SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers unbeaten run of six games came to an end on Saturday as they lost to arch rivals the Nottingham Panthers 2-1 after a penalty shootout.
Steelers suffer back to back losses on home ice
The Panthers avenged the previous weekend’s loss with a solid road performance, with netminder Craig Kowalaski being the standout performer like he has been on many occasions before.
The Panther announced earlier in the week that they had signed NHL’er Anthony Stewart who was plying his trade with the Carolina Hurricanes last season as the latest addition to the team, capitalising on the current lockout situation.
Stewart had the finesse on the ice of an NHL’er and it was plain to see that he had undoubted talent, which helped him garner 40 points in the NHL two seasons ago with the Canes’, but he lacked backup from his linemates in Bruce Graham and David Ling.
The near seven thousand fans in attendance at the Motorpoint Arena witnessed a fairly evenly contested first period, with both teams exchanging chances. The opening period seemed to lack intensity and passion, which was a common theme throughout the game.
The most entertaining moment of the first period was when Panthers forward Brandon Benedict was assessed a minor penalty for hooking, as he went in the penalty box, he fell flat on his face, much to the delight of the bumper crowd.
Both teams came out strong in the second period, and it was only 51 seconds old when Panthers Captain Jordan Fox who was covering on defence due to injuries, rifled home a powerful slapshot from the blueline to make it 1-0 at 20:51.
At 21:33 the Panthers almost doubled their lead on the powerplay when Eric Werner’s shot went past Steelers goalie John DeCaro, only for it to stop on the goaline, and the Steelers netminder falling back to cover it up.
The Steelers pressed and even out shot the visitors in the second period 14-12, and soon equalised thanks to Jeff Legue who fired high past Kowalski after a nice pass from Cory Pecker at 35:12.
The Steelers were close to taking the lead when after a scramble in front of the Panthers net, Ashley Tait’s shot trickled through the crease agonisingly only to be cleared by Panthers defenceman Martin Tuma.
The third period started in a fast and frantic fashion, when Craig Kowalski was called into action as he saved superbly from Cory Pecker with his glove hand, with the Steelers forward shaking his head in disbelief at 40:20.
Both teams pressed looking for the all important go ahead goal, but to no avail. The hosts had the better of the chances, only to be denied by the superb Craig Kowalski who would go on to be named first star of the game.
The clock ticked down ensuring that the game would have to be settled in extra time.
The Steelers were the closest to claiming the two points in overtime as Panther defenceman Eric Werner turned the puck over on his blueline with Ashley Tait pouncing on the loose puck, only to be denied my the brick wall in goal that is Kowalski.
At the final buzzer, several players exchanged handbags on the ice with Ashley Tait and Stevie Lee picking up minor penalties for cross checking.
Penalties loomed and it was the Panthers Matt Francis who stepped up first. Francis skated in and shot low five-hole on John DeCaro beating the Steelers goaltender to give the Panthers a slender advantage.
Last weekend’s penalty shot winner Colin Shields, was next to step up to centre ice, hoping to emulate last weekends form. Shields skated in and shot high glove side on Kowalski, with the Panthers keeping standing firm to the challenge.
Former Steelers target David Ling was next to take a shot, and he skated in and faked a slapshot on DeCaro waiting for the goalie to commit before skating round him and slotting the puck past him to give the Panther a 2-0 advantage on the penalty shots.
Great performance from Danny Meyers against his former team%22 (Image Courtesy of Dean Woolley)
Craig Kowalski needed to save Jeff Legue’s shot to ensure the Panthers would claim two points and that’s exactly what he did, as Legue fired high into the body armour of Kowalski, as the Steelers lost 2-1.
Twenty-four hours later the Steelers played host to the Coventry Blaze, with Paul Thompson’s men picking up the two points after an impressive road win.
The Steelers started off strong when new Steelers revelation Tylor Michel rifled home a one timer after a 2-on-1 with Jonathan Phillips at 5:52 for his sixth goal of the season.
