Down to the Wire
Sudbury, ON- The Brampton Steelheads fall to the Sudbury Wolves in overtime after Ondrej Molnar puts up two goals to tie the game.
After coming off two wins against the North Bay Battalion and SOO Greyhounds, the Steelheads looked to finish their three-game road trip with another win against the Sudbury Wolves. Today’s match up held increased importance for the Trout as a win would allow them to clinch a playoff spot.
Despite an 8-1 Steelheads victory in their last matchup in Brampton, the Wolves came out hard in front of their home crowd as they looked to break their three-game losing streak. With Molnar’s two goal performance and Kieron Walton’s overtime goal, the Wolves would be back in the winning column.
Pressure at both ends set up a no-score period with high tensions and increased back-and-forth play. The first half of the first saw even playing, as offensive rushes were met with defensive coverage, and strong passes were combatted by interceptions. While the Steelheads switched things around and kept the puck in the offensive end for the latter half of the first, the Wolves did not back down, maintaining man-to-man pressure to gain puck possession.
Jack Ivankovic showed his strength between the pipes, making several consecutive saves, including a few from sharp angles. The goalies carried the period as the rookie netminder, Finn Marshall, also stepped up to curtail the Brampton offence. With the impressive net presence at each end, the game remained scoreless for the opening 20.
Unlike the fairly quiet first, things kicked into second gear as the period began. In the first five minutes of the second, Carson Rehkopf got the game’s icebreaker and started the scoring.
Getting a pass from Lucas Karmiris at the top of slot, Rehkopf set up before firing past Marshall on the glove side. With one goal on the board, the game’s momentum completely shifted as pressure increased, leading to three more goals and the second ending tied at two.
Ondrej Molnar soon followed Rehkopf to tie the game and kick off his first goal of two for the period. Hudson Chitaroni had a fast zone entry before making a quick pass to Alex Pharand, who was waiting out front. Instead of taking the shot himself, Pharand passed it over to Molnar, who sent it into the net.
The tied game did not last long as the Steelheads reclaimed the lead not even 10 seconds later. Parker Von Richter picked up the rebound off Jakub Fibigr’s shot before sending it to Adam Zidlicky. With an open lane, Zidlicky sniped it past Marshall, beating him on the glove side.
While the Trout remained strong to defend their lead, a set of back-to-back penalty kills allowed the Wolves to tie things up once again. The Steelheads successfully killed Mason Zebeski’s boarding penalty but were quickly sent back to special teams after Konnor Smith was called for hooking.
Unlike their first power play, the Wolves quickly took advantage of the extra attacker and set up in the Brampton zone. Henry Mews sent the puck to Nathan Villeneuve, who was up at the point. Villeneuve quickly found Molnar down low, setting him for the equalizing one-timer.
Still tied at two, the third period was anyone’s game as both teams battled to score the go-ahead goal. Yet, similar to the first, there was no scoring.
The Trout remained dominant on keeping the puck deep in the Wolves’ zone and generating scoring chances. However, Marshall’s excellent performance kept the game tied and forced overtime.
While the Steelheads had a valiant effort in overtime, the overtime win went to the Wolves. After Ivankovic made an incredible stick save from Villeneuve’s initial shot, Walton picked up the rebound for the game winner.
The Steelheads return home on Wednesday as they take on the Oshawa Generals for their School Day Game.
