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Some "stuff" happening during a Phantoms 6-3 win over the USA NTDP U17s.After cancelling the game Friday due to a failing cooling system for the ice and an abysmal performance on Saturday, the Phantoms probably were just trying to get out of the weekend without anything else crazy happening at the Covelli and a bounce back win over the NTDP U17s. Well, they got half of that. It was somehow not surprising when I walked into the Covelli Centre on Sunday afternoon to a darkened arena due to a power outage. After an 80 minute delay, the lights were back on and we were able to play, and the Phantoms earned a 6-3 win.

Things started badly for the Phantoms. Just 1:19 into the game the NTDP struck first. A shot rebounded off of newly acquired Phantoms netminder Jacob Fowler as he missed sweeping the puck out of danger. Before he could cover it, William Vote poked it in to open the scoring. The Phantoms struggled to keep up for most of the period. However, a late penalty for USA put the Phantoms on the powerplay, and Trey Taylor notched his first of the night with 1:15 left in the period from near the blueline with Shane LaChance screening the NTDP goaltender Carson Musser. Shots were 8-7 Phantoms in the period.

Taylor got his second of the tilt early in the second. Kyle Bettens skated out from behind the USA net and laid a pass for Taylor to one-time from the left faceoff dot at 4:06. Winter Wallace, fresh out of the penalty, box extended the lead with a shot on the rush that looked to beat Musser stick side at 7:51 - just 9 seconds out of the sin-bin.  Paul Fischer halved the deficit for USA, a point shot through a screen in front of Fowler at 12:13.

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Jacob Fowler get gets his first nod in relief of Kyle Chauvette Saturday.Well, I've been saying the NTDP U17 kids will figure out how to play as a squad someday, and if you don't play a full 60 minutes in a game, you're going to get burned. I'm not fully convinced they've gotten beyond the first part, figuring it out, but the Phantoms proved me right on the second part. They played poorly for most of the game and got handed their first loss by the U17s this season in only their second win in the USHL. This coming after the Phantoms had their first game ever called off after start time, after lingering issues with the ice caused it to be deemed unsafe to play on Friday, an hour past the original scheduled start time.

It started well, at least. The Phantoms came out with a good jump in their step and took it to the NTDP early in the first. Kyle Bettens was the recipient of a Jaden Grant faceoff win in the left facoff circle, taking the puck from the boards to the slot without much resistance where he ripped a snap shot that beat NTDP netminder Ty Augustine five-hole just 2:35 into the game.

The Phantoms let up as the period went on, and the NTDP tied it at 10:15 after Adam Ingram was handcuffed by a pass in his defensive end. Alexander Weiermair stripped the Phantoms forward in the slot, and walked around netminder Kyle Chauvette who was too far out of the crease and went down to play the shot too early. With just 2:38 left in the first, the NTDP took the lead when Beckett Hendrickson wrapped the puck around the net from behind, centering a pass for Salvadore Guzzo to stab home for a 2-1 lead going into intermission. Shots were 10-9 USA in the first.

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The Phantoms play 3 in 3 against the NTDP U17s.So here we are, in the grind of the season where I don't have a lot of new news. It's hard to write a preview that doesn't read the same as the last, especially with the Phantoms (14-12-2-3) not playing teams in the Western Conference. After splitting the pair of games in Muskegon last weekend, it's nice to see the Phantoms play some fresh faces. Wait, someone just told me we've played these kids before. I jest a little, but the USA Hockey's National Team Developmental Program Under 17 squad (1-13-1-0) doesn't leave much of an impression yet. We'll see after this week. Not only are these teams meeting for the first time on Covelli ice this season, but they'll play 3 games in (less than) 3 days.

Again, I've mentioned in past articles I don't have a lot of scouting reports and not a lot of in person viewing. I'm going on just pure stats and, boy howdy, are those bad. William Smith leads the group in scoring with 6g, 8a. Second on the team and tied for the lead in assists is Oliver Moore with 4g, 9a. Rounding off the double digit scorers is Gabriel Perreault with 3g, as well as 9a to tie with Moore in that column. The rest of the team not only have less than 10 points but the closest is 5 players who have some combination of goals and assists for 5 points. 

Defense is horrible. Last time I previewed them they only had 1 player on the blueline with a positive +/-. Nothing has changed, Kai Janviriya is still that only guy, still with a +1. The rest range from -5 to a pair with -17. The only consolation this time is that there are now a couple other players in the league that are worse.

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