The Youngstown Phantoms scored twice in each period, and the Waterloo Black Hawks couldn't keep up during a 6-3 loss at the Covelli Centre Friday.
Owen Lepak was the man behind the mask who the Hawks might be seeing during bad dreams. He stopped 30 shots on a night where Waterloo finished with a 33-20 shots advantage. Half of Lepak's saves came in the second period when the shot tally favored the visitors 17-3.
Youngstown bagged the first goal 5:14 into the game. A turnover near the rightwing faceoff dot allowed Nikita Koltsov to move in and beat Sebastian Charvat from close range.
Then at 14:42, a slow-developing rush turned into a goal. Austin Hall and Jesse Orlowsky held onto possession long enough for defenseman Jack Hair to jump into the play, and he banged a pass into an open side.
Youngstown scored on two of their three shots in the middle period to maintain a two-goal margin at the second intermission. Koltsov banged in his second goal of the game, finishing a Charlie Spencer shot that may have been going in anyway at 5:20
The Hawks responded with the next two goals, starting when Rian Marquardt got to the net to score at 9:44. Off of Keegan Davis' faceoff win, Marquardt moved through the left circle and looked like he would step behind the cage before flicking in a sharp-angled attempt.
Just over three minutes later, Hayden Russell cut the deficit to one, scoring on a rush with a low shot past Lepak's stick.
However, the Phantoms made it a two-goal lead again before intermission, capitalizing when a faceoff win allowed Andre Linna to fire a shot-pass into the slot that was tipped up under the crossbar by Spencer at 18:32.
Again the Hawks pulled to within a goal at 3:50 of the third. A pass came to Trevor O'Donohue with his back to the net in the high slot; he turned and fired a bullet past Lepak on the glove side.
Yet a turnover with 7:22 remaining effectively ended any hope of tying the game. After the Phantoms swiped the puck behind the Waterloo net, all three forwards touched it in quick succession, leading to Hall's insurance tally.
Orlowsky added an empty-netter originating from his own zone at 18:03.
The Black Hawks and Phantoms meet again on Saturday in Youngstown to complete Waterloo's three-game road swing.
Waterloo 0 2 1 - 3
Youngstown 2 2 2 - 6
1st Period-1, Youngstown, Koltsov 5 5:14. 2, Youngstown, Hair 5 (Orlowsky, Hall), 14:42. Penalties-Nsonsa Kitala Wat (hooking), 9:42; Dustin Wat (10-minute misconduct, major-fighting), 17:09; McKinnon Yng (10-minute misconduct, major-fighting), 17:09.
2nd Period-3, Youngstown, Koltsov 6 (Spencer), 5:20. 4, Waterloo, Marquardt 1 (Davis), 9:44. 5, Waterloo, Russell 7 (Rieber), 12:47. 6, Youngstown, Spencer 1 (Linna, McKinnon), 18:32. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-7, Waterloo, O'Donohue 2 (Davis, Marquardt), 3:50. 8, Youngstown, Hall 2 (Koltsov, Orlowsky), 12:38. 9, Youngstown, Orlowsky 4 18:03 (EN). Penalties-Zajic Yng (holding), 13:41.
Shots on Goal-Waterloo 7-17-9-33. Youngstown 8-4-8-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Waterloo 0 / 1; Youngstown 0 / 1.
Goalies-Waterloo, Charvat 6-2-0-0 (19 shots-14 saves). Youngstown, Lepak 6-5-1-0 (33 shots-30 saves).
A-763
