferson Dahl, nope.

Seventh round, Nick Sorkin, denied by Tibbett.

Taylor Holstrom beat Matt Skoff with the backhand, Phantoms win!

What a finish!  These two teams will lock it up again Saturday.

After the game, Coach Curtis Carr was praiseworthy of his team.  “I felt that the guys came out and played really hard.  We have a young team and they were stressing when Sioux City tied it up at two, but to their credit, they rebounded and played a great third period.  Jordan [Tibbett] is a heck of a goaltender and he came up huge when we needed him to.  We were able to regroup which allowed us to come back and win this game.”

Phantoms hero Taylor Holstrom said his game-winning shot was not something he premeditated.  “No, I was watching when the other guys shot and kind of noticed the five-hole was open.  I think we are finally catching on and playing as a team, we are getting our legs back under us.”

Good teams find ways to win games.  Omaha is a good team atop the Western Division standings of the USHL.  Despite being outplayed and outhit for a majority of Saturday night’s game by the Youngstown Phantoms, the team that knew how to win managed to do just that, win.

The Phantoms got on the scoreboard first at the 10:35 mark of the first period as Brett Gensler (pictured above) got his 13th of the season.  Gensler went top shelf to beat Jeff Teglia.  Cody Strang and Ben Paulides picked up assists.

The Phantoms held a 1-0 lead after the first buzzard.  The Lancers outshot the Phantoms 15-10 in the period, but the Phantoms were hitting with intensity.  On one Lancer surge midway through the period, three consecutive checks by the Phantoms garnered the favor of the audience.  Youngstown looked a step faster in this one, at least in the first period.

Omaha dug in and scored at the 1:20 mark of the second period.  Camden Wojtala beat Matt Mahalak. Troy Power and CJ Ludwig picked up assists.  Wojtala’s sixth goal of the season came on a powerplay for Omaha.

With 2:40 left in the second, Omaha claimed their first lead of the game.  Tom Craig got his second goal in as many nights.  Stefan Demopoulos and Ryan Daugherty gathered an assist apiece on Craig’s even-strength chance.

Seth Ambroz scored with 12.8 seconds left in the second period to give Omaha a 3-1 lead to cap off a 3-goal period for the Lancers.   Greg Wolfe and Lancers Goaltender Jeff Teglia got credited with assists.  The Phantoms were definitely outhitting the Lancers, yet somehow, Omaha held a 3-1 lead after two periods.

With 2:41 left in the game, Taylor Holstrom drew a ten-minute misconduct and the Lancers would almost be able to kill the clock on an Adam Berkle 2:00 minor.

Phantoms Coach Curt Carr was pleased with the effort of the Phantoms.  “They [Omaha] are a very good team, one of the best in the league, and I have a lot of respect for them.  We are lacking a little firepower and we are getting chances but just aren’t able to bury the puck.”

The Lancers ended up taking 35 shots compared to the Phantoms 27.  That was about the only category other than goals scored that the Phantoms were outperformed in.  They checked, poke checked, passed, and outplayed a good team, but good teams find ways to win, and Omaha (32-12-3) is a good team.

Guest photographers tonight were Bryce Hall and Anthony Cervone.

The Youngstown Phantoms went into their crucial matchup with Waterloo in an unfamiliar place, last. For the first time all season, the Phantoms were in the basement, trailing Team USA by two points. The Phantoms are 1-10-0 in 2010 and if they lost one or even both games to Waterloo, the postseason could be very hard to reach.  The time was perfect to make a push.

Waterloo was in playoff position before this one started and did nothing to hurt their standing. The Black Hawks earned a hard-fought 3-1 victory to send the reeling Phantoms to their sixth consecutive loss.

The Phantoms and Black Hawks skated a scoreless first period. Waterloo took ten shots against Jordan Tibbett and Youngstown had nine stopped by CJ Motte.  The play was physical as both teams were hitting hard.

In the second period, Taylor Holstrom put the Phantoms in front 1-0 with his eleventh of the season.  The goal came at the 9:43 mark as Holstrom connected at even-strength.

