Match Report: 4.10.2014 - Steelers v Panthers CC

Saturday 4^th October 2014 – Sheffield Steelers (2-1-1) v Nottingham Panthers (3-3-0) @ Motorpoint Arena. Face-off: 7pm, Challenge Cup

Sheffield Steelers – 4
Michael Forney
Colton Fretter
Mathieu Roy
Tyler Mosienko

Nottingham Panthers – 2
David Clarke (2)

The game got underway and it wouldn’t be long till Nottingham were on the penalty kill as #89 was called for tripping but it wasn’t the best power play as Nottingham weren’t giving Sheffield much time on the puck with Lawrence having the opportunity to force a good save out of Doyle and at the other end Forney put one high and wide of the body of Kowalski. It wouldn’t be long till Nottingham were on a 5 on 3 power play as Latulippe has been called for tripping and Hewitt for cross checking and on 7:21 they made it count as Stevie Lee passed to Nottingham captain David Clarke on the blue line who fired a one timer low past Doyle to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Panthers were enjoying a lot of possession as Sheffield started the game rather slowly and it could have been worse for the Steelers but Bruce Graham slap shot was covered up by the Steelers netminder followed by Jacina’s shot getting deflected agonisingly wide. Sheffield did start to come into the game and a bad turnover by Kowalski almost let in Phillips to play to Latulippe to shoot into the open goal but the puck didn’t fall for the Steelers forward. On 12:43 and with the Steelers on the power play after Jacina was called for slashing the Steelers levelled the game as Roy was played in by Fretter who slid the puck to Forney all alone in front of goal who then slotted the puck past Kowalski to make it 1-1 and then a minute later Sheffield scored again but was waved of as it was deemed kicked in! The puck was loose at the pads of Kowalski after some great skating by Mosienko and Latulippe stopped in front of the Nottingham goal to poke the puck into the back of the net but Hicks said no goal so we play on. Both teams would have another power play each but Nottingham’s was defended brilliant as Sheffield didn’t give them any shooting lanes and the best chance on Sheffield’s fell to Mosienko but he shot wide and into the last moments of the 1^st period Forney found himself on the breakaway and he tried to toe drag the puck before shooting straight into the body of Kowalski and both teams would go into the break level at 1-1.

End of the 1st Period: Sheffield Steelers 1–1 Nottingham Panthers

Shots on Goal: Steelers 6-10 Panthers

2^nd Period got underway and Nottingham almost had the lead again as Doyle miss-judged a puck and Nottingham wouldn’t get hold of the puck and probably should have scored and then not long after Jacina rounded Doyle but the Steelers netminder saved it with his knee pads. Mosienko then showed what he was about and showed his work ethic which was phenomenal as he didn’t stop skating round the sound while the Steelers had a man in the box and eventually got the puck cleared to get a line change. It was very much end to end as Baldwin saw his wrist shot tipped wide by Hewitt as Max Parent forced a very good glove save by Doyle. There were some tempers during the game as there was coming together between Kohn and Robinson and then Eddy and Parent behind Kowalski’s goal just after Forney forced a good glove save out of the Nottingham netminder. With both teams at even strength Fretter and Roy found themselves 2 on 1 but Fretter could only put it onto the post but he made up for that straight away when on 27:51 Roy fires a puck on goal from the blue line and the puck landed on the stick of Colton Fretter for him to coolly slot through the five hole off Kowalski  to give Sheffield a 2-1 lead. Sheffield would have another 2 on 1 opportunity not long after but Mosienko would only be able to shoot over the goal and then Luke Ferrara who was making his debut carried on working hard and impressively dispossessed Max Parent to change defence into attack. Cullen Eddy again would continue to become a fan favourite as him and Jacina had a coming together with the Steelers defencemen not backing down. Sheffield would have a power play with 3 and a half minutes left in the period and Nottingham would be camped in their zone for the whole 2 minutes as were un able to clear the puck some very good passing moves but Kowalski would save well as several shots were thrown on goal but Sheffield would take a 2-1 lead into the 2^nd Intermission.
End of the 2nd Period: Sheffield Steelers 2–1 Nottingham Panthers

Shots on Goal: Steelers 7–10 Panthers

Nottingham started the third period well looking to find an equaliser but would miss from just in front of goal as just after Frank Doyle sends a puck over the glass after making a save and then Ferrara was persistent on making up for a mistake and played Phillips through but he couldn’t get a shot away on goal. Sheffield would then have two power plays and on the second power play would score a fantastic goal on 48:36 Dustin Kohn had possession of the puck on the blue line and fired a wrist shot on goal only for Mathieu Roy to show fantastic hands and tip the puck through the legs of Kowalski for a 3-1 score line. Sheffield seemed to take control of the game but it didn’t go without the odd Nottingham chance as Cody Wild shot wide of Doyle’s goal just after Doyle made a save with his skates and then Mosienko passed to Latulippe who broke down the left and threw the puck in front of goal for Mosienko to tip into the body of Kowalski, Sheffield were having a lot of possession but soon gifted Nottingham with a life line as Forney was called two minutes for tripping which looked like a legal check but the Hicks didn’t think so and on 56:30 Nottingham pulled it back to a one goal game when David Clarke fired a slap shot from between the circles lost past Doyle and Nottingham had a chance as they scored their second power play goal of the night and probably could have had an equaliser if it wasn’t for Mark Thomas blocking the shot of Graham to the right of Doyle’s goal but with 1:06 left in the game Kowalski was pulled, Nottingham had their time out but it wouldn’t be enough when 59:48 Cullen Eddy was clearing the Sheffield lines and Mosienko picked up the puck in his own zone before chipping a backhanded shot into the empty net to secure a 4-2 win and a place in the quarter-finals for the Steelers.
Shots on Goal: Steelers 7–7 Panthers

FINAL SCORE: Sheffield Steelers 4–2 Nottingham Panthers

Boxscore (1st-2nd-3rd-OT-[PIM]-{PP}-S)

Sheffield        - 1-1-2-0-[12]-{2/6}-20

Nottingham - 1-0-1-0-[14]-{2/5}-27

Sheffield Man of the Match: #15 Mathieu Roy
Nottingham Man of the Match: #5 David Clarke

Sheffield Points Round Up: - 11 Points
Gord Baldwin (0+1), Cullen Eddy (0+1), Michael Forney (1+1), Mathieu Roy (1+2), Tyler Mosienko (1+0), Dustin Kohn (0+1), Colton Fretter (1+1)

Nottingham Points Round Up: - 5 Points

David Clarke (2+0), Chris Lawrence (0+1), Greg Jacina (0+1), Stephen Lee (0+1)

Referee: #27 Mike Hicks

Referee:

Linesman: #14 James Kavanagh

Linesman: #22 Paul Staniforth

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Tom
@TomWalkeden
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