A triumphant return

CEDAR RAPIDS - He came back and conquered.

Goaltender Chris Birdsall and his Youngstown Phantoms finished off a weekend sweep of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders with a 3-2 victory Saturday night before a season-high 4,183 fans at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Birdsall spent the previous two seasons with Cedar Rapids but requested a trade this past offseason and was obliged. The Boston College commit made 33 saves here.

Youngstown also beat the Riders, 5-3, Friday night. Cedar Rapids remains in first place overall in the USHL, with 52 points on a 26-10 record.

The teams play two more games against each other this coming weekend in Ohio.

Youngstown got the first goal, seven minutes into the first period, when Max Letunov scored on the power play. The St. Louis Blues draft pick found himself alone in front of the net with the puck and rifled a wrist shot past RoughRiders goaltender Ryan Larkin to the stick side.

The lone assist on Letunov's goal went to Kyle Connor, who is a projected first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Connor, a University of Michigan commit, was 14th last week among all draft-eligible North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's midterm rankings.

Cedar Rapids tied the game, 1-1, just 14 seconds later in a rather peculiar way.

Andrew Oglevie skated alone into the right faceoff circle and ripped a shot that appeared to go into the top left corner of the net and right back out. Oglevie raised his stick in celebration, though play continued for another 15 seconds or so.

After a stoppage, officials checked a video review of the play and awarded Oglevie his goal. Then they checked to make sure the hole in the net was fixed.

Youngstown took control of the game in the second period. The Phantoms scored twice and could have had more goals if not for Larkin, who shined brightly.

Cedar Rapids had issues with turnovers and defensive-zone coverage, which led to a bunch of Youngstown chances.

Matt Miller made it a 2-1 game with a long shot from the right point through traffic at the 5:40 mark. Matt Alvaro got what proved to be the winning goal at the 15:56 mark.

The script was flipped entirely in the third period, as Cedar Rapids put on tons of pressure. Evidence was the 20 shots on goal.

Jiri Fronk made it a one-goal game with his team-leading 23rd goal at the 5:06 mark. Dylan McLaughlin dangled, dangled and dangled with the puck, then threw a cross-ice backhand pass to an uncovered Fronk at the side of the net.

Larkin was pulled in the final minute, and Cedar Rapids had chances. But Birdsall and company held the fort.

Gazette's 3 stars

FIRST STAR – Chris Birdsall (Youngstown): Goaltender returned to Cedar Rapids and picked up two wins.

SECOND STAR – Matt Alvaro (Youngstown): Game-winning goal late in the second period.

THIRD STAR – Ryan Larkin (RoughRiders): Team could have given up half-dozen goals if not for his strong play in net.

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