Tyler Barnes picked up an unassisted powerplay goal that tied the contest.  For Barnes, it was goal number 20 on the year.  The Phantoms had just finished wiping out a two-man Black Hawks advantage and yielded the goal down one skater.

With 9:57 left in the game, Derek Arnold slid a shot through the crease and into the twine past Tibbett whose momentum was taking him away from the direction the puck was headed.  Brock Montpetit made the cross-crease pass and was awarded an assist on the beautiful feed that gave Waterloo a 2-1 lead.

Arnold got an empty netter, officially his second of the game, with 30 seconds left in the game to close the scoring with Waterloo ahead 3-1.  The Phantoms took 33 shots as compared to Waterloo’s 31.

Richard Young Tilt-O-Meter:

Into Waterloo 2/5 Game: 126 Penalty Minutes (USHL Leader).

After 2/5 Waterloo Game: 130 Penalty Minutes.

Young had a couple of games he missed due to injury.  He pretty much was not allowed to fight against Team USA 17 & Under and had not played many minutes in recent contests.  Young snagged a two-minute minor for elbowing in the second.  In the third period, Young got another minor for a delay of game penalty.  Four minutes, modest night.

The Youngstown Phantoms got embarrassed on their home ice Friday in dropping an 8-1 decision to Sioux Falls.  The Stampede beat the Phantoms in every phase of that game.  As Classic Rock legends Foreigner once sang, That Was Yesterday, and Sunday offered fresh zeroes on the scoreboard.

Unfortunately for the home team, the zeroes turned into bad numbers again.  The goals scored section read Sioux Falls 8, Youngstown 3.  The shots on goal column for Sioux Falls had a 38 underneath it, too many quality attempts for the Phantoms to give to a high-powered juggernaut like the Stampede.

The Phantoms got a goal from Taylor Holstrom (above) at the 9:35 mark of the first period.  Both teams had a man in the penalty box, so it was an even-strength chance.  Brett Gensler picked up an assist as the Phantoms took the 1-0 lead, quite a contrast from Friday when they were down 3-0 at this point.

Sioux Falls tied it up as Michael Voran connected when Matt Lindblad’s shot deflected off of Phantoms Goalkeeper Matt Mahalak.  Voran was in the right place at the right time as he picked up the easy goal.

Matt Zarbo gave Sioux Falls the lead when he connected on an assist from Voran just about a half-minute later handing Sioux Falls a 2-1 lead.

Matt Farris connected just 18 seconds later, and just like that, the Phantoms had dug themselves a hole at the end of the first period and trailed 3-1 at the intermission.  Sioux Falls took the big lead scoring three quick goals in the last 1:19 of the frame.

At the 9:09 mark of the second period, the Phantoms broke into the Sioux Falls zone with a three-on-two advantage.  Jefferson Dahl unloaded the puck to Ryan Jasinsky who nailed the shot from in between the faceoff circles, beating Stampede netminder Clay Witt (top photo).  The goal shrunk the Sioux Falls lead to 3-2.

Conor Allen pushed the Stampede margin back to two goals when he scored from in between the circles. The goal came with 5:38 left in the second period and anytime the Phantoms seemed to gain a little momentum it was yanked away.

Linblad got his second point of the game when he took a rebound and stuffed it past Mahalak.  For Linblad, it was his twelfth goal of the season.  The powerplay goal was scored with 1:19 left in the second. Voran and Anthony Day picked up assists.  After two periods, Youngstown trailed Sioux Falls, 5-2.

Clark Cristofoli drilled a slapshot past Mahalk from the farthest part of the right faceoff circle.  The goal came at the 2:34 mark of the final period.  Jacob Johnstone was credited with an assist on Cristofoli’s second goal of the season.  Sioux Falls seemed to be having all of the fun again as they opened the lead to four goals at 6-2, their largest margin on the afternoon.

With 15:18 left in the game, the Stampede struck again as Josh Holmstrom let loose at an empty net. Mahalak dove right to stop a shot seconds earlier and Holmstrom was able to buzz it by before the Phantoms goaltender could reload to make it 7-2.  With 11:31 left, Holmstrom again hit the twine to push the lead to 8-2, and the route was on.