The Steelers pressed and soon doubled their lead thanks to the on form Ashley Tait, who capitalised after Blaze goaltender Peter Hirsch mishandled the puck behind the net, and the Great Britain international capitalised and fired home to make it 2-0 at 9:55.
The Steelers pressed and looked for a third, only to be kept at bay by the Blaze’s impressive Danish goalie Peter Hirsch, who made some big saves.
Sheffield controlled the first period and outshot the Blaze by 12-6.
The second period was a completely different story, and a rejuvenated Blaze team came out firing early.
Firstly Greg Leeb was the first to pounce on a rebound from his brother Brad’s shot at 21:22 as he fired low past DeCaro for his fourth goal of the season.
Gerome Giudice who has recently returned from a groin injury grabbed the Blaze’s equaliser at 28:19 after a scramble in front of the Steelers goal, and he was the first on hand to slot the puck past John DeCaro in the Steelers net to make it 2-2.
The Blaze then took the lead for the first time in the game thanks to impressive defenceman Mike Schutte, who toe dragged nicely around Rod Sarich and fired a nice wrist shot top shelf past a helpless DeCaro at 34:23 on the powerplay to make it 3-2.
Schutte’s go ahead goal was his fourth of the season for the Blaze, with all four goals coming ironically against the Steelers, showing he will be a thorn in the South Yorkshire teams side.
Sheffield pressed and were soon back on level terms thanks to Jeff Legue who fired a low shot past Hirsch after coming close just a few seconds before to make it 3-3 at 38:51.
Legue finding his old form with a couple of goals (Image Courtesy of Dean Woolley)
In the dying moments of the second period the Steelers Drew Fata and the Blaze’s Benn Olson dropped the gloves and traded blows with the Coventry man taking honours in the bout due to him pulling Fata’s shirt over his head and finishing with a flurry of unsighted punches.
A third period of indiscipline and frustration cost the Steelers. Referee Mike Hicks, had a pretty poor game, and felt the wraith of Steelers Coach Ryan Finnerty as well as several Steelers players.
Just twenty seconds into the third period Jason Hewitt caught Gerome Giudice of the Blaze with his stick up high and drew blood, meaning the Steelers player would sit a double minor penalty for high sticks.
On the ensuing powerplay, Blaze defenceman Mike Schutte registered his second goal of the game with a slapshot from the blueline, beating DeCaro near post, with a goal that the Steelers goaltender would want back, making it 3-2.
At 47:20 the Steelers almost restored parity as Steven Goertzen was gifted a breakaway but his backhand shot was saved superbly by Hirsch in the Blaze goal.
Sheffield came agonisingly close once again at 56:43 with Drew Fata rifling a trademark slapshot off the post. After the whistle was blown Blaze defenceman Mike Egener hit Steelers forward Cory Pecker after the whistle.
Pecker and Egener exchanged pleasantries before heading to the bench. Pecker was bumped into by Ben Olson who just came onto the ice but made it obvious that he wanted to get in the way of Pecker. The Steelers forward then responded in kind by butt ending Olson, in which he was assessed a 5 plus game penalty for his troubles.
Olson played for the penalty with some acting that would be worthy of an Oscar, but it was somewhat strange behaviour from the awkward skating defenceman who has garnered the tag of ‘Toughest Player in the League’ somehow.
The Pecker major penalty effectively quashed any chance of a Steelers late comeback as the clock ticked away with the Blaze taking the 4-3 win and the two points.
Steelers Head Coach Ryan Finnerty offered his thoughts after the game, “Well it was unacceptable, totally unacceptable. I can accept guys not scoring. All guys go through slumps. What I can’t accept and won’t accept is guys not working hard for me, that is 100% unacceptable,” Finnerty said. “If a guy works hard for 60 minutes the tied will turn and goals will come, if you don’t put the work in then you have no place being here, it’s as simple as. We were in full control of the game at the end of the first period and then just totally lost our way. “The crazy thing is that we have all seen this team put in great performances. We know that they are better than what they showed tonight, I see it daily at training. What I saw this evening was so far away from what I think is acceptable for me and for this club,” Finnerty added.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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