Sheffield Steelers @ Glasgow Clan 5-4 OT – Friday, November 16, 2018 – Braehead Arena – Elite League
Late drama in Glasgow saw the Steelers take what had seemed an unlikely road win after 25 minutes. But it was the worst possible start for the Steelers, who were without Aaron Johnson in the line-up.
After seeing his side well beaten in Milton Keynes with a poor performance on Wednesday night, Glasgow Clan Head Coach Pete Russell was looking for a big reaction and he would have been delighted at the start his side made hosting Sheffield Steelers – goals just over eight minutes apart from Matt Beca had the Clan two up after the first period.
There were some early chances at both ends, with either side keen to make an impact in the opening stages, but after nine minutes, it was the Clan who got it. Tyson Wilson’s attempted shot took a deflection, falling nicely for Matt Beca in the slot, who was able to squeeze the biscuit into Steelers goalie Matt Climie’s left hand post. Beca added his second soon after when Vaclav Stupka played the puck into the centre, where the home forward was in a great position to send another in past Climie. The Steelers’ best chance of the first fell to Justin Buzzeo, taking advantage of a poor pass to find himself through on Glasgow goalie Joel Rumpel, but the netminder got the upper hand.
The Clan then extended that lead when Matt Stanisz got his second goal in two games with 1:57 gone in the second period. Rasmus Bjerrum squaring the puck to Stanisz as the Clan took advantage on the breakaway to make it 3-0.
Then a poor Davey Phillips’ pass across the home blue defensive line was intercepted by Josh Gratton, who dashed up the left and squared for Gerard Hanson to find the net for a fourth goal, four minutes later, putting the home side in a very comfortable position.
The travelling Sheffield fans were in shock, but the comeback of the season was about to take place. The Steelers under Tom Barrasso can never be counted out and were fortunate that there was still well over half of the game to stage a fight back. With 31:511 gone Ben O’Connor slotted home to get the visitors on the board, and less than five minutes later Josh Pitt had halved the deficit to two goals with the third period still left to play.
Former Clan player Stefan Della Rovere gave his side the perfect start to the final period with a goal just 16 seconds in to make it 4-3; setting up an interesting final twenty minutes. It took nearly the whole period for Sheffield to find that equalising gaol, but finally Ben O’Connor popped up with his second of the game with 51 seconds remaining to tie things up and send the game into overtime.
During the extra session the turnaround was completed as Mark Matheson scored the game winner with 62:27 on the board.
Game Stats
The Steelers hit 5 straight including an overtime winner from Mark Matheson to beat the Glasgow Clan 5-4 and move up the league standings into 7th place.
Matt Beca hit two first period goals for the Clan, this advantage was doubled inside 6 minutes of the middle period after Matt Stanisz made it 3-0 and then Gerard Hanson 4-0
Ben O’Connor assisted Tanner Eberle at 31.51 was quickly followed by a Josh Pitt special 5 minutes later and the Steelers were back in it with a period to play.
Quotes
Tom Barrasso [head coach]:
“I must do a better job preparing the team. Our starts in recent games are unacceptable. It will improve. We will not be successful in the long run putting ourselves in such dire positions early in games”
Ben O’Connor:
“It was definitely a roller-coaster, but we came out on top. The first 30 minutes were very poor, and we weren’t playing how we were supposed to play and how Tom has instructed us to play
“It took us until half way through the middle period to play the way we should play. That showed and we started skating and we wore them down. They were tired and we ended up with a lot of zone time cycling the puck. In fact, that’s how we ended up with the equaliser, we had them hemmed in and they were tired. The winner was a great shot by Mark Matheson
“We know the first half of the game wasn’t good enough, but the flip side is that we did bounce back, and we did play for 30 minutes the way we should play. We just have to worry about ourselves on Saturday in Fife, we know that will be a tough game, but we can’t worry too much about other teams, that’s when we lapse”
Sheffield Steelers @ Fife Flyers 6-2 – Saturday, November 17, 2018 – Kirkcaldy Ice Arena – Elite League
Robert Dowd had a 4-goal night that secured the Steelers victory in Fife and a 4-point weekend following their overtime win in Glasgow the previous night. Jackson Whistle started the game after Matt Climie’s win in Glasgow, while Aaron Johnson remained side-lined.
After a scoreless first period the Steelers took control racing to a 3-0 lead. Dowd had a goal disallowed at the start of the middle period, the goal went to review with the officials ruling the puck was kicked in. Moments later the Steelers were ahead, Justin Buzzeo setting up Evan McGrath for the opening goal at 23.04.
A double from Robert Dowd helped put the Steelers further ahead in the middle period as the forward struck at 28:05 after Owens and Pitt set him up for a blast from the right wing to double the advantage and then on the power-play at 30:51 Westerling and O’Connor assisted to put the visitors in a 3-0 lead.
Paul Crowder pulled one back for the Flyers just under 90 seconds later, but nine seconds before the period was out Dowd had completed his hat-trick, with Ben O’Connor assisting and the visitors were back to three in front.
Cazzola gave the Flyers hope 2 minutes into the final period making it 4-2, but when Josh Pitt struck shorthanded with 5:14 left to play, the game was as good as over. Dowd added a powerplay goal two minutes later for his fourth and the Steelers sixth of the night to round off the scoring.
Despite late penalty trouble the Steelers battled hard to secure their third win in Scotland in 7 days.