Scott Mayfield picked up his seventh goal of the season at the 11:14 mark of the third to ease the sting and make the score 8-3.  Stuart Higgins tallied an assist, his sixth of the year.  Unfortunately, it was the last murmur of the game and when the horn sounded signifying the end, the Phantoms were on the short end of the stick.

Goaltender Clay Witt may want to call Howard Hanna Real Estate to see if there are any homes for sale because he plays well when he hears the word Youngstown.  Witt has only give up four goals in three starts against the Phantoms (14-21-2) this season.

The Phantoms return to the ice Wednesday morning to play defending champion Indiana with a special early start time of 10 AM. 

The Youngstown Phantoms don’t want to come off as an unpatriotic group of people, but they broke a six-game winless streak and set records of a positive nature in their destruction of Team USA, 7-3.  Cody Strang (pictured) collected the first hat trick in Phantoms history as the home team scored seven unanswered goals to post their first win of 2010.

The Phantoms had lost to the 18 & under version of Team USA, 6-1, two nights earlier.  The trend looked to continue as the Michigan-based Team USA jumped out to a 2-0 lead. 

Monday, the 17 & under version of Team USA got their shot at the struggling Phantoms who had not yet posted a win in the year 2010 (0-5). 

Rocco Grimaldi (pictured) connected at the 10:50 mark to put Team USA up 1-0.  For Grimaldi, it marked his sixth point of the season against the Phantoms.  Grimaldi’s goal was unassisted and came on a Team USA powerplay chance.

It didn’t take long for Grimaldi to find the net again as he connected at the 16:19 mark of the first period.  Austin Wuthrich picked up an assist on Grimaldi’s second goal of the night and seventh of the season.

Tom Serratore got Youngstown on the scoreboard at the 17:27 mark, still in the first period.  Serratore was assisted by Ryan Jasinsky on the even-strength chance.

As the first period closed, the Phantoms had 15 shots on goal compared to Team USA’s nine, yet trailed the Under-17 USA group 2-1. 

With 9:15 left in the second priod, Adam Berkle tied the game with a powerplay goal, his eighth of the season.  Berkle took his shot from the left faceoff circle and beat Matt McGee.  Assists on Berkle’s goal went to Taylor Holstrom and David Donnellan.

Three minutes later,  Holstrom connected as Team USA goaltender McGee was laying on his stomach in the crease.  Holstrom fired from about 15 feet away and grazed the top bar of the goal as his shot hit twine and gave the Phantoms a 3-2 lead.

The onslaught continued as Cody Strang snuck the puck past McGee at the 14:27 mark of the second.  Jefferson Dahl and Luke Eibler snagged assists on the beautiful shot that Strang had from a tough angle.  The Phantoms stayed  hot as they picked up another goal a few moments later to go up 5-2.  Strang redirected a Luke Eibler slapshot and picked up the powerplay goal with an assist from Dahl.  It was the Phantoms third powerplay goal of the period and fifth in a row.

Strang, who was hurt for a good part of the season with wrist problems, knocked home his third goal of the game, a hat trick.  When asked about the wrist, Strang replied, “It felt pretty good tonight.  Some nights it gets sore, other nights it feels good.  It was a month ago I last got a goal, so I was really happy to get three.” 

The hat trick was the first in Phantoms history.  Strang was assisted by Dahl, his third helper of the game.  Mercifully, the second period would close with Youngstown ahead of Team USA, 6-2.

After two periods the shots on goal heavily favored Youngstown 37-13.  The 22 shots on goal in the second period were the most by the Phantoms this season.  The five goals scored in the period were also a new franchise record. 

Jiri Sekac, a Czech Republican Phantom, scored his first career USHL goal.  The goal pushed the lead to 7-2 in favor of the Phantoms.  Brett Gensler collected an assist, and the  Phantoms had their seventh unanswered goal.  The seventh goal was the highest output on offense for Youngstown since November 19.  The Phantoms also set a season-high for shots on goal in a game with 44, breaking the old mark of 42.

JT Miller, of nearby East Palestine, scored a goal for Team USA to close out the scoring at 7-3.  Robbie Russo snagged an assist to close out the game scoring.

