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Shootout victory

Phantoms blow lead but rally for overtime?win over Sioux Falls

Tribune Chronicle / Eric Murray The Phantoms’ Tommy Apap, left, battles for possession of the puck with Sioux Falls’ Max Johnson during their game Thursday in Youngstown. The Phantoms won, 4-3, in a shootout.

YOUNGSTOWN — Alex Esposito’s overtime shootout goal gave the Youngstown Phantoms a series-opening win over the Sioux Falls Stampede, 4-3, Thursday night at the Covelli Centre.

Esposito was the Phantoms’ fifth skater out for the shootout, as he came from the left side and knocked the puck in past Stampede goalie Jeremy Swayman’s right pad, breaking a 1-1 shootout tie.

“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s something you want to keep doing,” said Phantoms coach Brad Patterson of several recent overtime games the team has played. “Especially tonight, with a 3-1 lead, that late. But the resiliency of the guys has been great. They battle through anything. We’ve had roadblocks in front of us this year, and we’ll meet them head on.”

Youngstown (21-12-4-1, 47 points, third place in East) broke a scoreless tie in the third period with a goal from Coale Norris, who got a screen and was able to knock the puck in from the left side, going all the way into the right corner of the net for the power-play goal at the 3:01 mark.

However, Sioux Falls (15-17-3, 33 points) quickly responded just over a minute later with a power play score of its own.

Tribune Chronicle / Eric Murray Evan Wisocky (25) of Youngstown approaches Sioux Falls defender Justin Wells Thursday night at the Covelli Centre.

Justin Wells, a native of North Canton, slapped it in right in front of Phantoms goalie Ivan Kulbakov, knotting the score up at one apiece.

Youngstown quickly added two more goals at 8:46 and 13:02, as Eric Esposito gave the Phantoms the lead when he broke away from two Stampede defenders and charged the net from the left side.

Nicolas Werbik extended the lead to 3-1 when he took a quick pass from Steve Ruggiero and nailed a midrange shot head-on at Swayman. For Werbik, it was his 12th goal of the season, but just his second in recent weeks since returning from the World Junior Hockey League.

“I was trying to stay in front of the net and just watch the puck,” Werbik said. “Just keep focus on the net and try to shoot it upstairs, (and) I’m very happy it went in.”

However, the goal did not prove to be the insurance that the Phantoms needed, as Max Johnson’s goal cut the deficit to 3-2, at 17:36. Kulbakov saved a midrange Stampede shot with his legs, but the puck trickled out in front of him and Johnson happened to be right there to put it in for his eighth goal of the year.

The Stampede utilized an empty net in the final moments of the game, and soon after, Sioux Falls found themselves in a 3-3 tie. With just under a minute to play, Jack Becker took the assist from Austin Albrecht to ultimately send the game into overtime.

After an uneventful extra period that saw five shot attempts for the Phantoms, compared to two for the Stampede, the game went into a shootout. Becker’s missed shot was followed by a Max Ellis goal for the Phantoms.

However, the next set of skaters, Sioux Falls’ Eric MacAdams and Werbik, both missed their shots, before the Stampede tied it with a goal from Jason O’Neill. The next four skaters all missed their shots before Esposito fired in the game winner past Swayman.

For Patterson and his players, the win is a relief, since the team was feeling disappointment for giving away a late two-goal lead.

“He’s (Kulbakov) been amazing all year and we kinda let him down there late in the third, with the 3-1 lead, we should have kept that,” Esposito said. “So it feels good we got that point and didn’t let it slip.”

Prior to the third period, the game was a scoreless affair, as the Phantoms came out aggressively in the first period, with 12 shots on goal, compared to just three for Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls has struggled to find consistency with its netfinders, including Swayman, who’s allowing 2.85 goals per contest.

However, despite several power play attempts and a struggling Stampede goalie, the Phantoms were unable to take advantage until the third period. On the other side of the coin, Youngstown’s elite goaltender was looking sharp until early in the third period, when a Stampede defender violently crashed into Kulbakov, leaving the goalie down on the ice for a couple minutes, as it appeared that he may have been favoring his knee.

However, Kulbakov got up and did not come out of the game, and continued on the rest of the way. As for whether he’ll be able to mind the net for the Phantoms when they finish off their series tonight (7:05) at the Covelli Center against the Stampede, it’s still up in the air.

“Ivan’s a character and he’s tough and he’s gonna battle through that, I’m sure he was a little dinged up,” Patterson said. “But there’s no question in my head that Ivan was getting back in that game.”

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