Sunday Set back
Owen Sound, ON- The Brampton Steelheads fall 5-3 to the Owen Sound Attack after Landon Hookey takes home a three-point game.
The second and final matchup between the Steelheads and Attack had a close first and second period, making it seem like anyone’s game. However, with a change in momentum from the Attack in the third, allowing Owen Sound to take the lead, the series’ fate was determined.
The opening minutes of play between the Steelheads and Attack had a good flow as the teams went back and forth. While Owen Sound carried the shot total in the first half of the period, the Steelheads held more puck possession, leading to more rushes into the offensive end.
Despite the lack of shots on goal, the Steelheads showed that patience was key, as their first registered shot was also their first goal of the game. The game’s icebreaker came on the penalty kill after Stevie Leskovar was called for boarding.
Parker Von Richter chipped the puck off the boards and up to Porter Martone, who was waiting in the neutral zone. Using patience, Martone waited for Angus MacDonell to join him for the 2-on-1. Driving the net, Martone faked the shot on Carter George and passed it over to MacDonell, who buried it into the open net.
While no other scoring would occur for the rest of the period, the first kept action high as the Steelheads laid out some big hits on the Attack. Brayden Gillespie also made several big saves to keep the Steelheads lead, including a great blocker save off Cole Zurawski, who almost tied the game.
The Steelheads entered the second with a one-goal lead and came close to adding another goal to their tally, but it was overturned for a kicking motion sending the puck into the net. Unlike the first period, the Attack put all forces forward to tie the game.
Declan Waddick tied the game for the Attack off of Landon Hookey’s rebound. After entering the offensive zone, Hookey fired a long-range shot on Gillespie, which he had covered, but the bouncing puck slipped out for Waddick to pick up. Firing the puck on goal, Waddick snuck the puck over the pad of Gillespie to tie the game.
While the Steelheads had scoring opportunities, George stood tall and made several glove saves to keep the score tied at one and allow his team to take the lead.
A miscommunication out front led to the Attack’s second goal of the game. After the puck was left uncovered out front, Hookey picked it up and snapped it into the net to give the Attack the one-goal lead. Luckily for the Steelheads, this one-goal game did not last long as the Trout tied things not even two minutes later.
Vilmer Alrikkson led the play for the equalizing goal, carrying the puck into the Attack zone before passing it over to Mason Zebeski. Bringing it in deep, Zebeski fired it over the shoulder of George to tie things up.
The tie game continued into the third, and it was anyone’s game as the teams were even with 20 shots on goal. Once again, the Trout saw the first scoring opportunity of the period off a 2-on-1 play with Carson Rehkopf and Martone, but George made his presence known to cover things off.
Instead, the Attack took the lead off a misdirected clearing attempt that allowed Tristan Delisle to pick up the open puck at the Trout blue line. With an open lane, Delisle drove deep into the zone, using his speed to stay in front of the defence before firing the puck top corner to take the lead.
The Attack secured their lead with an insurance goal after an overturn at the Attack blue line led to a 3-on-1 rush into the offensive end. After a series of back-and-forth passes between Harry Nansi, Jack Crawford, and Ben Cormier, Nansi got it over Gillespie’s pad to increase the Attack lead to two.
While the Steelheads tried to come back to tie things up in hopes of forcing overtime, Owen Sound added another goal to their lead after the Trout pulled Gillespie for the extra attacker. After getting the puck in his own end, Hookey sent the puck up to Pierce Mbuyi, who got past the Brampton defence for the empty net goal.
The Steelheads had a last-minute attempt at the battle back after Troy Patton scored with less than a minute to go. After Kieran Witkowski kept the puck in, he passed it over to Gabriel Chiarot, who deked out the defence before setting Patton up for the goal. Yet, despite their efforts, time was not on the Trouts’ side as the clock ran out, and the Attack secured their 5-3 victory.
The Steelheads return home on Friday as they take on the Erie Otters for their Women In Sports Game. For tickets, click here.