Phantoms Drop Home Opener 5-3
October 13, 2022 – United States Hockey League (USHL) – Youngstown Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH – Playing for the first time in 18 days, the Youngstown Phantoms (1-2-0-0, 2 pts) managed to keep it close against the defending Eastern Conference champions for most of the game before falling 5-3 in their home opener at the Covelli Centre Thursday night. The Phantoms have not won their home opener since 2016.
“I thought we were a little bit sloppy, we had a pretty big layoff that we were coming back from, so it took us a while to get up to game speed” said Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. “We mismanaged the puck; we turned the puck over a little bit too much. We expected it to be slow to start and now we just have to clean it up and go back at it tomorrow.”
Youngstown did grab a 1-0 just before the halfway point of the first period when captain Shane Lachance sneaked a puck through the five-hole of Mason Kucenski (21 saves) as Lachance came down the left side. The Phantoms carried that 1-0 lead into the locker room, but Madison struck twice in the opening 4:38 of the second to grab a 2-1 lead thanks to an even-strength goal from Miko Matikka and a power play goal from Nick Fascia.
The Phantoms tied the game just over a minute later when Matthew Perkins stole a clearing pass on the left wall, cut to the high slot, and ripped a wrister past Kucenski at 5:54 for his first USHL goal. “That was ‘Perks’ best game,” said Ward. “I was encouraged by his energy, his leadership. (I) was super encouraged by his pace, especially being off so long. (I’m) excited to see him grow.”
Madison would grab the next two goals however, and opened up a 4-2 lead. Peter Cisar scored a power play goal at 7:44 of the second and Connor Schneider snapped a wrister past Jacob Fowler (31 saves) at 6:51 of the third for the game-winning goal. Justin Varner scored a power play goal for Youngstown in the final minute of regulation, but Nathan Lewis scored on the empty net with 0.3 seconds remaining to make up the final margin.
Youngstown and Madison wrap up their weekend series Friday night with a 7:05pm eastern puck drop at the Covelli Centre.
By the Numbers
Shots – 24
Saves – 31
Power Play – 1/3
Penalty Kill – 4/6
Goals – Lachance, Perkins, Varner
Assists – Perkins, Strathmann, Varner
Box Score – https://ushl.com/ht/#/game-summary/10289
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