Barn Burned

Brampton, ON – Despite a valiant late comeback attempt, the Brampton Steelheads fell to their division rival Sudbury Wolves. 

 

The Wolves top line looked sharp in their first shift of the game. When a puck bounced off the boards, Kieron Walton found the loose puck and spun a pass to the slot. Nathan Villeneuve corralled the feed from Walton before dragging into a shot on not, but he could not get it past Brayden Gillespie.

 

Four minutes into the frame, Brampton got their first chance of the hockey game. The forecheck of Aidan Lane, in his return to the lineup, allowed fresh legs to get on the ice. Luke Misa joined the board battle where he stripped the loose puck before finding Konnor Smith at the point. The Veteran unleashed a heavy shot on net, but it was kicked out by Finn Marshall.

 

Two minutes later, the Wolves top line came inches from the icebreaker. Quentin Musty broke the blue line before saucing a pass for Trevor O’Dell on the left wing. O’Dell quickly slung a pass back across the ice to Kieron Walton on the backdoor. The speedy power forward tried to get a shot on goal, but Jakub Fibigr got a stick in the lane to cut off the angle.

 

The Steelheads were given their first power play with twelve minutes to play, and they did not let it go to waste. Brampton’s power play created space by working north-south in the Sudbury zone. Angus MacDonell took advantage of the space by parking in front of the net. The newly signed Dallas Stars prospect blocked the goaltender’s vision before deflecting home a Jakub Fibigr point shot. MacDonell’s 25th in just 40 games gave Brampton a 1-0 lead.

 

It took just 15 seconds for the Steelheads to double their lead. When a puck bounced off Quentin Musty in the Sudbury zone, Lucas Karmiris tapped it over to Carson Rehkopf on the wing. The Sharpshooter caught Finn Marshall off guard with a quick shot through traffic, sailing over the shoulder of Marshall. Rehkopf’s 40th goal of the season extended Brampton’s lead to 2-1.

 

Action picked up in the final five minutes, starting when Quentin Musty got the Wolves on the board. The San Jose Sharks first-round pick joined the rush before receiving a drop pass at the Trout blue line. Musty loaded up in a hurry, unleashing a powerful wrister past the blocker of Brayden Gillespie. Musty’s goal extended his goal streak to five games while cutting the Steelheads lead in half.

 

Just a minute and a half later, Sudbury found the equalizer. Henry Mews led the charge for the Wolves, bursting up ice with three teammates. The Calgary Flames prospect drew the Steelheads’ defenders in by cutting to the middle, before sliding the puck back to the wing for Jack Ziliotto. The Wolves winger made no mistake, one-timing it past Brayden Gillespie.

 

With just under two minutes to play, the Steelheads regained the lead. Angus MacDonell stripped the Sudbury defence before snapping a pass to Luke Misa in the slot. The Calgary Flames prospect picked his spot, snipping the puck to the top shelf. Number thirty-three’s thirty-third goal of the year gave Brampton a 3-2 lead.

 

The Brampton lead was shortlived as the Wolves came out flying to start the second period, scoring three goals in just under two minutes. 

 

First, just eight seconds into the second frame, Sudbury found the back of the net. After Alex Pharand won the opening faceoff, Kieron Walton sprung Nathan Villeneuve on a breakaway. The Seattle Kraken prospect faked to the forehand, cut the backhand, and roofed it upstairs on Gillespie.

 

Then, a minute and a half into the period, the Wolves scored the tiebreaker. The ever-dangerous Sudbury top line flew up the ice in an odd-man rush. Quentin Musty played catch with Kieron Walton before one-timing the return feed past a sprawled-out Jack Ivankovic. Musty’s second of the net gave the Sudbury their first lead of the night.

 

Just twenty-five seconds later, the Wolves doubled their lead. Sudbury broke in on another odd-man rush with Hudson Chitaroni carrying the puck up the wing. The sophomore fired a hard shot on net where Brayden Gillespie got a piece, but it was not enough, as the puck slipped through him into the Brampton net. Chitaroni’s ninth off the season ended the night of Brayden Gillespie, as Jack Ivankovic entered in relief.

 

The Wolves continued to pile on to their lead at the halfway point in the frame. Following a Sudbury rush, a net-front battle ensued for the rebound. Lucas Di Giantommaso snuck into the battle where he jammed the loose puck past an outstretched Jack Ivankovic. 

 

Two minutes later, the Wolves power play connected again to extend the Sudbury lead to 7-3. Henry Mews kept the play alive at the point before finding Quentin Musty at the top of the left circle. The power forward wired a shot off the pad of Ivankovic. The rebound kicked out to a wide-open Chase Coughlan in front who hammered the puck into the back of the net. 

 

Sparked by the energy of Troy Patton dropping the gloves, Brampton looked to mount a comeback in the final five minutes. Following a holding call on Henry Mews, Brampton went back to the power play. On the man advantage Lucas Karmiris’ forecheck forced a turnover from Trevor O’Dell. Karmirs quickly wrapped around the net and attempted to find Carson Rehkopf across the crease. Karmiris’ pass found a fortuitous bounce off the skate of Noah Roberts in front, bouncing into the Sudbury goal.

 

The Steelheads continued their push with a buzzer-beater in the final seconds of the frame to cut the deficit to 7-5. The play started in the Brampton zone when a spin-o-rama pass from Kieron Walton missed Quentin Musty. The puck spun up to Gabe Chiarot at the red line who raced in on the Sudbury net. Chiarot was cut off but his second effort poked the puck towards the slot. Luke Misa flew in to pick up the puck before quickly snapping it upstairs with just 0.7 seconds left on the clock.

 

It was a comparatively slow start to the final frame, with both teams combining for two shots through the first eight minutes. But that changed just past the twelve-minute mark. Finn Harding batted the puck out of the air before charging down the right wing. Harding sent a cross-ice feed to Gabe Chiarot. The sophomore pulled the puck to backhand where he roofed the puck into the top corner to cut the Sudbury lead in half.  

 

Brampton kept up the pressure with eight and a half minutes to play. After taking a D-to-D pass from Spencer Sova, Jakub Fibigr activated from the point. The Seattle Kraken prospect cut down the left half wall where he slung a shot on goal. The puck squeaked through the five-hole of Marshall, but it slid across the net before bouncing off the post.

 

The Steelheads looked to tie with six minutes to play when Rowan Henderson was called for delay of game. The power play got set up, but they were unable to break through Finn Marshall.

 

Brampton pushed to tie in the final minutes with the net empty, but it was the Sudbury who found the scoresheet. After the Wolves secured the puck in their own zone, Quentin Musty sent the puck glass and out for Nathan Villeneuve. The Kraken prospect elected to pass the sure goal over to Rowan Henderson who iced the game for Sudbury. 

The Steelheads look to rebound tomorrow night when they travel east to play the Peterborough Petes. You can catch all Steelheads away games by purchasing CHL TV, accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca.