Welcome to our match report from last night's game in Nottingham.
After losing a midweek game to Cardiff, Steelers looked for a bounce back performance against the Panthers who they had beaten in the NIC seven days previously. As predicted Steelers welcomed back Miika Franssila to the blueline after illness had denied him his place in midweek. Panthers didn't have as full a bench as the home ice but could still dress a full complement of imports. It was also a game of landmarks too, as Steelers Robert Dowd played his 500th game for the team and David Clarke was potentially playing his final game at the House Of Steel before his retirement at the end of the season.
The game started with a raucous cheer as Steelers welcomed back French-Canadian power forward Guillaume Desbiens back to the House Of Steel. Desbiens of course played an important role in the Steelers play-off success last season, and was set to return for two more seasons until his wife received a job offer she couldn't refuse back home and the ever popular Desbiens decided to retire from professional hockey with immediate effect. How Steelers wish that they had him back in the fold now?
This game had a common pattern throughout, that being Steelers outshooting their visitors but not taking the chances when presented to them. It was to prove a costly error as the Panthers would go back down the M1 with the points. The scoring was opened at 6:18 and to be honest, it was a goal that Steelers should have avoided. Former NHL draft pick Zack Phillips was allowed space to walk in on Ervins Mustukovs and then light the lamp with a simple finish to delight the away blocks. A couple of minutes later Davey Phillips and Panthers' Jeff Brown dropped the gloves after the latter reacted to what he thought was a late on him by the former. Both received five minute majors with Brown taking an additional 2+10 for instigation. Mark Derlago could have made it 2-0 but Mustukovs somehow denied the Panthers sniper, and Steelers themselves went close with Dowd, Levi Nelson and Mathieu Roy all having chances.
Patrick Galbraith, who was given the nod ahead of Michael Garnett, was definitely the busier of the two netminders. The Danish netminder continued to keep his side ahead of the Steelers as he produced a series of good saves but it had to be said that some of the other efforts were straight at him as Steelers continued to rack up the efforts on goal. With six and a half minutes left Steelers shipped a second and it was again avoidable. The home side couldn't clear their zone and Mike Vaskivuo took advantage of it to make it 2-0. Facing an uphill battle, the hill became more like a mountain when Panthers stretched it to three at 36:23. Derlago skated down the left wing, passed it into the slot and it was GB internationalist Evan Mosey who arrived on cue to crash the net and score past the exposed Mustukovs. Steelers D looked shellshocked by it all.
Knowing they needed a goal to give them a lift, Steelers managed to haul one back at 45:27. This goal came shortly after the Steelers had once more failed to convert on a powerplay, they ended up going 0 for 5 overall in the end. Galbraith managed to let one escape what looked his cast-iron grip, and Dowd put away his 19th of the season even if the EIHL site has it down as down as Andreas Valdix. It became an interesting final 5:07 to play when Steelers broke through for a second time and once more it was Dowd who was on target. The Billingham-born winger let fly with a low slapshot from the right circle and it arrowed into the bottom corner before Galbraith could even get set for it. Panthers D was then having a wobble as Steelers pushed on under increased noise from the majority of the 8000 plus crowd. However, any hope was blown away with 1:03 left when on a 6 on 5, Valdix was called for a clear tripping offence yet the decision was made by the referee at the other end of the ice. That call took the wind out of the Steelers sails and Panthers comfortably saw off the remaining time to record an all-important two road points.
The game started with a raucous cheer as Steelers welcomed back French-Canadian power forward Guillaume Desbiens back to the House Of Steel. Desbiens of course played an important role in the Steelers play-off success last season, and was set to return for two more seasons until his wife received a job offer she couldn't refuse back home and the ever popular Desbiens decided to retire from professional hockey with immediate effect. How Steelers wish that they had him back in the fold now?
This game had a common pattern throughout, that being Steelers outshooting their visitors but not taking the chances when presented to them. It was to prove a costly error as the Panthers would go back down the M1 with the points. The scoring was opened at 6:18 and to be honest, it was a goal that Steelers should have avoided. Former NHL draft pick Zack Phillips was allowed space to walk in on Ervins Mustukovs and then light the lamp with a simple finish to delight the away blocks. A couple of minutes later Davey Phillips and Panthers' Jeff Brown dropped the gloves after the latter reacted to what he thought was a late on him by the former. Both received five minute majors with Brown taking an additional 2+10 for instigation. Mark Derlago could have made it 2-0 but Mustukovs somehow denied the Panthers sniper, and Steelers themselves went close with Dowd, Levi Nelson and Mathieu Roy all having chances.
Patrick Galbraith, who was given the nod ahead of Michael Garnett, was definitely the busier of the two netminders. The Danish netminder continued to keep his side ahead of the Steelers as he produced a series of good saves but it had to be said that some of the other efforts were straight at him as Steelers continued to rack up the efforts on goal. With six and a half minutes left Steelers shipped a second and it was again avoidable. The home side couldn't clear their zone and Mike Vaskivuo took advantage of it to make it 2-0. Facing an uphill battle, the hill became more like a mountain when Panthers stretched it to three at 36:23. Derlago skated down the left wing, passed it into the slot and it was GB internationalist Evan Mosey who arrived on cue to crash the net and score past the exposed Mustukovs. Steelers D looked shellshocked by it all.
Knowing they needed a goal to give them a lift, Steelers managed to haul one back at 45:27. This goal came shortly after the Steelers had once more failed to convert on a powerplay, they ended up going 0 for 5 overall in the end. Galbraith managed to let one escape what looked his cast-iron grip, and Dowd put away his 19th of the season even if the EIHL site has it down as down as Andreas Valdix. It became an interesting final 5:07 to play when Steelers broke through for a second time and once more it was Dowd who was on target. The Billingham-born winger let fly with a low slapshot from the right circle and it arrowed into the bottom corner before Galbraith could even get set for it. Panthers D was then having a wobble as Steelers pushed on under increased noise from the majority of the 8000 plus crowd. However, any hope was blown away with 1:03 left when on a 6 on 5, Valdix was called for a clear tripping offence yet the decision was made by the referee at the other end of the ice. That call took the wind out of the Steelers sails and Panthers comfortably saw off the remaining time to record an all-important two road points.
Time for the statistics:
Goals: Steelers 2 Panthers 3
Steelers Scoring: Dowd 2+0, Aarssen 0+1, Matheson 0+1, Nelson 0+1.
Panthers Scoring: Phillips 1+1, Vaskivuo 1+1, Clarke 0+2, Mosey 1+0, Derlago 0+1, Pither 0+1.
Shots On Goal: Steelers 60 Panthers 30
Powerplay: Steelers 0 from 5 (0% conversion), Panthers 0 from 1 (0% conversion)
Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 7 Panthers 25
Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 27 Saves (1339), GAA: 3.09 (2.41), Save Percentage: 90.00% (91.60%).
Man of the Match: Robert Dowd (Steelers), David Clarke (Panthers)
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