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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio " The Youngstown Phantoms (20-24-5,45pts) picked up three out of four potential points with a win a shootout loss this past weekend. The Phantoms will travel to Waterloo for a Friday night rematch against the Black Hawks in their only game this weekend.
The Week in Review Game 48: Phantoms Penalty Kill Shines, Defeat Fargo 2-1 The Phantoms killed off a season high eleven power plays when they defeated the Fargo Force (28-17-4,60pts) 2-1 on Friday night. Even though the first period was scoreless, the Phantoms killed off five penalties in the opening frame. The second period saw all the goal scoring game and the game winner was scored by Phantoms forward Dylan Margonari. The Phantoms would give up the first goal of the game just 3:00 into the second period, but a power play goal by Ryan Belonger would tie the game at one 5:30 later. Two minutes after the Belonger goal, JT Stenglein picked off a pass in the neutral zone and hit Margonari with a drop pass just inside of the Fargo blueline. Margonari took the drop pass and fired a wrist shot past Ryan Massa low on his blocker side to put the Phantoms up 2-1. Jordan Tibbett would stop 40 of 41 shots on goal on his way to his sixth victory of the season in eleven starts.
Game 49: Berkle Scores Twice but Phantoms Fall in Shootout, 5-4 The Phantoms could not have gotten off to a better start against the Waterloo Black Hawks (16-24-7,39pts) when they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Belonger connected with Danny Mattson on a two-on-one to open the scoring in the first period. Power play goals by Cody Strang and Adam Berkle gave the Phantoms a comfortable 3-0 lead going into the first intermission. In the second period, the Black Hawks capitalized on two of their four power plays in the middle frame. Goals by Alex Guptil and Tyson Fulton sent Waterloo into the intermission trailing the Phantoms by just one goal. The Black Hawks comeback was made complete when Jamie Hill scored shorthanded just 3:19 into the third period. With all the momentum, Waterloo continued to press the Phantoms and with less than five minutes to play, Tyler Zepeda found the back of the net to give Waterloo its first lead of the night. With the Phantoms on their heels, team captain Berkle found the back of the net for his second power play goal of the game to send his team into overtime. There was no scoring in the overtime period and in the shootout, Waterloo forward Alex Guptil was the only scorer out of ten shooters. The Phantoms gained one point to stay six points ahead of Waterloo.
Phantom Phacts - Berkle scored two power play goals on Saturday night. The two goal night was Berkle"s eighth multi-point game of the season. He has tallied 11 of his 24 points on the power play this season.
- Belonger currently holds a three game point streak with two goals and one assist. This past weekend Belonger scored two goals, one of which was on the power play, increasing his season total to 15 goals, four on the power play.
- Mattson picked up two assists this past weekend, extending his point streak to four games. Over his last four games Mattson has tallied two goals and two assists. Since joining the Phantoms he has tallied six points (2g,4a).
- Sekac tallied two assists over the weekend, both coming on the power play. Sekac has recorded 15 power play points (6ppg,9ppa) and he leads the Phantoms with 37 points (15g,27a).
- The Phantoms played two more one goal games this past weekend. With the win over Fargo, the Phantoms picked up their league leading 16th win in one goal games. The Phantoms record is 16-7-5 in one goal games.
Playoff Push 2011 The three points the Phantoms picked up this past weekend keeps them six points ahead of Waterloo for the final playoff spot in the east. The Phantoms trail Team USA by just five points for fourth place. The three and four seeds in each conference are awarded a best of three home series to start the USHL playoffs. The Green Bay Gamblers have now won seven games in a row and they remain the only team that has clinched a playoff spot. The defending Clark Cup Champion leads both the USHL and Eastern Conference standings by nine points.
The Week Ahead Games 50: Youngstown Phantoms vs Waterloo Black Hawks The Phantoms will finish off the second game of a home-and-home series with the Black Hawks on Friday, March 11, at 8:05 p.m. The Phantoms have gone 1-1-1 against Waterloo this season and the past two games played between these two teams has been decided in either overtime or a shootout.
Quote of the Week Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett comments on the grit his team showed during the first period where the Phantoms killed off five penalties against Fargo:
"We battled through adversity in that first period," said Tibbett. "Games like this really help our team grow and it really builds our character. We grit our teeth and we pushed through and that will definitely help us down the stretch run."
Events and Promotions "Behind the Glass" with the Youngstown Phantoms: Listen to "Behind the Glass" with the Youngstown Phantoms on ESPN 1240 from 6:00 " 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8. You can also listen to the show on ESPN"s website, www.wbbw.com. This week"s show will feature Phantoms forwards Mike Ambrosia and Dylan Margonari. Listeners can call into the show at 330-782-1240 or 330-782-9229.
$1 Green Beer on March 17: Come out and celebrate St. Patty"s Day with the Phantoms on March 17 when they take on the visiting Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 7:30 p.m. Green beer will be on sale for just $1!
Discounted tickets are available for groups of 15 or more people! Priority seating, video board and public address recognition and other specials are just some of the benefits! 10 Phantoms Ticket Vouchers are available for just $90! Buy 10 tickets and use them for any remaining home game this season! Call the Phantoms office today at 330.747.7825 for more information or to make a reservation today! For a complete Phantoms schedule, visit www.youngstownphantoms.com.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the USHL celebrates its ninth season as the nation's only Tier I junior hockey league in 2010-11. With over 200 players this season already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 15 NHL Entry Draft picks on League rosters, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at http://www.ushl.com/.
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