Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Phantoms’ forward Brecken Smith (39) tries to poke the puck loose from Chicago Steel goalie Jack Parsons during the first period of Saturday’s game at Covelli Centre.

YOUNGSTOWN — Every game is a learning experience, and the Youngstown Phantoms learned a valuable lesson on Friday.

They saw firsthand how quickly momentum swings in hockey. But they forced overtime, and a goal by Landan Resendes in the extra period sent the Phantoms to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Steel at the Covelli Centre.

“Hockey is a game of momentum, and for us, we probably need to learn to manage that a little better,” Phantoms head coach Ryan Ward said. “But overall, up two goals going into that third period and have that deflating feeling, but to come out of it, really important.”

Resendes crossed the face of Steel goalie Jack Parsons, who stopped the shot. The puck didn’t go into the corner. Instead it slid to the right of the net, and Resendes got back on the rebound and sent it over a leaning Parsons for the game-winning score with 18.6 seconds left in overtime.

“Experience in the league and playing in the league is so valuable. I think that you see that, and you expect that from those guys,” Ward said when talking about Resendes. “The details and big situations, they’ve been there. For Landan, it was his first goal as a Phantom, and I know he wanted that one.”

The Phantoms got after the Steel quickly to open the game.

The Steel’s Alex Calbeck was called for tripping, sending the Phantoms on a power play less than 45 seconds into the game. Adam Benak scored his fourth goal of the season after finding some room to the right of the offensive zone. He delivered a shot from the center of the right face-off circle.

Michael Munroe recorded his first goal of the year when he similarly found space near the right circle at the 11:16 mark.

Youngstown (7-7-0-0, 14 points) got off to another fast start to begin the second period.

Carter Murphy sent the puck toward the net from between the left circle and the blue line. He was credited with his first career United States Hockey League goal 1:44 into the frame.

Chicago (6-9-2-0, 14 points) got one back after the Phantoms were undermanned.

The Phantoms’ had already killed off a two-minute minor when Justin Kerr was called for tripping, but just as they got back to even strength, Luke Santilli was sent to the box for a four-minute high stick.

Youngstown’s penalty killers almost got the job done, but they came up a couple seconds short. Just as Santilli was exiting the box, Tobias Ohman sent a one-timer over the glove side of Phantoms goalie Owen Lepak at the 14:44 mark of the second.

The Phantoms held a 3-1 lead to start the third period, and a fight between Youngstown’s Coleson Hanrahan and Chicago’s Hudson Gorski injected some energy into the Covelli Centre. But it also provided a bit of a spark for the Steel.

Youngstown’s Michael Coleman was sent to the sin bin for a cross check a couple minutes into the third. Ohman added his second power-play goal of the night at 3:13 to put pressure back on Youngstown.

Kolin Sisson applied some pressure to the Phantoms via the rush just seconds later. He sent the puck to the net while driving from the right side, and it got past Lepak to tie the game at three at 4:14.

Murphy came through for the Phantoms again with less than 10 minutes to play. He sent a shot from the right circle in a nearly identical fashion to his second-period goal. His shot made it past Parsons, and the Phantoms took a 4-3 lead.

But the scoreboard changed again just over a minute later. Will Tomko skated toward the net and sent a shot over Lepak’s blocker to tie the game at four less than 13 minutes into the third.

“Kinda weird moments,” Ward said. “We have a fight — we’re up 3-1 — probably gave them a bit more energy, we take a penalty and didn’t execute what we were supposed to do.”

Both teams tried to take advantage of a few chances, but nothing created a high-danger situation, leading to overtime and Resendes’ clinching goal.

Lepak stopped 17-of-21 shots for his first win in Youngstown. Forwards Jack Hextall, Michael Mesic, Mikey Burchill, Jakub Hes, Kerr and Resendes were credited with one assist each, along with defenseman Luke Osburn.

The Phantoms have a big week coming up as they host Cedar Rapids on Friday and Saturday before the Team USA 18U’s visit on Sunday.

“We’re gonna have to grind, we’re gonna have to dig deep and we’re gonna have to find another gear,” Ward said.