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April 2, 2009

Stars hit road for playoff opener

Series comes back to TC for games three and four

BY JAMES COOK

TRAVERSE CITY -- The North Stars are set to boldly go where they haven't been since the club's inaugural campaign.

The playoffs.

Traverse City opens the postseason Friday at Mahoning Valley, going to a place that would be a lot more daunting if it weren't for a March 13-15 series.

After a 9-2 road loss to the Phantoms on March 13, the Stars bounced back for 4-1 and 3-2 victories to take their first-ever road series from Mahoning.

Game On

TRAVERSE CITY (34-17-7) vs. MAHONING VALLEY (36-17-5)

What: NAHL first-round playoff series

Season series: TC won series 7-5-1

At Mahoning: Split 3-3-1

At TC: TC won 4-2-0

SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1: Fri. @ MV, 7:30

Game 2: Sun. @ MV, 3:00

Game 3: April 9 @ TC, 7:05

Game 4: April 10 @ TC, 7:05*

Game 5: April 12 @ MV, TBA*

* if necessary

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"Anytime you win the majority of points in the round, it's important," TC coach/GM Anthony Palumbo said. "But it's big to know you can go there and win."

"Those were two of our best games of the year. We also have to remember they weren't easy wins. They have a lot of players with playoff experience.

"We use Mahoning as a benchmark -- and to be embarrassed by them ... helped us to refocus and think, 'Maybe we're not as good as we thought.' It's been a bit of a rallying spot that we responded to that."

The second game of the series will be on Sunday because the Mahoning Valley Thunder -- an Arena Football League 2 team -- have a game Saturday.

So, Palumbo said his team will be going to watch the football game between the Thunder and the Milwaukee Iron.

The series returns to Traverse City for games 3 and 4 on April 9 and 10, and would move back to suburban Youngstown for game 5 on April 12 if needed.

Palumbo said clinching a postseason berth was like taking a weight off.

"It was something that was on our minds," Palumbo said. "Then we went on and won five or six games after clinching because the pressure was off. But they handled it pretty well. In my mind, it was our first big test of the season, seeing how we handled that pressure."

But now the Stars have to travel to a place where they have been dominated until recently.

Mahoning -- which has reached the playoffs in five of six seasons -- sports a 20-7-2 home mark, one of just eight NAHL teams with 20-plus wins at home this season, a list that includes Traverse City with the exact same home-ice record.

The Chevrolet Centre environment will be as even more hostile than normal, as the Phantoms are offering ticket discounts for the first two games of the series and giving away T-shirts for the opener.

TC -- which is 6-0-1 since the 9-2 shellacking at the hands of the Phantoms -- is entering the series almost completely healthy. Forward Tim Opie missed last weekend's games with Marquette, but should be back in the lineup this weekend.

Meanwhile, the Stars head into the playoffs with a pair of goalies they can turn to. The Phantoms rely mostly on Jordan Tibbett (24-9-2, 2.47).

In TC's only win over Mahoning by more than two goals, the Stars tagged backup netminder Garrett Bartus in a 4-1 March 14 victory.

"C.J. (Motte) is playing well and Brandon (Stephenson) was awesome in Marquette (last weekend)," Palumbo said, adding that Motte (22-9-2, 2.30) will likely start on Friday.

Mahoning is likely to go with Tibbett, who is 5-3-1 against TC, with a 2.08 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

After leading the division almost all season long, The Phantoms were passed in the final week by Team USA. Mahoning went 1-1, while USA was 4-0 to secure the points to leapfrog the Phantoms on the regular season's last day.

"We knew all year long it was a pretty tough division," Mahoning assistant coach Curtis Carr said. "Obviously you'd like to finish first, but it was so tight a division and any of the top three teams could have won it."

Stefan Salituro leads the Phantoms with 48 points, including a team-high 34 assists, while Brandon Saad (47 points) is the club's top goal-scorer with 29. Jordy Trottier (46 points) and Nick Shkreli (44) are also among Mahoning's top threats. Nick Kenney had seven goals in 13 outings against the North Stars this year.

"I think it's going to be a pretty hard-fought, even series," Carr said. "It'll come down to who makes the fewest mistakes and special teams could be a big factor."

The winner of the series will move on to face the winner of the Team USA-Alpena IceDiggers divisional semifinal in a best-of-five-games North Division championship.

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