Phantoms defenseman Conner de Haro fires a shot on net which connected with the back of the net. The Phantoms fell 7-4 in Game 1.

YOUNGSTOWN — It was a promising start for the Youngstown Phantoms, but Madison seemed to have an answer for everything the Phantoms threw at them as the Capitols took down Youngstown 7-4 in the opening game of the Clark Cup Playoffs.

“I thought we started fine, and then I thought we just made some critical errors,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “I think some youthful mistakes that we can’t make. Hopefully they learn from what they got. We have a young team, and they got their first playoff experience out of the way now, and I think we can get back to playing hockey tomorrow.”

It looked like Sam Ranallo blew a tire in front of the net, but as he went down, the forward fired a slapshot that ripped past netminder Carsen Musser and into the net.

Rainers Rullers got Madison on the board with a slapshot goal two minutes before the first intermission.

Defenseman Conner de Haro put the Phantoms back out in front, but that lead would be short-lived as Aiden Long quickly scored a pair to take their first lead of the night.

Grant Young got the team’s second power play goal of the night, to tie things back up. The Phantoms went a perfect 2-of-2 with the extra man on Monday.

After Young’s goal however, Madison went on a tear, scoring three more goals to close out the middle period.

Max Nagel, Austin Burnevik, and Brendan Lamb each connected with twine to give the Capitols a three-goal lead going into the final intermission.

Despite controlling pace for much of the game, and dominating the shots on goal until the third period, Madison’s shots went in, and the Phantoms’ shots didn’t.

“We didn’t stick to the game plan at all,” Ward said. “Guys just made mistakes, and unfortunately every puck went in the net that we made a mistake on. I thought we played pretty well, like we were dominant at times. We just made some really, really bad mistakes and that’s going to happen every now and then. We just have to turn the page and move on.”

The Phantoms started inching their way back in the third. Captain Andrew Strathmann put Youngstown within two with his power play goal.

That’d be the only goal the Phantoms would get in the final frame however.

Colin Winn stepped into the crease for the third period saving eight of eight faced shots. Nagel scored his second on the empty net to ice the game.

Youngstown looks to even things up tonight at the Covelli Centre with their backs against the wall.

Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.

It’s do or die tonight for the Phantoms as a win will force a decisive Game 3 on Wednesday. A loss will end the title defense run.

Luckily for the Phantoms, home losses don’t happen often, boasting a 21-5-3-2 record inside the Covelli Centre.

“The good news is we have two games on home ice here to win the series and we like being here,” Ward said. “We just have to flush it and move on. We need to have short memories and we’re on to the game tomorrow.”

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