Repost from the Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN — An old saying amongst coaches is “special teams are special.”
The Youngstown Phantoms lived up to that mantra on Sunday with a pair of power play goals and some key stops on the penalty kill to sweep the weekend with their third win in as many days, taking down the Team USA U18s, 2-1.
“Just a super, super effort,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “Three (games) in three (days). Obviously they’re playing in the same situation (too). We had some adversity this whole weekend with guys out and injuries, and I thought it was a super gritty effort by our guys. I loved our response to obviously killing the five-minute major, a goal got waved off, and we just kept going.
“I think this team is starting to figure it out. An eerily similar kind of trajectory here. I’m excited about the group, and really proud of them for how hard they worked all weekend.”
Forward Jack Hextall got things started on the scoresheet for the Phantoms, knocking the puck past Team USA’s Harrison Boettiger for the opening goal.
The lone miscue on the night for the Phantoms also came on special teams.
Youngstown gave up a shorthanded goal in the waning seconds of the opening period, with Michigan commit Drew Schock IV hitting twine.
Outside of that though, the Phantoms were unblemished on Sunday.
“When you win the special teams battle, you win the majority of the games, and I thought our power play did a good job, even with the shorty we gave up,” Ward said. “It hit (defenseman Conner) de Haro in the head, and then the guys lost the puck, and it was bad timing. But I loved our response. I thought the power play came through big and that the penalty kill was excellent tonight, so special teams carried us through.”
Phantoms forward Justin Kerr, who had a goal waved off earlier in the third period due to a high stick, didn’t make the same mistake twice, beating Boettiger for the go-ahead score.
“It was a high stick. We saw it on the bench,” Ward said of Kerr’s waved-off goal. “Obviously, Kerr did a ton of good things tonight. He played a big man’s game, and that’s what we’ve challenged him with. And playing big time minutes too. I’m happy for (Kerr), he’s been really working hard and working on his game, and it’s paying off.”
The Phantoms have now won five games in a row dating back to the Nov. 8 victory over Chicago. Solid defensive play, and limiting chances have been a major help in making that happen.
“We track all that stuff, and over the past five games, we haven’t given them much,” Ward said. “We pride ourselves on how we play away from the puck. Our guys buy into it, and obviously limiting those high-danger chances is something that bodes well for us.”
The Phantoms (10-7-0-0, 20 points) have a two-game set next weekend on the road in Omaha, and on Nov. 27, they play a rare Wednesday game against the U17s. The Phantoms return to the Covelli Centre the following Saturday to host Des Moines.