PHANTOMS BLANK BLACK HAWKS 6-0 HAT TRICK FOR CISAR; TWO-GOAL NIGHT FOR STENGRIM; SLUYS RECORDS 100TH USHL POINT; STRAHL STOPS 26

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – The first three goals in a Phantom jersey for Peter Cisar, a pair of goals for Kade Stengrim, and 26 saves from Melvin Strahl all helped add up to a 6-0 win for the Youngstown Phantoms (39-18-0-1, 79 points) over the visiting Waterloo Black Hawks Friday night at the Covelli Centre.

“The guys got off to a good start, I liked our energy, I liked our physicality,” said Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. “I really liked the way we didn’t let up the whole game; that’s the sign of a maturing team. I thought they did a good job.”

The Phantoms grabbed the lead just 3:19 into the game and never looked back. Carter Murphy’s takeaway on the left wall ended up on the stick of Jakub Heš, who snapped it past Kam Hendrickson (10 saves) for his 10th goal of the season. Cisar notched his first of the night at 11:30, firing home a backdoor pass from Jamison Sluys. Sluys and Cisar teamed up again at 18:23, with Sluys grabbing a loose puck behind the cage and feeding Cisar in front for the goal. The assist gave Sluys 100 points for his USHL career. “’Jamo’ is a ball player, man,” said Ward. “He’s a gamer and he works his tail off.”

Cisar capped off his hat trick with a tally at 8:06 of the second period, tapping home a back-to-front pass from Ryan Rucinski. It was the third hat trick of the season for the Phantoms, the second natural hat trick of the season, the fourth time in team history that they’ve had hat tricks in back-to-back games, and the first USHL hat trick for Cisar. “Peter has been a little snake bitten from a goal-scoring standpoint, I know that’s probably frustrated him,” said Ward. “He’s got six or seven points in his last three games, so I think he’s starting to get used to how we play and being a Phantom. Kudos to him, he had a great night. Every one of his goals he was doing the right thing. Happy for Peter, glad to see him get that monkey off his back.”

Just over five minutes later, Stengrim lasered a shot to the twine from the top of the circles, sending Hendrickson to the bench at 13:45 in favor of Carter Casey (12 saves). Stengrim scored the lone goal of the third period, tapping home a centering pass from Brecken Smith at 5:35 of the third.

The victory for Strahl was his 31st of the season, which ties the team record for goalie wins in a single campaign set by Sean Romeo during the 2012-2013 season. Strahl leads the USHL in wins, is tied for the lead in shutouts, is second in goals-against average, and eighth in save percentage.

Youngstown continues their homestand tomorrow with the first of two against the Chicago Steel.

Shots – 28

Saves – 26

Power Play – 1/2

Penalty Kill – 1/1

Goals – Cisar (2), Heš, Stengrim (2)

Assists – Heš, Mesic, Murphy, Osburn, Rucinski, Sluys (2), Smith

Box Score - https://ushl.com/ht/#/game-summary/12329

PHOTO CREDIT: SCOTT GALVIN/SCOTT GALVIN PHOTOGRAPHY