Welcome to our match report from Saturday's game at Milton Keynes.
After completing an impressive four point weekend on their return to Elite League action, the Steelers headed south to Milton Keynes in the hope they could keep the momentum high and rise up the table. They had to do this without the injured duo of Robert Dowd and John Armstrong who were also joined by winger Colton Fretter with an unspecified injury whilst Kieran Brown was still on his way back after his knock. Joonas Ronnberg, who re-joined the team a few days earlier, was back on defensive duty.
The home side, desperate for a win, had a few injuries of their own. Forwards Tommy Mele and Kyle Essery were absent as was netminder Miika Wiikman who sustained a concussion in the Lightning's last game, former Panthers netminder Jindrich "Henry" Pacl started after only arriving in Buckinghamshire 24 hours ago on a short term deal.
It was a game that began at breakneck speed for the Steelers as they were awarded two chances on the powerplay before 10 minutes were up, the first one in the opening 24 seconds. However whilst they had a few looks, they couldn't convert. The chances were coming up but not being taken; and that was going to be the story of the night as the game unfolded for the Steelers. Then at 13:16, the Lightning scored and it was probably against the run of play too. Former Hull, Nottingham and Cardiff winger Guillaume Doucet wound up and from the right wing: arrowed an effort into the top corner of Ervins Mustukovs' net.
In the early stages of the middle period, Steelers had to kill a four minute powerplay given against Levi Nelson. It looked like an accidental high sticking call to most but for some unknown reason it was announced as a check to the head. Isn't that a 2+10 if we're mistaken? Anyway it gave Lightning a chance which they doubled their lead at 22:37, captain Kevin King blasting a shot in past Mustukovs from the right circle. The Steelers needed something to spark themselves into life and make one opportunity count, and they did it at 27:25 when Liam Kirk was given space in the high slot to fire home his 5th of the season past Pacl. The pressure continued and the scores were level at 32:07, Nelson taking advantage of a Pacl rebound to score his 14th of the season - the goal being awarded after a review which wasn't needed.
Just over three and a half minutes later, Lightning regained the lead and in familiar fashion too. With Matt Marquardt sitting a roughing minor, the highly rated Lewis Hook snapped a shot from the right circle and high into the net: the third such goal that evening. Yet the teams should have been level going into the final period, Pacl couldn't hold onto a Nelson effort which the winger put away but the officials washed it off immediately believing that the Czech netminder had the puck covered up when he clearly didn't. A glaring error that could have been used for GLT but wasn't.
Steelers ran into a few penalty problems in the final twenty, and on their third powerplay of the period Lightning scored their fourth of the night and third powerplay strike. Another shot high from King that found the net over the shoulder of Mustukovs to give his side some much needed breathing space as Steelers continued to wrack up the chances. Despite pulling the Latvian netminder in the final 83 seconds, the Steelers couldn't find their way open and shipped a fifth with nine seconds left. Denny Kearney was serving a slashing minor, but Steelers coughed it up and Francis Verreault-Paul won the foot face that ensued to tuck it into the empty cage and secure the Lightning's win.
Time for the statistics:
Goals: Lightning 5 Steelers 2
Steelers Scoring: Kirk 1+0, Nelson 1+0, D.Phillips 0+1, Wallace 0+1, Matheson 0+1, O'Connor 0+1.
Lightning Scoring: Verreault-Paul 1+2. King 2+0, Hook 1+1, Hudson 0+2, Doucet 1+0, Foster 0+1, Pompi 0+1, Phillips 0+1.
Shots On Goal: Steelers 47 Lightning 23
Powerplay: Steelers 0 from 5 (0% conversion), Lightning 3 from 7 (43% conversion)
Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 16 Lightning 10
Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 18 Saves (935), GAA: 4.09 (2.28), Save Percentage: 81.80% (92.00%).
Man of the Match: Liam Kirk (Steelers), Kevin King (Lightning)
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