The Youngstown Phantoms travel in a bus.  Anyone who has traveled by bus knows that it can get boring beyond belief.  I’m not talking about a deal where you pay $20 and go to Mountaineer and get $15 of it back to gamble with either.  North Dakota is a longer ride than Mountaineer Casino, much longer.  The Phantoms enjoyed the ride home probably much better than the ride to Fargo as they swept a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

In the Friday game, Matt Mahalak (pictured) stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced and Brett Gensler broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with his second goal of the game.  Defenseman Scott Mayfield capped the scoring for Youngstown when he cleared the puck off the glass and it went into the empty net.  Fargo was on a power-play and pulled their netminder for a two-man advantage that backfired as Mayfield delivered the dagger.

On Saturday, Youngstown got a standout performance from Tom Serratore who registered an assist and two goals all in the third period.  Brett Gensler added two more goals, bringing his two game roadtrip total to four.  Gensler has been the most consistent scorer for the Phantoms all season.  Jordan Tibbett picked up the win in goal and stopped 26 shots.

With the two wins, Youngstown has improved to 4-1-1 on the road and 4-4-1 overall.  They will do their damndest to win a game at home this weekend as they welcome in Des Moines for Thursday and Friday games.  Luke Eibler injured his shoulder on the road and will miss about a month for the Phantoms.

At the Thursday game, kids wearing Halloween costumes will be admitted for free with a paying adult.  It is also Mascot Mania night where mascots from various organizations will be entertaining the crowd during intermissions.  Confirmed to appear are Sparky, Chomper (Browns), Zippy (Akron), Pete the Penguin (YSU), and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Scrappy (Mahoning Valley Scrappers).

The Friday game is YSU night.  Anyone with a valid YSU ID will be admitted free of charge.  Friday is also $1 beer night.  So YSU fans who are planning on having a $1 beer better bring two forms of ID (just my opinion).   The puck drops at 7:05 both nights.  Come by the press area and say hi, I’ll see you there.