Staff photo / Brian Yauger Phantoms forward Nathan Lewis prepares a shot on net in the team's 2-1 victory over Madison

YOUNGSTOWN — With two goals in the first 10 minutes of Saturday’s contest, it appeared fans were in store for a barnburner.

Things never quite cooled off at the Covelli Centre, but both netminders from Youngstown and Madison held their respective forts down.

Whoever was taking home two highly-coveted standings points in a heated Eastern Conference standings battle, needed to make the opposing goalie blink.

In the end, Madison blinked, as the Phantoms took down the Capitols 2-1 to snap a four-game skid and secure their spot at fourth in the East.

After a last-second overtime loss in Friday’s game, Phantoms coach Ryan Ward challenged his team, and they rose to the occasion.

“Obviously we had to learn (after yesterday) and I thought we did a much better job closing this game out,” Ward said. “We’re just such a better team when we play with passion and emotion, and I thought tonight we had a little bit of that. I thought we were pretty dominant in the game. … It was better. It was a much better effort. Even last night, we had a good effort. It was just, you have to go through that and learn how to close out games, especially with the playoffs going here in a couple weeks.”

Nathan Lewis continued his dominant streak, opening the contest with a rocket of a slapshot to put the team up 1-0.

The Phantoms did a great job limiting shots early, but as the first period progressed, Madison was able to sneak through. That eventually culminated in an Austin Burnevik goal which locked the game up at 1-all going into the first intermission.

Despite a high-octane middle frame with numerous chances, neither team would yield a goal.

Phantoms forward Ryan Botterill finally broke the deadlock at the midway point of the third period, finishing off a pass from Lewis.

Madison was given one last opportunity as Lewis picked up a five-minute major for slew-footing, giving the Capitols a power play for the remaining minute and 20 seconds.

The Phantoms’ penalty kill held strong, and shut Madison down, even with the extra man.

As postseason fast approaches, the games are going to get more intense.

Adding guys like Lewis and defenseman Coleson Hanrahan to the mix has been paying dividends, and has brought some vinegar to a team searching for it earlier this year.

“He’s something that we were missing during the season,” Ward said of Lewis. “I think just being a leader in the locker room and (Lewis), he brings a little bit of snarl to the game. When Nathan’s on the ice, there’s no funny business going on.”

“And I can’t really overstate how important Coleson is. Like Coleson comes in from the NCDC, and people forget, he was the best player in that NCDC, so it’s not like Coleson is a bad hockey player. This isn’t the Ronald McDonald House of giving a guy a chance, like Coleson is a really good hockey player that’s going to continue to grow and develop and be really good for the next year or two for us in Youngstown. … Those two guys, getting them before the playoffs is something that’s been really important.”

The Phantoms (29-19-5-4, 67 points), who clinched a playoff berth after Friday’s game, have just five games remaining in the regular season. They host Green Bay for a trio of contests on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Start time Thursday is set for 6:05 p.m.

Keep an eye on the playoff seeding, because a rematch of this hotly-contested weekend series could be the Phantoms’ opening-round match up.

Ward is hoping the energy they carried Saturday is the new normal for his group.

“I would hope there would be emotion, it’s playoffs for (goodness) sake,” Ward said. “It’s sports, right? There’s emotions, there’s passion, and certainly in Youngstown, that’s what we pride ourselves on. We don’t want to take any day for granted. We don’t want to take a single second that we’re here for granted, and I think we want to play with passion. We want to play with emotion, we thrive in those environments, and we better see more of it.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Brian Yauger by email at byauger@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @_brianyauger.