Bastian makes it rain teddy bears!
Mississauga, ON – The Steelheads hosted the Barrie Colts Sunday afternoon at the Hershey Centre for their second meeting of the season as well as the Steelheads’ annual Teddy Bear Toss. Their first meeting took place on November 1st where the Colts took it to the Trout 6-0. Andrew Mangiapane and Julius Nattinen both scored twice while Mackenzie Blackwood recorded 27 saves for the shutout. It was the only time this season that the Steelheads failed to register at least goal in a game. Heading into today’s game, the Colts were 2 points ahead of the Steelheads for the Central Division lead. After a dust-up between Barrie and Sudbury Friday night, the Colts would be without their top three scorers in Kevin Labanc, Andrew Mangipane and Julius Nattinen as well as their starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.
Barrie would open the scoring as Adrian Carbonara would have a few whacks at the loose puck around Flinn’s crease before finally sneaking by the Steelheads’ netminder for a 1-0 lead. The Steelheads’ wouldn’t let that derail them as 52 seconds after Carbonara, on the powerplay, birthday boy Nathan Bastian would snipe his 10th of the season by Colts goaltender Ruan Badenhorst to tie the game at 1-1 and send hundreds of teddy bears flying to the ice.
Josh Burnside and Stefan LeBlanc would draw the assists on Bastian’s marker. Just as the period began to wind down, the Trout would capitalize on another powerplay opportunity as Everett Clark would score his 6th of the season with just 21 seconds left in the frame as Stephen Gibson and Damian Bourne assisted on the goal. Shots in the period were 8-7 Steelheads.
The Trout would extend their lead to 3-1 as Michael McLeod fired one blocker side on Badenhorst for his 13th of the season. Alex Nylander and Burnside assisted on the goal. At the 10 minute mark of the second, Mississauga’s top line would strike again as the trio of McLeod, Bastian and Nylander would conduct a beautiful three way passing play with Nylander finishing it off for his 20th goal of the season. Following Nylander’s tally, discipline would be an issue for the Steelheads as they took three penalties in a span of four minutes that allowed the Colts to gain back some momentum. The Colts would capitalize on the their first powerplay opportunity as Rasmus Andersson would fire a harmless looking wrist shot from the point that would get by everyone, including a screened Flinn to cut the Trout’s lead to 4-2. With less than two minutes left in the period, Barrie would make it a one goal game as Zachary Magwood would feed Justin Scott in the slot as he made no mistake wiring it by Flinn for his 6th of the season. Shots in the period were 13-6 Colts, 20-15 Barrie total.
Entering the final frame, the Steelheads were hoping to extend their lead while the Colts were looking for an equalizer. It would be the Steelheads that had their wishes granted as two minutes in the third, Michael McLeod would come off his off-wing and fired a wrist through Badenhorst’s wickets for his second of the game and 14th of the season as Nathan Bastian and Josh Burnside both recorded their third points of the game with assists on the goal. The Steelheads would regain their three goal lead with another powerplay goal as Alexander Nylander would fire a laser top shelf from the top of the circle for his second of the game and 21st of the season. That would be more than enough for Jack Flinn as he stopped 25 of 28 shots for his 16th win of the season.
With the win, the Steelheads and Colts are now tied atop of the Central Division with 34 points. The Steelheads’ top line of McLeod, Bastian and Nylander combined for 10 points for the second time in three as the trio registered 5 goals and 5 assists on the afternoon. Mississauga begins a three game road trip starting on December 10th in Windsor and return home on December 18th to face off against Jakob Chychrun and the Sarnia Sting.
Three Stars:
1st – MISS: Alexander Nylander (2G, 1A)
2nd – MISS: Nathan Bastian (1G, 2A)
3rd – MISS: Michael McLeod (2G, 2A)
