SHEFFIELD – Sheffield Steelers ended the festive fixtures with just the one point on New Year’s Day after forcing overtime with a spirited third-period fightback.
There was a new face in the Steelers lineup as Curtis Warburton was drafted into backup Tomas Duba with Will Kerlin away on international duty.
In what has become a festive tradition, the Steelers took on the Nottingham Panthers in a bumper back-to-back matchup over the New Year.
New Year’s Eve started in style with Sheffield taking all the points in a close encounter at the NIC and
Period one lacked the buzz and jump that all the pre-game atmosphere had with a crowd over 8,000 packed into the FlyDSA Arena.
It was the case for both sides as neither team managed to take control of the early exchanges and it remained goalless throughout the twenty minutes.
There was little action to note, but Kevin Carr and Tomas Duba stood tall for their respective sides.
Period two was a different story. Nottingham opened the scoring just 38 seconds in, Jake Hansen converting a pinpoint pass from Sam Herr.
The lead was doubled four minutes later, this time it was Herr himself who found a way past Duba with Sheffield struggling to find their flow (24:37).
Nottingham’s second came on the power play with Marek Troncinsky in the box for interference and the visitors second PP opportunity of the night was converted.
Whilst the Steelers enjoyed more of the possession the task of beating Kevin Carr was proving too tough and chances weren’t coming at a premium either.
Only Tomas Duba’s post prevented the visitors from extending their lead even more, as Nottingham looked to make their limited opportunities count.
It was a final period that Sheffield controlled, like a mean machine, Aaron Fox’s side battled hard to find a way back into the game.
The story was nothing like the first two chapters, backs against the wall for much of final minutes, Steelers needed a breakthrough.
At 53:43, on the penalty kill, excellent forechecking from captain Phillips and Tanner Eberle, forced a turnover in the end zone, the puck found its way to Marek Troncinsky and his shot was too powerful for the Panthers goalie to stop.
The arena erupted for the first time and boy it was loud and the fun didn’t stop there.
Steelers came and came again, pushing for that all-important equaliser and with less than two minutes to play, Eberle found the smallest of gaps between Carr and the post to tie things up.
Wow, a fightback worthy of at least a point and maybe more than the Steelers did in fact deserve on Wednesday afternoon.
With momentum fully in the Steelers favour, the final buzzer came at the wrong time for the home side and allowed Nottingham a breather.
Overtime began and Nottingham steadied the ship, three minutes in and with Ben O’Connor down behind the goal, Nottingham broke up ice and took their chance.
Mr dependable, Sam Herr, waited and waited before rifling his shot past Duba and securing the two points. Nottingham’s first win in Sheffield for almost two years.
With Sheffield match report
Photos By Mick Johnson
@MickGta
Michael.Johnson@prohockeynews.com
@Prohockeynews.com
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