Thursday 26th December 2013 - Sheffield Steelers (13-10-2) v Nottingham Panthers (13-7-2) @ Motorpoint Arena. Face off: 5:15pm
We're back to that time of the year the Christmas series between the Sheffield Steelers and the Nottingham Panthers, fans have been saying there is no passion in the team and the boys answered their critics fantastically with a great 2-0 win in the annual boxing day clash.
Frank Doyle was in between the pipes for the Steelers, Neil Conway was in between the pipes for the Panthers, Maxime Lacroix had been out warming up after getting injured in Nottingham in September but he didn't feature in this game, Steelers was also without Mark Thomas for reasons we don't know yet. So it was Steelers v Nottingham the biggest game in the league and of the year. The game got underway and it was Sheffield who would try their luck first as Steelers forward Robert Dowd tried his luck from the side of the goal but would hit the post, that would be followed by some physical play as Sirianni would put a hit in on Francis and Goertzen would do the same on Benedict but in between each hit saw Nottingham's first attempt of the night as Frank Doyle caught David Clarke's effort. Sheffield would go forward and would be met by Neil Conway out of his crease and would lose his stick in which he would need a replacement as it was broken which the Nottingham bench didn't seem impressed about from the resulting face off with 4:07 gone in the game Nottingham took the first penalty of the game as Chris Murray was called for hooking. With Nottingham shorthanded they started the better as they had to great chances denied by Frank Doyle and then at the other end Dustin Kohn saw an effort covered up by Conway. With both teams trying really hard to score the first of the game Doyle had to pad away the effort of Chris Murray after he was out the box and a great bit of neutral zone hockey by Sirianni and Fata eventually ended with a save by Conway of a Fata shot. It would then be Nottingham's turn to go on the power play as Drew Fata was called for hooking and it would be a very strong penalty kill by the Steelers taking away the shooting lanes including two consecutive zone clearances by Gord Baldwin and Tim Spencer, as the penalty was killed Doyle was caught cold out of his net with Nottingham trying to bat the puck away but with too many bodies around the net was knocked of its moorings. Sheffield who were skating very well had a 4 on 2 chance but the shot would fall to Jeff Legue but nothing would come of it and then Sheffield would be back on the power play as #23 went into the box as Nottingham was called for too many men, the best chance of the man advantage fell to Steven Goertzen who tried to re-direct a shot of Sirianni. On 14:40 after a pass from Fata, Goertzen would play Dowd through on the breakaway who would fire one past Neil Conway to erupt the Motorpoint Arena to give the Steelers a 1-0 lead. Chance would fall the way of Sirianni who couldn't tip the puck in. Sheffield were playing one of their best first periods of the season so far but the last chance of the period would fall for Nottingham but a big defensive slide by Baldwin denied them and Steelers would take a 1-0 lead at the end of the 1st.
The second started physically with a good opening hit by Robert Dowd but Nottingham would have the first chance as Francis was denied by Doyle. fantastic skating and work by the captain Goertzen played Dowd in again but would shoot high of the goal, Baldwin would be nice to try his luck with a wrist shot from the blue but it would be tipped just wide. Doyle would make two consecutive saves one off Matt Ryan which would be followed by pushing and shoving but Darnell would call no penalties and just give a face off in the Sheffield zone. Dowd who seemed to be having a lot of opportunities tonight found himself through on goal again but Conway would pad his effort wide, then an effort just in front of goal was fantastically saved by Frank Doyle which received a big cheer from the home faithful. Then at 32:55 a mistake by Neil Conway and a poor clearance attempt by Jonathan Weaver allowed Robert Dowd to pick up the lost puck and pass to Sirianni who had the simple job of firing a wrist shot past Conway from in front of goal to double Sheffield's lead to 2-0. From the face off Jeff Legue skated his way through on goal single handed to wouldn't be able to add a third. Sirianni lost the puck in his own zone but made up for his own attempt with a diving poke check to Un-posses the Nottingham forward, Sheffield seemed very comfortable as Stefan Meyer would hit the post and the DiCasmirro would pass to Dowd who again would see another shot saved then with the clock running down on the second period Dustin Kohn would take a shot from the point which would rebound high of Conway's pad but before anyway could bat it into the empty net both teams were beaten by the buzzer and Steelers would take a 2-0 lead at the end of 2nd.
Sheffield 2-0 Nottingham to start the third period, Nottingham really had to come out play offencive hockey and things started to go their way at the start of the period as a Nottingham player fell over himself but Goertzen was thrown in the box for tripping to put Nottingham on the power play, it would be another killed penalty by the Steelers but would find themselves back on the penalty kill as Dustin Kohn was given two minutes for cross checking that was also killed after several zone clearances, Nottingham would shoot in front of Doyle who would spit a rebound out and poke it to safety. Matt Francis got something that a lot of other forwards got as well and that was a big hit of Drew Fata, Sirianni then tried to add to his tally but it was met by Legue who couldn't tip it in. It was then Francis who found himself on a breakaway but Chad Langlais who was tracking back dived in front and with the help of Frank Doyle the danger was cleared and then at the other end Nottingham was clearing a great scoring chance of the line. The physicality of the game started to appear again as Gord Baldwin who had found himself a lot of critics this year really stepped up to the mark tonight and laid a big hit on Leigh Salters who didn't appreciate it and Baldwin laughed him off, Kalus tried to get him back for Salters but missed his hit. Steelers again would find themselves on the power play as again the Panthers were called for too many men on the ice at 49:59 and it was Robert Farmer that was sent to the box. Nottingham would kill the penalty and then Doyle would save of Farmer and Dowd's shot would be saved after a pass from DiCasmirro, Nottingham would come close twice with a block by Stefan Meyer and then Robert Farmer would almost top in from close range. Nottingham's Robert Lachowicz would receive a 10 minute misconduct for abuse to an official on 56:41 and that would be followed by Matt Francis getting called for Elbows on 57:23. Stefan Meyer would then have two efforts saved brilliantly by Conway. Nottingham would kill the penalty but wouldn't be able to get into the Sheffield zone and wouldn't have the opportunity to pull Conway. Steelers held on and won the game 2-0 which meant a second shutout of the season for Frank Doyle but a first in front of his own fans.
FINAL SCORE: Sheffield Steelers 2-0 Nottingham Panthers
Boxscore (1st-2nd-3rd-[PIM]-{PP}-S)
Sheffield - 1-1-0-[6]-{0/4}-29
Nottingham - 0-0-0-[28]-{0/3}-34
Sheffield Man of the Match: #1 Frank Doyle
Nottingham Man of the Match: #17 Matt Francis
What a game, what a performance from the boys fought from the first puck drop and didn't give up and we did it without having to drop the glove and did it showing nothing but pure passion, its always nice to beat Nottingham and hopefully we can do more of the same on Saturday in their own building. that result improves Sheffield to 14-10-2 and up to third in the league and hopefully Sheffield can build on this performance and result and put a good run together. Like I said in a previous article if we turn up I'm sure the players will so no matter what the score or result keep coming and supporting the boys.
Thanks for reading guys. Any questions or comments please get in contact with the Frozen Steel Team on this article or via Twitter:-
@IAmMcCausland
@TomWalkeden
@AwkwardGinge
@JoshBritton94
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or Email the team at frozen.steel.91@gmail.com
Much Appreciated
Have A Very Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year
Tom
@TomWalkeden
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