| Express blow lead in franchise’s first game |
By: Staff report
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Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 10:42 pm
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BLAINE — It appeared that the Owatonna Express might win the first game in franchise history, but an experienced Mahoning Valley team popped up and spoiled the party.
The Phantoms scored three goals in six minutes spanning the second and third periods to come back and beat the Express 5-4 in Owatonna’s first game.
“We were OK,” Express coach Pat Cullen said. “I guess what probably stood out most was that we certainly have a lot of work to do. We’ll get there, but it’s going to take a lot of time.”
Owatonna (0-1-0, 0 points) trailed 2-0 in the first, but scored twice in the first and twice in the second to take the lead. Tony McDonald scored Owatonna’s first goal with 10 minutes, nine seconds left in the first, and Cory Thorson netted one 61 seconds later to tie the score 2-2.
In the second, Michael Palmiscno and Stephen Carew scored 1:31 apart to put the Express up 4-2, but the Phantoms came roaring back.
Carl Nielsen scored on the powerplay with 4:43 left in the second and Erik Higby pulled Mahoning Valley even 47 seconds before intermission with his second goal of the game. Robert Harrison put the Phantoms on top with 18:48 to go in the third, and Owatonna never answered.
It didn’t help that the Express spent nearly six of seven minutes in the middle of the period trying to kill penalties.
“We got into a little bit of a penalty problem,” Cullen said. “It certainly doesn’t help your cause if you spend too much time in the box.
“We were ahead 4-2 and we felt pretty good about ourselves, but if you look at the flow of the game, I’m not sure we deserved to be up by that much.”
Mahoning Valley (1-0-0, 2 points) has been one of the top teams in the North American Hockey League in recent years. The Phantoms finished second at the Robertson Cup Championships in 2007 and 2008 and took fourth in 2006.
“They are a very strong team and they will have a lot of success this season,” Cullen said. “They got us on our heels with their speed and depth and they beat us. All in all, we were weren’t terrible. Our guys just need to gain some experience and confidence, and that will take time.”
The Express will go for their first win at 4:15 p.m. today against the United States development team in Blaine. Owatonna also plays Marquette (Friday) and Kenai River (Saturday) in Blaine.
Phantoms 5, Express 4
Owatonna 2 2 0 — 4
Mahoning Valley 2 2 1 — 5
First period: 1, MV, Erik Higby (Cullen Lundholm, Cole Schneider) 17:13; 2, MV, Christian Long (unassisted) 10:57; 3, Owa, Tony McDonald (Josh Daley, Stephen Carew) 10:09; 4, Owa, Cory Thorson (Chris Bournazos) 9:08.
Second period: 5, Owa, Michael Palmiscno (John Kruse) 13:16; 6, Owa, Carew (Tim Smith, McDonald) 11:45 (pp); 7, MV, Carl Nielsen (Johnny Meo) 4:43 (pp); 8, MV, Higby (Schneider, Dustin Hopfner) :47.
Third period: 9, MV, Robert Harrison (unassisted) 18:48.
Shots on goal: Owatonna 23; Mahoning Valley 48.
Power-play opportunities: Owatonna 1 of 5; Mahoning Valley 1 of 8.
Goalies: Owatonna, Adam Buegler (48 shots-43 saves); Mahoning Valley, Garrett Bartus (23-19). |
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