SPOOKING THE PHANTOMS: The U18s will face the Youngstown Phantoms at home on Friday, and the U17s will travel to face the Phantoms at Covelli Centre  Saturday. These will be the seventh and eighth meetings out of nine this season. The NTDP leads the season series 5-1 so far against Youngstown.

In their most recent meeting on February 25, the U18s defeated the Phantoms, 5-2. Team USA was led to the victory with three point nights from Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) (2-1-3), Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) (1-2-3), and Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) (1-2-3). Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.) also scored in the win.

The Phantoms are 29-18-5-2 (W-L-OTL-SOL) in USHL play this season and are currently second in the Eastern Conference with 65 points. They are 7-1-1-1 in the their last 10 games and are on a nine-game point streak The Phantoms have the league’s 9th ranked defense, having allowed 168 goals, and 11th ranked offense, having scored 155 goals. They have the 8th best power play (19.4%) and 5th best penalty kill (83.6%).

Phantoms Top Scorers: Matthew Barry (14-34-48 in 52 GP), Mike Regush (17-26-43 in 53 GP), Chase Gresock  (22-19-41 in 54 GP)

Phantoms Leaders: Jake Gingell (+8), Chase Gresock (+8), Mike Regush (+6)

Phantoms Goaltenders: Ivan Prosvetov (16-9-3-1 in 32 GP, 2.90 GAA, .912 SV%), Wouter Peeters (13-9-2-1 in 27 GP, 2.90 GAA, .904 SV%)

2017-18 Results/Schedule vs. Youngstown Phantoms: November 3, 2017, U18s vs. Youngstown (W, 5-4); November 17, 2017, U18s @ Youngstown (W, 8-5); December 1, 2017, U17s @ Youngstown (L, 2-0); December 30, 2017, U17s vs. Youngstown (W, 4-1); January 15, 2016, U18s @ Youngstown (W, 7-1); February 25, 2018, U18s vs. Youngstown (W, 4-1)

NTDP All-Time Record vs.  Youngstown Phantoms:

41-33-5 (W-L-OTL) Home: 26-11-2 Road: 15-22-3

LAST TIME OUT: The U.S. National Under-18 Team hosted the Chicago Steel and swept the weekend series. On Friday night (Mar. 23), the U18s won in the shootout in a come-from-behind victory with Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) scoring with 21 seconds remaining to force overtime. Trevor Janicke (Maple Grove, Minn.), Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.), and Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) also scored in the win. Wahlstrom also tallied the shootout winner.

On Saturday (Mar. 24), the U18s were led to an 8-4 victory by Jake Wise (Reading, Mass.) and Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) who each posted three-point nights. Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) scored twice in the win, and Bode Wilde (Birmingham, Mich.), Patrick Giles (Chevy Chase, Md.), and Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.) scored once.

The U17s traveled to Bloomington, Ill. for their series against the Central Illinois Flying Aces. They won 9-3 on Friday, March 23 with Ryder Rolston (Birmingham, Mich.) leading the charge with a four-point night and two goals. Judd Caulfield (Grand Forks, N.D.), Alex Vlasic (Wilmette, Ill.), John Beecher (Elmira, N.Y.), Matthew Boldy (Millis, Mass.), Danny Weight (Lattingtown, N.Y.), John Farinacci (Chatham, N.J.), and Trevor Zegras (Bedford, N.Y.) also scored in the victory.

The following day (Saturday, Mar. 24), the U17s completed their sweep of the Flying Aces with a 4-2 win. Owen Lindmark (Naperville, Ill.), Michael Gildon (Plano, Texas), Henry Thrun (Southborough, Mass.), and Matthew Boldy (Millis, Mass.) scored for Team USA.

Finally, on Sunday (Mar. 25), the U17s traveled to face the Chicago Steel where they fell 9-6. Ryder Rolston (Birmingham, Mich.) and Trevor Zegras (Bedford, N.Y.) posted four-point nights in the loss with Rolston netting a hat-trick. Alex Vlasic (Wilmette, Ill.) and John Beecher (Elmira, N.Y.) also scored in the defeat.

LAST CHANCE: The U18s game against the Youngstown Phantoms on Friday will mark the final home game and their final USHL game.