BOX SCORE

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – The Youngstown Phantoms (37-18-0-1, 75 points) scored twice in the opening seven minutes and never looked back as they downed the Fargo Force 6-1 at the Covelli Centre Friday night.

"The first two periods, flush those," said Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. "(In the) third period I thought we were really good. We executed our game plan. We came back and did a good job, started playing our brand of hockey."

The Phantoms opened the scoring at 5:42 on Coleson Hanrahan's wrister from the right point. Force netminder Alan Lendak (14 saves) was screened on the play and never reacted to the shot from Youngstown's captain until it was past him. Fifty-three seconds later Ryan Rucinski doubled the Phantoms' lead, finishing off a 3-on-2 break with Brecken Smith and Evan Jardine. Fargo potted their only goal of the night at 9:01, a power play wrister from former-Phantom Kuzma Voronin.

Youngstown scored their next four to remove any doubt from the contest. Jamison Sluys created a turnover in the Fargo zone and fed Michael Mesic for a one-timer at 14:02 of the second. Smith converted a power play goal for Youngstown at 3:10 of the third. Luke Osburn fired home a wrister from the left circle after a faceoff win at 14:21, putting Youngstown ahead 5-1. The goal was Osburn's 17^th in the USHL, tying him with New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield for the most career goals by a Phantoms defenseman. Mesic capped off the night at 15:06, putting home the rebound of a Sluys shot for his second goal of the night and team-leading 19^th goal of the season. Sluys ended up with three assists on the night, bringing him to 98 points in his USHL career. Former Force skater Peter Cisar put up two assists on his former team.

Phantom netminder Melvin Strahl stopped 18-of-19, earning his league-leading 30^th win of the season. Strahl is currently five wins clear of Lincoln's Yan Shostak in the wins column and could become the second goalie in team history (Jacob Fowler) to lead the USHL in wins. The victory also brings Strahl one win short of tying the team record for wins in a season set by Sean Romeo in the 2012-2013 season.

Despite the loss, Team USA's win over Des Moines clinched a playoff spot for Fargo. Youngstown moved within a point of Muskegon, while Madison's victory over the Lumberjacks jumped them over idle-Dubuque and into first place in the Eastern Conference. Only three points separate first from fourth in the Eastern Conference as the push towards the Clark Cup playoffs marches on.

Youngstown and Fargo will wrap up their weekend series Saturday night at the Covelli Centre with puck drop coming at 6:05pm.

By The Numbers
Shots – 20
Saves – 18
Power Play – 1/2
Penalty Kill – 4/5
Goals – Hanrahan, Mesic (2), Osburn, Rucinski, Smith
Assists – Cisar (2), Huston, Jardine (2), Rucinski, Sluys (3), Smith, Sobieski