Coach Bob Mainhardt was happy to get back on the winning track.  “I thought we played pretty good in the last few games but we still drifted from the gameplan.  Tonight showed that when we play 60 minutes, we are a really good team.”

Mainhardt also sang the praises of Cody Strang.  “He is a natural goal scorer.  He is headed to the University of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin doesn’t take too many slouches.  We had very high hopes for him coming in and he has done a great job.” 

The Phantoms hit the road for a Friday game with Waterloo.  The puck drops at 7:05 and you can catch all of the action on AM-1240 with Matt Gajtka, the best in the USHL – give him a listen.

The Youngstown Phantoms have struggled to find consistency this season.  Two individuals who have been good night in and night out have been rewarded for their efforts.  Nick Czinder and Taylor Holstrom have been named to represent Youngstown at the USHL All-Star Game to be held in Indianapolis on January 26.

Taylor Holstrom has appeared in all 31 Phantoms games so far this season.  Over that span of games, he has racked up some pretty impressive numbers.  Holstrom leads the team in scoring with 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) and impressive plus/minus ratio of +11.  Beyond the numbers is the intangible bursts of speed that Holstrom flashes.  The guy is a hustler and is very deservant of the honor.

Nick Czinder has put up numbers to be proud of.  Czinder has nine goals and five assists and a plus/minus ratio of +10.  Czinder is a highly-touted prospect who also plays hard every single game.  He is one of the few guys Coach Bob Mainhardt has praised consistently all season.

Congratulations Nick and Taylor!!

The Youngstown Phantoms seem to have lost their mojo over the last couple of weeks.  Friday, they did little to regain the promise shown in December as Fargo rolled into town and captured a 4-2 victory.  The loss was the fourth in a row for the slumping Phantoms.

The Phantoms wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Tom Serratore put the rebound of an Adam Berkle shot into the opponents net.  Dan Senkbeil also picked up an assist on the goal, scored at the 4:28 mark of the first.

Garrett Allen tied the game when Phantoms Goaltender, Jordan Tibbet, got tangled up with a Force player trying to retreat back through the crease.  Allen’s goal was a rebound off of a Matt Leitner shot.  The goal, which came at the 11:37 mark of the first period was Allen’s 12th of the season.

With 14:37 left in the second period, Force Captain Chase Grant connected on a shorthanded chance.  Grant’s goal was his 15th of the season and was unassisted putting Fargo on top, 2-1.

With 11:27 left in the second period, Fargo took a 3-1 lead when Corey Leivermann  beat Tibbett from close range.  Garnering assists on the goal were Colten St. Clair, and Grant, who scored three minutes earlier.

With 1:13 left in the second, Youngstown sliced the two-goal Fargo lead in half when Brett Gensler connected unassisted.  Gensler had been so close so many times in recent games to scoring a goal.  He finally broke through with his eleventh of the season.

In the third period, Nate Condon extended the Force lead to 4-2.  Chad Demers and Johnnie Searfoss picked up assists on the Condon goal.  Condon snuck the puck past Tibbett who stopped a Demers drive that deflected to the front lip of the right faceoff circle.

Fargo held off a late powerplay chance to preserve the victory and raise their record to 21-9-1.  With the loss the Phantoms fell to 13-15-2.  Fargo outshot the Phantoms 31-27.

After the game, a dejected Coach Mainhardt reflected on the recent problems of his team.  “A couple of bad apples are spoiling the whole bushel.  Most members of each line play well and do their jobs, but there is a guy on each line not sticking to the plan.  We will give them an opportunity to do the job again tomorrow, and if those couple of guys continue to let the team down we will definitely be shortening the bench and giving the ice time to the guys who are on the right page.”

Richard Young Tilt-O-Meter:

Coming Into 1-8-10 Game vs Fargo: 120 penalty minutes (leads USHL).

After Game:  Still 120 penalty minutes.

Young was a scratch from Friday’s game and has missed the last three with concussion symptoms.  He sat next to me in the pressbox during the game and stayed busy videotaping and charting shots for the team.  The injury took place when he was checked simultaneously by two Green Bay defenders on the recent roadtrip.