Phantoms menace Steel Saturday

Five different Phantoms tallied goals Saturday as Youngstown defeated the Chicago Steel 5-1 at Fox Valley Ice Arena. Youngstown's Ivan Kulbakov stopped 23 of Chicago's 24 shots to pick up his 19th victory of the season. The win was Youngstown's second in Chicago in as many nights as the Phantoms climbed to within 3 points of the Steel in the Eastern Conference standings.

Austen Pooley opened the game's scoring at the 4:54 mark, as the Youngstown center deflected a shot under the glove of Chicago goaltender Peter Thome at 4:54.

Early in the second period, Phantoms forward Max Ellis recorded his second goal of the weekend, firing a shot over Thome's blocker at 3:41. Youngstown center Nicolas Werbik then added a power play goal at 11:09, ending Thome's night after allowing 3 goals on 13 shots.

Ales Stezka entered the crease for Chicago, but just over a minute into his relief appearance, the puck took a strange deflection off the boards and bounced behind him as Youngstown increased its lead to 4-0. Phantoms defenseman Michael Karow was credited with his second goal of the season.

In the third period, Eric Esposito connected a pass to his older brother, Alex, who fired a low shot past Stezka to increase the Phantoms' lead to 5-0.

The Steel were able to deny Kulbakov's shutout bid when Jack Badini recorded his team-leading 19th goal of the season at 15:23, as Chicago avoided its first 5-goal loss of the season.

Chicago went 0-for-5 on the power play. Stezka recorded 11 saves on 13 shots faced. Youngstown now leads the season series, 3-1-0-0, with the final matchup scheduled for March 26 in Chicago. The Steel's season-long eight-game homestand concluded with a 4-4-0-0 record.

Chicago plays its next four games on the road, including visits to Sioux City next Friday, Feb. 10, and Sioux Falls on Saturday, Feb. 11.