A True Battle for Pink in the Rink
BRAMPTON, ON- The Steelheads fall 7-5 to the Spitfires after Ilya Protas put up two goals and one assist.
It was an intense game between Brampton and Windsor as the teams went back and forth throughout the three periods. Yet, with battle backs and special team goals, the Spitfires reigned victorious.
In true Steelheads fashion, the Trout kicked off the first period with a goal within the first minute. Coming in on a left-side rush, Angus MacDonell sent a pass down to Carson Rehkopf, who centred the puck and sent it off to Porter Martone, who tipped it into the net.
One goal was not enough for Brampton as they continued to push offensively to increase their lead. After Josef Eichler’s slashing penalty sent the Steelheads to special teams, MacDonell sent the puck around the back of the net over to Martone, who banked one off of Joey Costanzo from the right corner.
The Steelheads’ lead did not shake the Spitfires as their top line quickly brought them within one. Liam Greentree brought the puck into the Steelheads’ zone before passing it over to Jack Nesbitt, who fed it over Ilya Protas for the backhand goal.
Building off the momentum from their first goal, the Spitfires tied the game following a delayed penalty call on the Steelheads. Carson Woodhall scored his first goal of the season with a one-timer from the point.
The rest of the period stayed even at two, as Jacob Gibbons and Costanzo remained strong between the pipes.
The first half of the second period was filled with action as both teams added another point to the scoreboard. The Steelheads opened up the scoring in the second with a goal from MacDonell.
Macgregor Richmond led the rush into the Spitfires’ end and took a shot on Costanzo. With the rebound heading perfectly toward him, MacDonell sniped it top-shelf to give the Steelheads the lead.
Special teams seemed to be a deal-breaker for both teams, as seven out of the 12 goals were scored on the penalty kill or powerplay.
After Reed Gee was given a two-minute minor for a check to the head, the Spitfires immediately took advantage of the extra attacker. Anthony Cristoforo received the puck from Protos at the right face-off dot, setting him up for the shot and eventual power-play goal.
The rest of the second period saw no additional goals. Notably, Gibbons made a sequence of saves during yet another penalty kill from the Trout. He stood tall in the second, saving 27 out of the 28 shots he faced.
The Spitfires came out hard in the third, scoring two goals within the first three minutes.
The period began with 4-on-4 after things got heated between MacDonell and Cristoforo at the end of the second. The even penalties did not last long, as Finn Harding was called for hooking. With the man advantage, Ethan Belchetz carried the puck into the Steelheads’ zone before setting Protas for a tip-in off the right post.
AJ Spellacy built off the momentum of Protas’ goal and added another goal to the Spitfires’ tally with an end-to-end breakaway rush.
Despite being down by two, the Steelheads did not give up easily and battled back for two power-play goals. MacDonell started the play for the first power-play goal after he sent a pass over to Rehkopf, who was placed at the left faceoff dot. Feeding it out front, Rehkopf set Jack Van Volsen up for his first goal of the season.
Spencer Sova scored the second power-play goal of the period with a beautiful setup from Martone. After carrying the puck over to the right corner, Martone fed it to Sova at the point, who sniped it bar-down.
The battle back effort did not last long as the Spitfires added two more to the score within the final minutes. With AJ Spellacy leading an odd-man rush into the Steelheads zone, he got a shot on Gibbons, allowing Noah Morneau to get the rebound goal. Ryan Abraham got the game’s final goal with a shot from the Spitfire’s zone, which slid into the empty net.
Regardless of the final score, the Steelheads spread awareness for cancer research and honoured those affected by cancer with their Pink in the Rink game.
The Steelheads play tomorrow night against the Colts in Barrie and will return home to face the Ottawa 67s next Friday. Click here for tickets.
