By WJBC Staff

BLOOMINGTON – Youngstown scored on the power play with 21 seconds remaining in regulation to tip Bloomington, 4-3, on Thursday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

After going scoreless on their first three power plays of the night, the Phantoms (24-13-4-1, 53 pts) cashed in on their final opportunity of the game, as Nicolas Werbik scored his second of the night to put Youngstown ahead for good.

The Thunder (17-18-3-2, 39 pts) had one final push in the waning seconds, but Youngstown goaltender Ivan Kulbakov turned aside a last second shot as time expired.

Bloomington took the early lead in the game, as Ben Mirageas scored his first career goal that also happened to be the fastest goal to start a game this season. Mirageas collected a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Kulbakov just 27 seconds into the opening period.

In a game of quick responses, Evan Wisocky scored just 35 seconds after Mirageas’ goal to immediately knot the score at one.

Then at the outset of the second period, Mitchell Chaffee helped the Thunder pull even at two following Youngstown’s goal just 3:44 into the frame. The Rockford, Michigan, native floated a backhander over the glove side of Kulbakov only 61 seconds after the Phantoms took the lead to draw the score even once more.

The Phantoms took a lead to the second intermission with the first goal of the night from Werbik, but Ethan Somoza potted a power-play tally to ensure a deadlock again. Somoza scored his 11th of the year off a faceoff while sprawling to the ice at 2:10 of the third, giving the Thunder a power-play tally for the third consecutive home game.

Making his 20th start of the season, Gabe Mollot-Hill turned aside 18 of 22 shots in goal for Bloomington.

The Thunder aim for the series split on Friday night, which is Spring Expo Night.