Steelheads come from behind, win 2-1 in OT
After a few days off, the Steelheads returned to action Friday night to kick off a three-in-three with a visit to Kingston to take on the Frontenacs. These two teams last met on September 23rd where the Frontenacs picked up a 5-2 win at home. Coming into tonight’s game, the Frontenacs were looking to get back in the win column following five consecutive losses, while the Steelheads looked to pick up their first win on the road this season.
Mississauga’s Jacob Ingham and Kingston’s Jeremy Helvig started between the pipes. Both teams looked hungry right from the opening faceoff, setting the tempo early on. The first five minutes of play went without a whistle as the action moved from end to end with both teams looking for the opening goal. The Fronts would see their first powerplay opportunity of the night at 7:41 as defenceman, Merrick Rippon would sit for two minutes for holding. The Steelheads penalty kill unit did their job successfully killing the penalty and the game returned to even strength. At 14:16, Mississauga would have their turn on the man-advantage as Evan Brand was also sent off for holding. The Steelheads were unable to capitalize, and again, the game returned to even strength. Shots on goal were 12-5 in favour of the Steelheads after a scoreless 20 minutes of play.
The momentum carried into the second period as each team looked to break the deadlock and open the scoring. The Fronts would do just that at 6:30 of the middle frame as Tyler Burnie scored his fourth of the season from Ryan Cranford and Ted Nichol. The Steelheads would see two power play opportunities in the frame, but couldn’t convert on the man-advantage. The Steelheads outshot the home team 8-6, but Fronts held a 1-0 lead heading into the final frame.
The Frontenacs held their lead for the majority of the third, but the momentum shifted in the Steelheads favour late in the frame, as Kingston’s Linus Nyman was sent off for tripping. The Steelheads pulled Ingham for an extra attacker, giving them a 6-on-4 advantage. At 18:08, Nic Hague fired a slap shot from the point past Helvig to even the score 1-1. Jacob Moverare and Trent Fox assisted on Hague’s fourth of the season. The late goal would send the game to 3-on-3 sudden death overtime.
Just over two minutes into overtime, Jacob Ingham came up huge with two back-to-back saves to keep the Steelheads alive. After picking up the loose puck, the Steelheads would then head back down the ice where Trent Fox converted on a give-and-go with Ryan McLeod to seal a 2-1 victory. Moverare picked up the secondary assist on Fox’s fifth of the season.
The Steelheads will visit the Barrie Colts tomorrow for a 7:30 PM start before returning home on Sunday to host the IceDogs.