A happy Tom Barrasso spoke post game before he and the team headed back to Sheffield after the 4 point weekend.
“The work and commitment to our systems is starting to pay dividends. As a group the players have shown the desire to improve as individuals and as a team”.
Barrasso also tipped his hat to Robert Dowd who became the clubs 5th all-time highest goal scorer after his 4 goals in Fife “Robert is finally healthy. His conditioning has returned to a high level and it shows in his performance.
“He is on the puck relentlessly, and his offensive game has been the beneficiary. He has joined elite company in the history of the Steelers with this latest accomplishment”
Dundee Stars vs Coventry Blaze – Saturday, December 1, 2018 – Dundee Ice Arena – Elite League
The Dundee Stars twice came from behind to beat Coventry, to record a third straight win.
There might have been a goalless opening period at the Dundee Ice Arena, but that didn’t mean there were not scoring opportunities for both teams. The first chance came when Stars were put on the powerplay in the fourth minute as Nicolai Bryhnisveen was penalised for interference. However, with just six seconds to go on the penalty kill, Dundee were also called for interference and Shawn Boutin sat in the box for two minutes. Both penalties expired before the any team could open the scoring. There was a good chance for Dundee’s Lukas Lundvald but he could not get his shot past Miika Wiikman from distance before his side went back on the man advantage. Tim Crowder was boxed for a hooking infraction on the 10-minute mark, but it soon became four-on-four again after another hooking call, this time against Stars forward, Brian Hart.
Dundee were in trouble when a lofted pass hit the skate of a Blaze player and went towards the Stars goal but Pontus Sjögren was able to keep it out. Again, both penalties were killed off before Danny Stewart’s team were again penalised. A tripping call against Kevin Morris in the 14thminute left Stars on their third man advantage of the night but it was another opportunity they did not capitalize on. The home side had produced some good play, but it resulted in nothing. The West Midlands club were in trouble when Trey Lewis failed to control the puck and with Fabrizio Ricci looking to make Coventry pay for their mistake, he was also unable to corral the puck before it was scrambled away. Both sides had created chances, but they were even going into the first break.
Dundee had the first chance of the middle period as Jordan Cownie was through on goal, but his shot was held by the Blaze goalie in the opening minute. Inside the 23rdminute, Stars went back on the man advantage when Ross Venus slashed Lundvald as he tried to release a shot. A sloppy pass from François Bouchard allowed the Blaze to break whilst shorthanded but Ben Lake could not beat Sjögren. Another man advantage was wasted by Dundee before Charles Corcoran was next to head to the sin bin. The American picked-up a two-minute penalty for slashing in the 25thminute and Coventry looked more dangerous on the powerplay than Dundee did. The visitors then took the lead with a powerplay goal after Ben Lake redirected Jake Hansen’s shot past the Stars netminder in the 26thminute.
The Stars were struggling to regain control of the game as they looked to tie it up before the halfway mark. Morris returned to the box, this time guilty of interference in the 31stminute. Stars built some pressure, but Blaze shut them down again before returning to full strength. To the dismay of Omar Pacha, his team were then penalised for having too-many men on the ice and Lundvald would serve the two-minute minor on the 33rdminute mark. As the penalty ended, Stars went straight on the attack and got the goal they needed. Bouchard made up for his earlier mistake by drawing Stars level in the 36thminute. He was waiting at the backdoor and out of sight of Wiikman as Boutin played a pass that the Canadian could just slap into the net. Another chance quickly came for Dundee and they could have taken the lead if not for the Coventry keeper denying Matt Marquardt’s effort that was heading for the top shelf. The Tayside team gave themselves just the boost they needed going into the second interval and a big third period lay ahead for both sides.
Stars got the better start to the third period as they created numerous chances to score but were unable to convert any into the go-ahead-goal as Wiikman made multiple stops. Dundee continued to get forward but were just doing too-much in front of goal and the chances were slipping away. With no goals in the opening stages in the final period, the next goal would be crucial when it came – or so you’d have thought. It fell for the Blaze, when they finally won back control and from this took the lead. Morris fired a low shot that was blocked by Mike Sullivan, but Luke Ferrara was on the edge of the crease and able to smash it past Sjögren in the 50thminute. Dundee were gifted a chance to get a quick response as Hansen was boxed on slashing call on the 51stminute mark.
The Stars left it late but were able to turn the game on its head in the final seven minutes of the game. With 6:20 left, the Stars continued to press following the conclusion of the powerplay. Bouchard fired a shot off the pad of Wiikman and Sullivan drifted in at the backdoor to blast home the equalizer in the 54thminute. The home side were back on the powerplay as Lewis was boxed for tripping in the 56thminute. Just as Blaze returned to full strength, a pass from Cownie came out to Sullivan and he rifled a shot high past Wiikman in the 58thminute. It did not take long before Stars moved 4-2 ahead after Sullivan’s shot from the blueline was tipped by Corcoran in the 59thminute.
Danny Stewart pulled his goalie with one-minute remaining before calling a timeout in the final 30 seconds. The home fans used this opportunity to berate him and you could see the taunts were getting to him. The English team were unable to find the net before the final buzzer and the Stars sealed their third straight Elite League win. ‘Man of the Match’ awards went to Luke Ferrara and Dundee’s hero, Mike Sullivan. Omar Pacha’s men now travel to Wales as they take on Cardiff Devils, who thrashed Fife Flyers 8-3 on Saturday night after coming back from 2-0 down.
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