BOX SCORE

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – The Youngstown Phantoms (37-13-3-1, 78pts) got a three-point night from Evan Jardine, a two-point night from Ryan Rucinski, and 21 saves from Owen Lepak as they bounced back from Thursday's disappointing performance to defeat the Madison Capitols 4-2 Friday night at the Covelli Centre.

"We should probably actually refund all the fans for that one," Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward said of Thursday night's game. "We challenged some guys today and I thought the response was great. We're treating this like a playoff series, and tomorrow's the rubber match."

Youngstown opened the scoring by doing something that seemed to be missing from Thursday's game: going to the net. Jakub Heš carried the puck along the goal line and stepped out in front of the blue paint. As the puck rolled off his stick, it came to Jesse Orlowsky, who banged it home just 3:03 into the game for his second goal of the season. "Jesse deserves a lot of credit, because he has worked extremely hard," said Ward.
Madison dented their side of the scoreboard 10:15 into the period to tie the game. John Stout used the perfectly-timed screen Jackson Nevers put on Lepak to let a wrister go from the top of the right circle, firing it to the back of the net for a power play goal. It was the Capitols' first power play goal of the season against Youngstown, having entered the game going 0-for-9 in the first three games of the season series. The Phantoms didn't wait long to answer back, however as Jack Hextall and Jardine scored at 12:36 and 13:01 respectively to put Youngstown in front for good. Both goals continued the theme of the night: going to the net. Hextall walked off the left wall and all the way to the slot, shooting back to the left while skating to the right to beat Caleb Heil. Jardine was in the right spot at the right time to put home Rucinski's rebound on the next shift, as the pair worked the "pass off the pads" to perfection.

The Capitols wouldn't go quietly, however, as they cut into the Youngstown lead halfway through the second period. Michael Tang took advantage of a Phantom defenseman being unable to handle a bouncing puck in the Youngstown zone. Tang corralled the loose puck, took three strides to the hash marks, and shot to the left while skating right, beating Lepak over the blocker at 11:49. The Youngstown advantage was trimmed to 3-2 and stayed there until Rucinski scored on the empty net with 1:16 remaining to put the game away.

Lepak won his third straight start, stopping 21-of-23. Heil, playing in his 100^th USHL game, stopped 24-of-27. Heil became just the 22^nd goaltender all-time to eclipse 100 games in the USHL, a list that includes Phantoms alum Sean Romeo.

Youngstown and Madison wrap up their 3-in-3 weekend, as well as their season series, Saturday night at 6:05pm Eastern.

BY THE NUMBERS
Shots – 27
Saves – 21
Power Play – 0/3
Penalty Kill – 2/3
Goals – Hextall, Jardine, Orlowsky, Rucinski
Assists – Heš, Huston, Jardine (2), Murphy, Rucinski