YOUNGSTOWN — Fans of “old school” hockey were in for a treat on Saturday as the Youngstown Phantoms grinded their way to a physical 6-3 win over Sioux Falls.

“I thought it was a great, old school Youngstown Phantoms hockey game,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “I loved our compete (level). We had four of our top players out, and the young bucks showed up and did a great job. It was a hostile environment. It was just old school fun, I loved it. I thought getting out to an early lead there, we got put on a five minute penalty kill there – that was a bogus call again – and our guys went out and scored a shorty, I thought it was awesome. That juice, that energy. I’m so proud of the guys tonight, like that was a gutsy, gutsy effort.”

Just 34 seconds in the game, Phantoms defenseman Charlie Lieberman was hit with a five-minute major and ejected for cross-checking.

Despite being down a man half a minute into the game, that didn’t stop the Phantoms’ offensive aggression.

Only 30 seconds into the five-minute penalty kill, Phantoms center Braiden Clark got a breakaway chance and capitalized, scoring the unassisted goal.

The Phantoms killed the five-minute penalty, but moments after Sioux Falls returned a man to the ice, the Stampede knotted the game up at 1-each with a Matheson Mason goal.

It didn’t take long for Youngstown to respond however, as Michigan commit Mikey Burchill perfectly placed the puck in the top corner of the net. Burchill threaded multiple needles, sending the puck through a crowd of bodies before it connected with twine.

Miles Gunty added one more before the first period ended to put the Phantoms up 3-1 after one.

Ohio State commit Ryan Rucinski opened the period with another goal to boost the lead to 4-1. That was Rucinski’s first goal as a USHL player and the Broadview Heights native hopes it provides him an added confidence boost.”

“It’s great,” Rucinski said. “Obviously I can play with a little more confidence out there now knowing I can do it, so it’s great.”

Each time Sioux Falls cut into the lead, the Phantoms came back with an answer. After the Stampede scored two straight power play goals to bookend the second and third periods and cut the Phantoms lead to 4-3, Hunter Ramos extended the lead once again.

The Phantoms battled off the 6-on-5 rush by Sioux Falls and after multiple tries, Grant Young got the elusive empty net goal.

It was Young’s first goal of the season. Not for a lack of trying. The Harvard commit has generated a ton of opportunities all year, but he just couldn’t find the back of the net. Ward is hoping the empty-netter gets the monkey off his back.

“I don’t think Grant was coming off the ice there at the end. He’s been so snake bitten,” Ward said. “He generates so much every night, so it was good to see him finally get one. I know he’s relieved. Hopefully he can just get back to thinking about playing hockey.”

Tory Pitner and Sam Ranallo each picked up a pair of assists in the win.

The win moves the Phantoms to 8-3-0-0 on the season and 16 points in the standings. They’re tied with Muskegon, who picked up a standings point in an overtime loss to Green Bay on Saturday.

Youngstown closes the weekend out with a home contest against Madison today. Next weekend, the Phantoms host Tri-City in a two-game set. Start time is set for 4:05.

RECORD BOOKS REWRITTEN

In Friday’s game against Sioux Falls, captain and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Andrew Strathmann set a club record, scoring his 49th career point, which is a Phantoms’ high for points as a defenseman in a career. Strathmann passed Ryan Lowney (2011-2013) to reach the mark.

The mark came in the second period as Strathmann recorded the assist on Kuzma Voronin’s goal.

Strathmann also became the team’s assists leader earlier in the month. The Phantoms missed their top defender on Saturday due to a suspension that came from an unpenalized hit.

ROAD TRIP RECAP

The Phantoms returned home from their four-game road trip with three wins in hand. Their only loss came in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Lincoln. The Phantoms took down Lincoln in the other matchup 3-0, then dispatched both Madison and Chicago on back-to-back nights by a 3-2 score.

It was the first road trip of the season for the Phantoms and an early test for the young team. A lot of early-season road trips are where a team finds out what its made of and is a ripe opportunity for team bonding.

That’s no different for the Phantoms.

“We had some time to spend together on the road in Lincoln and I thought it was great for the guys,” Ward said. “Anytime you go on the road, you look at it as more of a morale, team-building thing than anything else. For us, we were able to get a split in Lincoln and obviously, a huge two games in Madison and Chicago. These experiences are very important to go through especially with a young team early on.”

byauger@tribtoday.com