Stellar Sunday
Niagara, ON- It was a Brampton Steelheads’ Sunday as they took a dominant, 6-2, victory over the Niagara IceDogs. Konnor Smith was the game’s top performer, putting up four points (1G, 3A) to ensure the Trout’s win.
For the sixth and final matchup between the Steelheads and IceDogs, the Trout showed their strength as they took over Niagara in the 60 minutes of play. The victory was evident by a strong performance from Smith, who brought home one goal and three assists.
The game’s opening minutes were the calm before the storm as puck possession went back and forth between the teams and no real scoring opportunities had arisen. Yet the Steelheads quickly struck first to get the game’s icebreaker.
After Aidan Lane pressured the IceDogs’ defence, Konnor Smith intercepted the D-to-D passing attempt to begin an offensive rush into the Niagara zone. Getting the entry, Smith passed it to Lucas Karmiris, who brought it to the high slot before sniping it past Matthew Humphries.
The IceDogs did not allow the Steelheads to hold the lead for long as Ryan Roobroeck tied the game a few minutes later. Ethan Czata got the puck in the Niagara end before rushing through the neutral zone and finding Roobroeck at the Trout blue line. Finding open space on the rush, Roobroeck picked up the puck and bypassed the defence before deking Jack Ivankovic out on the backhand.
Unlike the opening minutes, the Trout hopped into action and immediately took control of the rest of the period. Lane re-established the Brampton lead with a nice backhand goal over the shoulder of Humphries.
After getting one failed scoring attempt on a breakaway, Lane looked to redeem himself. Getting the puck off Parker Von Richter, Carson Rehkopf took it behind the net before making a sneaky pass to Lane out front. Having control of the puck, Lane put it on the backhand and sniped it over Humphries to make it 2-1.
With an assist on the tiebreaker, Rehkopf added another point to his tally with the Trout’s third goal. Smith kept the puck in at the blue line before dangling around the IceDogs to bring it in deep and find Rehkopf. With the play focused on Smith, Rehkopf snuck around the remaining IceDogs players to get out front, receive Smith’s pass, and bury it past Humphries.
The Trout’s lead continued into the second but the IceDogs added pressure as they looked to even the score. Niagara came close to tying things up as Blair Scott made it within one in the opening three minutes of period two.
Sean Doherty got the puck in the Brampton zone before bringing it around the net and up to the point for Scott. Driving it towards the net, Scott got in deep before sending it past Ivankovic. The IceDogs captain, Kevin He, also had several scoring opportunities throughout the second, including one on a breakaway but he was covered off by the Brampton netminder.
The Steelheads quickly crushed Niagara’s battle back attempt as they followed up Scott’s goal with three more of their own. Gabriel Chiarot got the period’s final goal off a feed from Adam Zidlicky. Getting the puck in the high slot, Chiarot drove the net to get the initial shot on Humphries before getting tangled up with the defence, catching the rebound, and sending it into the net one-handed.
Leading by two, the Steelheads re-established their dominance as they entered the third, maintaining consistent puck possession and adding two more goals to their tally. Kieran Witkowski started the period’s scoring in the opening minutes.
Smith sent the puck from Brampton’s end into the Niagara zone, allowing Witkowski to pick it up and drive towards the net. Sensing the traffic out front, Witkowski went up the right side before sending it backhand onto the goal to make it 5-2.
Already having three assists, Smith added a goal to his name as he cemented the Steelheads’ victory. With a nice pass from Von Richter up to the point, Smith fired a bomb on goal, getting it past Humphries for the Trout’s final goal and the 6-2 win.
The Steelheads continue on the road heading to Brantford on Wednesday to face the Bulldogs before returning home on Friday to take on the Petes for their Country Night. For tickets, click here.
