Steelheads down Colts 5-2
After a few weeks on the road, the Mississauga Steelheads returned home to the Hershey Centre Friday night looking to bounce back from a 6-2 loss on Wednesday to the Ottawa 67’s. The Steelheads (18-24-0-1) and Barrie Colts (25-15-2-1) last met on December 8 with the Colts edging the Steelheads 3-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the season series.
The Steelheads definitely got the start they were looking for, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the opening frame. Albert Michnac opened the scoring just a minute into the opening period to shift the momentum in the Steelheads’ favour early on. Cole Carter and Michael McLeod assisted on Michnac’s 16th of the season. At 6:29, Trent Fox gave his team a 2-0 cushion, burying a pass from Ryan McLeod. Late in the frame, the pair would convert again, this time with Fox setting up Ryan McLeod. Owen Tippett picked up the secondary assist on McLeod’s 12th of the season. Shots on goal in the opening frame were 15-14 in favour of the visiting Colts, but the Steelheads held a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Barrie started the second period off by getting on the board, thanks to a goal by Andrei Svechnikov. He scored his 18th of the season, assisted by Aaron Luchuk and Dmitry Sokolov. The Steelheads would quickly follow suit, capitalizing on the power play thanks to captain Michael McLeod. He scored his 12th goal of the season, making it 4-1 Mississauga. The Colts would cut the lead in half with Svechnikov’s second goal of the night, and 19th of the season, at 5:40. Emanuel Vella was tested with some hard shots by the Colts, but stopped nine of the 11 he faced in the frame. The Steelheads hold a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
The third period was slow with both teams unable to get past the other’s defence. Tensions were high and six penalties were given out, beginning with a delay of game to Tyler Tucker of the visiting Colts and high sticking to the Steelheads’ Trent Fox. Each team had the chance to kill a penalty, but it was Ryan McLeod that upped Mississauga’s lead to 5-2 on a power play. The goal, Ryan’s second of the game, was assisted by Mathieu Foget. The game ended minutes later and the Steelheads picked up two points.
The Kingston Frontenacs will be at the Hershey Centre Sunday January 21. Puck drops at 2 PM.
