Fish out of Water : Steelheads fall to Frontenacs
Kingston, ON – The Steelheads were overpowered 8-2 in Kingston. Gage Heyes led the way for the Frontenacs who scored his first OHL hat-trick.
The Frontenacs did not waste any time to start the game, as they opened the scoring just a minute and a half in. Cedrick Guindon threw a shot on goal, where Gage Heyes grabbed the rebound and buried it to break the ice.
Heyes was not done yet as he added another goal less than a minute later. Heyes received the wraparound feed from Ethan Miedema, and made no mistake, roofing it to double the Kingston lead.
It only took three minutes for the Steelheads to get an answer back. Jakub Fibigr corralled the puck at the blue line and rifled one on goal. Mason Vaccari had trouble picking up the Fibigr wrister as it soared through a screen to get the Trout on the board.
Jacob Battaglia nearly restored the two-goal lead for the Frontenacs when he gathered the rebound from an Emil Pieniniemi shot, but his chip shot sailed just over the bar.
The Steelheads had an opportunity to tie the game when Kieran Witkowski broke in on a breakaway. The speedy winger cut to the forehand but he was denied by Vaccari.
It was a slow start to the second frame for the Trout, as they did not record their first shot until eight minutes in. It was Luke Misa who recorded the shot after his attempt to pass to Carson Rehkopf on a two-on-one was blocked by Pieniniemi.
The Steelheads found themselves on the power play following a slash from Ben Pickell. On the man advantage, Luke Misa slid a pass rink-wide for Carson Rehkopf. The Sniper wired one on goal, but again it was turned away by a sliding Vaccari.
Rehkopf would not be denied his next chance though. Misa forced a turnover down-low and threw it out front, where Mason Zebeski deflected it to the slot. Rehkopf picked up the loose puck and wired it across the grain to tie the game.
The tie was short-lived as just two minutes later, Kingston regained the lead. A holding call on Finn Harding put the Frontenacs on the man advantage, where Toumas Uronen would backhand one five-hole on Jacob Gibbons.
Kingston came out flying to start the final frame, where they scored two goals in the first two minutes.
First, it was Ethan Miedema who broke in on a two-on-one. Miedema looked off his winger and cut to the backhand to beat the poke-check from Gibbons.
Just a minute later, Riley Clark cut to the slot and rifled a one-timer top shelf to extend the Frontenacs lead to 5-2.
The Trout did not give up however as they amped up the pressure. Gabe Chiarot, Spencer Sova, and William Eggleton were all denied by Vaccari.
The Frontenacs offence exploded for a third time, as they added two more goals just twelve seconds apart to make it 7-2.
First, Jacob Battaglia sprung down the right wing and wired one to the top left corner. After the ensuing faceoff, Kingston brought the puck into the Trout zone. Guindon threw a pass towards the goal, which pinballed off of three Steelheads before it found its way to Heyes. Heyes smacked the bouncing puck by a surprised Gibbons to complete a hat-trick.
The Frontenacs were the beneficiaries of another power play after the Steelheads were called for too many men. On the man advantage, Tyler Hopkins found Guindon for a one-timer, which he blasted to bring us to a final score of 8-2.
The Steelheads return home tomorrow as they look to rebound against the Brantford Bulldogs. Secure your tickets here!
