Black Hawks Comeback Falls Short
A late Waterloo Black Hawks goal was not enough to overcome the Youngstown Phantoms Friday (Feb. 16, 2018) during a 2-1 road loss at Covelli Centre in eastern Ohio.
The Black Hawks trailed for much of the night. Waterloo killed off all but the final seconds of the first period’s lone power play before the Phantoms broke through at 16:25. That’s when Mike Regush cut to the net through the right circle; the rebound of his shot was knocked across the goal line by Chase Gresock.
The Phantoms doubled the lead with a two-on-one rush at 8:43 of the third. Nick Cardelli dished a pass to Eric Esposito flying to the net from the right wing. Esposito’s shot went in as the net was being dislodged.
Waterloo hit two posts during a late third period power play. Ben Finkelstein finally found a way to beat Ivan Prosvetov, but only 10.8 seconds remained. With an extra attacker on the ice, the Hawks gained control off a faceoff. Bobby Trivigno was knocked to a knee coming off the left wing boards with the puck, but still slipped a pass to Finkelstein at the right point. His low attempt found its way inside the long side post, but Waterloo did not have enough time remaining to generate an attempt for the equalizer.
Prosvetov made 34 saves as Waterloo outshot Youngstown 35-25.
The Black Hawks complete their weekend in eastern Ohio on Saturday with rematch against the Phantoms. The puck drops at 6:05 PM-CDT.
Contributed By: Tim Harwood (Waterloo Black Hawks Media Relations)