Phantoms win 17th straight
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Ryan Zapolski made 31 saves and the Mahoning Valley Phantoms received goals from five different players to beat the Traverse City North Stars 5-1 at Centre I.C.E. Arena Friday night for their 17th consecutive win.
After both teams exchanged early scoring opportunities, the North Stars' defense held the Phantoms without a shot on goal over a 12-minute span of the first period. When the Phantoms did get a puck on net, Eric Ringel's wrist shot from the right point beat a screened Kyle Jendra with 1:23 remaining.
But the goal was waived off by the referee, claiming that Phantoms right wing Nathan Longpre was in the crease, and the game remained scoreless. A replay showed that Longpre was pushed into the crease by North Stars defenseman Ben Plocar.
The Phantoms, 23-7-1, came out charging to start the second period and officially opened the scoring just 21 seconds into the stanza.
Adam Snead intercepted a Traverse City pass at the red line and skated into the North Stars zone on the left wing. He passed to Dustin Cloutier, who neatly redirected the puck ahead, off the inside to his right skate, to his stick in between the circles.
Cloutier made a touch pass to Nathan Longpre in the right circle. Longpre fired a low wrist shot that beat Jendra between the legs for his 11th goal of the season.
Zach Hitch tied the game for Traverse City at the 6:52 mark. After a scramble for the puck behind the net, a shot attempt deflected to the left and out of the reach of Zapolski. Hitch gathered the loose puck and roofed it over Zapolski's left shoulder for his seventh goal of the season.
It took the Phantoms less than three minutes to regain the lead. Alden Hirschfeld blocked a neutral zone pass along the left wing boards and skated into the Traverse City zone. His shot was blocked by Jendra.
With the puck loose in the right circle, Ringel jumped in deep from the right point and fired the puck high with Jendra out of position. This time, Ringel's seventh goal counted and the Phantoms led 2-1 with 10:10 remaining.
"We didn't have a good week of practice," Ringel said. "It took us a period to shake off the cobwebs and get back to playing our game."
Miles Winter extended the lead to 3-1 with 36.8 seconds left in the period on a Phantoms power play. He blocked a clearing attempt on the left wing, skated alone in between the circles and fired a low wrist shot past the right skate of Jendra.
Mike Fillinger made it 4-1 at 12:54 of the third period after Matt Quigley blocked a North Stars shot and skated out of the zone uncontested on a shorthanded breakaway. Fillinger caught up with Quigley for a two-on-none odd-man break, as Quigley peeled to the left wing.
As he reached the goal line, Quigley threaded a pass through the top of the crease and Fillinger tapped the puck easily past Jendra for his 11th tally on the campaign.
Doug Leaverton rounded out the scoring with 2:49 left in regulation. On a Phantoms power play, Leaverton used Brent Dexter as a screen in front of Jendra before throwing a shot from the right point. It was Leaverton's second goal of the season.
For the game, the Phantoms were 2 for 9 on the power play, while the North Stars finished 0 for 5. Traverse City out-shot the Phantoms 32-30 as Zapolski improved his record to 22-5-1.
The Phantoms and the North Stars conclude their weekend series at Center Ice Arena on Saturday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. and will be webcast on
Mahoning Valley Phantoms.
The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company- Phantom Fireworks, which is headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio.