FARGO — The Fargo Force and Youngstown Phantoms will kick the Clark Cup Finals off Friday night in Fargo.
Game 1 is set for a 7:05 p.m. faceoff at Scheels Arena and will be shown on Flo. While The Rink Live will provide coverage throughout the series.
The Phantoms and Force have met in the finals once before (2018) and are the league’s two furthest teams as they’re separated by over 1,000 miles.
Fargo won the Anderson Cup with a league-best 40-14-4-4 record while the Phantoms were one of the league’s most consistent teams throughout the second half and finished second in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind Chicago. Both teams are 5-1 so far in the playoffs.
Here are five storylines to follow heading into Game 1.
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Who’s in net for Fargo?
It’s one of the biggest questions heading into Friday night — who will be between the pipes for Nick Oliver’s squad? Matej Marinov has carried the baton all season and led the Force to their first three playoff wins. However, there’s something to be said about a hot goaltender at this time of year.
After Marinov fell in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Anton Castro started Game 4 in Lincoln and dazzled with 42 saves in his first action since April 22. Despite the win, Oliver went back to Marinov on Monday — a decision he discussed after Game 4. However, Marinov was pulled after allowing four goals on 21 shots in a wild first period.
Castro was a perfect 13-for-13 in relief and earned his second win of the postseason. Castro is 2-0-0 with a 1.20 GAA and .965 save percentage while Marinov is 3-1-0 with a 2.77 and .910. It’ll be interesting to see who leads Fargo onto the ice for Game 1.
No captain for the Force
The Force will be without their captain Friday night as Kyle Smolen was handed a two-game suspension for head contact. Smolen was ejected just 4:30 into Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals as the right-shot forward delivered a hit on Lincoln forward Patrick Raftery just inside the Lincoln blue line. Smolen received a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit.
The Arizona State commit had 17 goals and 39 points in 59 regular-season games and one assist in four playoff games. He’ll watch from the sidelines Friday and Saturday night, however.
Finish strong
The Force are coming off a five-goal third period in their Game 4 win over the Lincoln Stars, which clinched the Western Conference title. However, it’s part of a bigger trend this postseason as Fargo has been quite the third-period team.
The Force have scored nine of their 21 playoff goals over the final 20 minutes and simply took Monday's game over during the third period.
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Taste of (future) home
While North Dakota fans have been spoiled with Fargo rookie forward Mac Swanson all season, they’ll get a look at another future UND player this weekend in Youngstown defenseman Andrew Strathmann.
Defenseman: Andrew Strathmann 🇺🇸
— USHL (@USHL) May 10, 2023
Beach Park, Ill.
NCAA Commitment: @UNDmhockey pic.twitter.com/dlcAIi13PK
Strathmann put up a career-high 38 points (3-35-38) during the regular season and has been one of Youngstown’s top postseason performers so far with three goals and six points through six playoff games.
The second-year defenseman has four points (2-2-4) over his last three games.
Special teams battle
Fargo scored a trio of power-play goals in the Game 4 win in Lincoln and the Force finished 3-for-4 on the man advantage. Fargo is 6-for-19 through six playoff games and the Force rank fifth in the league at 31.6%.
While the numbers might not scare you on paper, Youngstown’s power play unit has also had success throughout the playoffs. The Phantoms are just 4-for-22 (18.2%) so far but Youngstown’s top unit features multiple weapons in William Whitelaw, Martin Misiak and Shane Lachance, along with Strathmann at the point.
Fargo (75%) and Youngstown (71.4%) have also been two of the league’s top teams on the penalty kill in the postseason.
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