Staff photo / Brian Yauger Phantoms forward Michael Mesic battles for possession of the puck with Muskegon's Cameron Aucoin during the first period of Saturday's game. Mesic scored his eighth goal of the season in a crucial third period for Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — For two periods, Youngstown Phantoms coach Ryan Ward didn’t have much to be pleased about.

A dominant third period by the Phantoms made the difference, however.

After a scoreless overtime period, the Phantoms scored in the first two rounds of the shootout to complete the comeback in a 6-5 victory over Muskegon.

“It’s funny, (hockey and) how it works,” Ward said. “I thought we deserved to win last night, and up until the third period, we didn’t really deserve anything tonight. But great, great job by our guys for sticking with it and never quitting. I think hopefully that’s a win we can build on. Obviously, we’re going to be going head-to-head with that team for a while later (on in the season), so I think hopefully the guys feel good about this and learned a lesson.”

Youngstown fell into a deep hole, trailing 5-2 after the second period.

Some rust and some mental lapses proved fatal early for the team.

“I’ll be honest, we give up nothing out of coverage. I think we just had a couple mental lapses this weekend, with giving up odd-man rushes,” Ward said. “It’s not really something that happens to us very much, but I think it’s a mix of being back from break and not being sharp and just some brain dead stuff. We just got to look after it and continue to get better.”

Once the third period started, however, things started clicking for the Phantoms.

Michael Mesic was that first domino, scoring his eighth goal of the season to help inch the Phantoms closer toward Muskegon.

Luke Osburn’s third-period goal brought the Phantoms within one, but his all-around play has been exactly what the Phantoms have needed come crunch time.

“(Osburn) looks like an NHLer, there is no question,” Ward said. “The last two nights, it’s tough to get the puck from him. And I thought last night he was outstanding. Tonight, I thought he had a slow start, but when the game’s on the line, that kid is a gamer. He looks like a stud. He’s starting to come into his own, and he’s gonna play this game for a while.”

New acquisition Jamison Sluys — pronounced like the word “sly” — continued his red-hot streak since being traded to Youngstown. Sluys scored the game-tying goal to force overtime with 40 seconds remaining in the contest.

“I love it. It’s been everything I hoped it’d be,” Sluys said. “And winning is fun.

“I’ve got good chemistry with my linemates, guys are making plays, I’m making plays. It’s just fun. Hockey is even more fun when you win.”

Forwards Adam Benak and Landan Resendes scored in the shootout and netminder Owen Lepak stifled both Lumberjacks shooters to pick up the win.

This marks the end of the 2024 portion of the Phantoms’ campaign. The new year begins with another brutal stretch for Youngstown as it hits the road once again for the next two weekends.

First, the Phantoms (17-11-0-0, 34 points) take on Dubuque for two games. Then the following weekend is a three-game series with Eastern Conference-leading Muskegon.

With the tough slate ahead, Ward wants to see the team return to its identity. They played that way in the third period and it paid off. Now they need to stick to it for a full 60 minutes.

“I thought we just started to play to our identity. We started to work, we started to pressure, we played loose, we made plays,” Ward said. “I just think the first two periods, we were trying to do everything cute and we weren’t competing. Then in the third, we just started to go, and I think guys were reloading and keeping pucks in. I think our third period is what we usually play like every every period. So that’s why we need to replicate that and take it into next weekend.”