The Youngstown Phantoms have been in a bad mood lately.  They have had more fights in their last three home games than they had all of the home games before that.  They are now playing with an edge, and that could be a good thing.  Saturday, the Phantoms welcomed the expansion Muskegon Lumberjacks to Youngstown.  Jiri Sekac buried a goal with just 44 seconds left in the game to keep Youngstown on a roll and propel the Phantoms to a 4-3 win over Muskegon.

The first period was filled with everything a hockey fan could ask for.  There was a decent fight between Quinn Smith of the Phantoms and Micki Mihailovich of Muskegon.  There were powerplays, shorthanded chances, good saves, and with 17:23 gone, there was even some scoring.

Muskegon broke the seal in this one when Charlie Taft connected from close range to beat Greg Lewis.  Taft’s goal was his eighth of the season and he was assisted by Kevin Albers and Jaycob Megna.

The Phantoms answered when Scott Mayfield scored unassisted less than a minute later at the 18:02 mark.  The Phantoms did not stop there.  Like a championship boxer trying to steal a round in the last 20 seconds, the Phantoms landed another big blow when Ty Loney gathered a loose puck and snuck it past Joel Vienneau to give the Phantoms a 2-1 lead.  Loney (below) was assisted by Ben Paulides and Cody Strang.

In the second period, the Phantoms tallied when Strang picked off a pass and raced to the Lumberjacks end beating Vienneau five-hole to put Youngstown ahead, 3-1.

The Phantoms held a 30-11 lead in shots on goal until they started picking up penalties.  Muskegon got a goal from Casey Thrush and a powerplay goal from Matt Berry.  Berry’s goal came during a 5-on-3 opportunity at the 17:41 mark of the second.  Berry was assisted by Alexx Privitera and Ryan Misiak on the game-tying goal.  By the end of the second period, The shots on goal were 32-20 in favor of Youngstown, but the score was deadlocked at three.

With under a minute left in regulation, Jiri Sekac delivered.  Sekac’s eighth goal was of the even-strength variety and was assisted by Loney and came with just 44 seconds remaining in the game.  The Phantoms win raised their record to 11-17-1  in winning their second in a row.

Loney talked about the pass that set up Sekac’s heroics.  “I was in the corner and the defense was collapsing toward me.  Jiri was open and I knew he could make that shot.”  Loney threw a good pass and the rest is history.

A pier six brawl ensued at the end of the game when at least four fights broke out at the buzzard.  The Phantoms are definitely playing with more attitude, and that’s a good thing.

After the game, Coach Carr talked about what has been different winning these close games.  “I actually thought we played better last night.  Our offense performed well and we got shots on goal, but we were more composed last night.  The difference lately has been partly because we are playing more physically.  We are not encouraging fights, but we are definitely being more physical.”

Ty Loney summed up the physicality issue very well.  “We are playing with an edge.  We needed these two wins as they will definitely help us in the standings, and yes, we are playing with a bit more intensity.”