BOX SCORE

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – William Whitelaw's goal with 13.7 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Youngstown Phantoms (35-17-4-1, 75 points) over the Chicago Steel 5-4 Friday night at the Covelli Centre. Whitelaw led all scorers with three points on the night, tacking on a goal and an assist earlier in the game. Youngstown had lost nine-straight overtime decisions to Chicago dating back to February 2018.

With time winding down in the bonus frame, Chicago defenseman Anthony Dowd fanned on a pass attempt at the right point of the Youngstown zone. As the puck trickled into the neutral zone, Whitelaw skated into it and blazed up ice. Charging down the middle of the Chicago end, Whitelaw hit the hashmarks, pulled the puck to his backhand and fired it past Jack Stark (36 saves) for his second goal of the night and team-leading 34^th of the season, giving Youngstown the win.

"I thought Will was excellent tonight," said Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. "He worked. He tracked. He got above pucks. He turned pucks over. He obviously had a ton of shot attempts. I thought he did a great job getting the puck to the net. He's been coming on here for a while. Tonight I thought he was really good."

Whitelaw also opened the scoring on the night, converting on a breakaway 5:40 into the game. After a defensive-zone faceoff win, Whitelaw took off down the right-wing boards and skated into a perfect pass from Shane Lachance. In alone on Chicago netminder Jack Stark (36 saves), Whitelaw snapped a wrister over Stark's shoulder for the 1-0 Youngstown advantage.

The Phantoms doubled their lead early in the second period when Jake Rozzi put home the rebound of Miles Gunty's shot at 3:03. It was Rozzi's 18^th goal of the season and gave Gunty his first point in the USHL. "To have Miles playing meaningful hockey after his injury and contributing on the scoresheet tonight and playing well is a huge testament to his character and work ethic. Super proud of Miles."

No lead is safe against the Chicago Steel, though, and they struck twice before the middle frame ended to tie the game. Thor Byfuglien got a wrister to squeak through Jacob Fowler (20 saves) at 8:41 to get the Steel on the board and Michael Hage redirected a Jack Harvey shot past Fowler for a power play goal at 15:21, sending the teams to the locker room for the second intermission tied at 2.

Youngstown regained the lead early in the third period when Brandon Svoboda put home his own rebound at 3:02, banking it off the back of Stark and into the cage. The Steel responded with two goals to jump in front for the first time on the night. Jayden Perron scored on the rush at 8:12 to knot the game back at 3, firing home a nice feed from Macklin Celebrini. Nick Moldenhauer put home a Celebrini rebound at 11:17 to give Chicago a 4-3 advantage, although the goal should not have counted because the net was off its pegs before the puck was across the goal line.

The Chicago goal that should not have counted quieted the Covelli Centre crowd, but the Phantoms answered back the very next shift. Youngstown came up ice in a 3-on-2 rush, ending with Martin Misiak snapping a wrister from the left circle past Stark to the glove side just 38 seconds after the Moldenhauer goal, tying things back up at 4-4.

In overtime, Youngstown played amazing defense, only allowing the Steel a single shot on goal. The Phantoms defense got big plays from Chase Pietila, Jack Willson, and Nick Williams denying the Steel on odd-man rushes. The best scoring chance of the frame (before the Whitelaw goal) came when Matt Perkins had a breakaway from the top of the circles-in on Stark with 2:05 left, but his backhander missed the cage, setting the scene for Whitelaw's late heroics.

The Phantoms sit two points behind the Steel for first place in the Eastern Conference and two points ahead of third-place Team USA. Both Chicago and the NTDP own the first tiebreaker over Youngstown, Regulation + Overtime Wins (ROW). Chicago and Team USA both have 33 ROW while the Phantoms sit at 30. By earning their 77^th point in the standings, Chicago cannot drop below fourth place in the Eastern Conference, guaranteeing them a home playoff series. Youngstown and Chicago wrap up their season series tomorrow night at the Covelli Centre with a 7:05pm puck drop.

By the Numbers
Shots – 41
Saves – 20
Power Play – 0/4
Penalty Kill – 2/3
Goals – Misiak, Rozzi, Svoboda, Whitelaw (2)
Assists – Gunty, Lachance (2), Rozzi, Whitelaw, Willson (2)