So it's Sunday night and the Steelers have come out of the weekend with just 2 points. Is it disappointing? Of course it is, but there were massive positives out of this weekend for the club.
On Saturday we didn't get out of the blocks very well. We made a slow start. Taking over 5 minutes to have our first shot on goal at a goalie that was playing in only his 4th professional game and going 2-0 down to the visiting side really wasn't what I'd wanted to see.
That being said though, the boys dug deep and worked extremely hard and got themselves back into the game at 2-2. Even at 3-2 down, they still plugged away and in the end came out of the game with a much deserved 4-3 win and 2 valuable points.
A much needed morale and confidence boost for everyone one the ice, especially with it being a Steelers team that finally had a full quota of players dressed for the game for only the 3rd time this season!
Now, whilst I'll admit I didn't catch the first 10-15 minutes of tonights game, what I saw of the last 45-50 minutes gave me some confidence.
Even at 2-0 down we were never out of the game. We had some good chances but the new Cardiff netminder made one or two good stops. We looked more dangerous going forward than we had in recent weeks, but while some shots were still not of a threatening quality, we were at least looking to take those shots at goal rather than try and pass and overplay the puck, especially in the 3rd period.
We got ourselves back into the game thanks to a goal from Drew Fata, but the rest of the period was all about Phil Cook.
On a number of occasions he looked to be out of position but recovered to make some very good stops, some he had no right in making. We were all over the Devils at 2-1 down yet we just couldn't find a way past him to tie the game up.
Unfortunately for us, the Devils got a few lucky breaks and favourable bounces just after the halfway point of the third period and blew the game wide open at 5-1 in the space of a few minutes. They were able to make the most of what little chances they had.
Sadly, these things happen in hockey. The scoreline tonight really doesn't reflect the game at all in my view. The Steelers were very much the better side and 9 times out of 10 would have come away with the 2 points tonight. I honestly think that we could have had 6 or 7 goals ourselves.
It's not all doom and gloom just because we didn't get 4 points out of the weekend. We were just unfortunate to run into a night where we didn't get the breaks in front of the goal when we really didn't want one of those nights at all.
Let's just hope that despite the loss tonight, confidence and moral hasn't been lost. There are positives to take out of tonight, especially in terms of looking to take the shot at goal. Hopefully come Boxing Day and the 28th in Nottingham we'll be taking a better quality of shot at goal and make the most of those quality scoring chances and have a few good bounces come our way as well.
Besides, wouldn't it just be lovely to have two wins over Nottingham? Especially at this time of year.
I personally wouldn't mind a little bit of redemption on the 28th and embarrass them on TV in their own barn considering the way the games have gone so far this season in the NIC...here's hoping eh?
That's probably it from me now before Christmas, so I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, or if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a joyful festive period in whichever way you do celebrate this time of year.
You know the drill by now folks...
@IAmMcCausland
@TomWalkeden
@AwkwardGinge
@FrozenSteelBlog
Cheers!
Alan
@AwkwardGinge
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