Match Report: 6.12.2014 - Steelers v Panthers EC/EIHL

Saturday 6^th December 2014 – Sheffield Steelers (13-5-1) v Nottingham Panthers (12-3-4) @ Motorpoint Arena. Face-off: 7:15pm, Erhardt Conference/Elite League

Sheffield Steelers – 3
Michael Forney – 1^st
Colton Fretter – 2^nd
Robert Dowd – 3^rd PP

Nottingham Panthers – 2
Robert Farmer – 2^nd
Maxime Langelier-Parent – 3^rd

With a delayed face-off and the biggest crowd of the season to date the game underway and it was Nottingham that probably started the better of the two teams as they almost opened the scoring in the early stages when Lee’s shot was rebounded out of Doyle but the Nottingham forward in front missed the puck and it allowed Sheffield to clear their lines. Was some really good hockey being played as Boxill was out in front of Modig but missed the puck and then at the other end after some fantastic skating by Dowd he eventually saw his back hand saved by Modig then Sheffield went the closest as they broke 2 on 1 and Dowd played to Phillips who miss handled the puck and eventually fed Mosienko who skated in front of goal but his back handed shot was saved and Dowd was launched into the goal, down at the end Parent tried a wraparound but Doyle managed to make the leg save at his left hand post. We would then have some four on four hockey as Dowd was given 2+10 for a check to the head which was a poor call by the referee and it was Boxill in the box for Nottingham but still at even strength Sheffield went to work after some great fore-checking by Cullen Eddy in the Nottingham zone the puck fell to Roy in front of goal who played to Forney on the left hand side who shot into the open goal at 18:36 to take a 1-0 lead into the break.

End of the 1st Period: Sheffield Steelers 1–0 Nottingham Panthers

Shots on Goal: Steelers 10-7 Panthers

Second period got underway and compared to last Saturdays second period they made the perfect start possible extending their lead to 2-0 at 21:49 when the puck was thrown on goal and Mathieu Roy can’t get a backhand on it and lays it off to Fretter who slots in on the forehand. Chris Higgins had a great opportunity to pull a goal back when he found himself one on one and Baldwin prevented him from getting his shot away and Eddy cleaned up in front of goal but it was very much end to end stuff with both goaltenders making nice saves when called upon and then at 31:27 Nottingham got themselves back in the game when Farmer found himself to the right of Doyle’s goal and he managed to throw a back hand in front of goal which managed to go of a Steeler and into the goal to bring the visitors within one goal. The game was getting physical with several coming together and then with a chance to level the game Parent was one on one with Doyle but the Steeler netminder stood up tall to deny the Nottingham forward. Modig would then have to deny Fretter to his left and soon after Dowd would throw a puck on goal only for Modig to deny a Steeler at point blank range and then with the clock ticking down Forney broke down the right hand side managed to beat Cody Wild with his stick handling but his back handed shot went wide of the goal but Sheffield would still take a 2-1 lead into the break.
End of the 2nd Period: Sheffield Steelers 2–1 Nottingham Panthers

Shots on Goal: Steelers 13–11 Panthers

Third period got underway and both teams would have some powerplay time but neither would be able to make it count but Doyle got lucky early on when he was caught out his goal and Nottingham had the whole goal to aim at and Doyle somehow got back to deflect the puck away from goal but at 47:56 Nottingham would level the game when it seemed like Doyle had the puck in his glove parent swiped it out and into the open goal and the referee pointed for a goal and we had 2-2 game. Soon after Brandon Benedict would hit Thomas into the boards from behind and he was called for boarding unhappy with the decision Benedict was sitting for two minutes and Sheffield got to work and took the lead when Dowd received the puck to the right of Modig in the faceoff circle and he fired a nice wrist shot past the blocker of Modig at his near post to put the Steelers 3-2 up at 49:46. Both teams were throwing in some hits and taking some penalties and Wild fires a shot from the blue line that went wide and then David Clarke tried his luck but could only hit the post. Fretter and Mosienko would break 2v1 and working hard to skate in front ended with him behind launched into the post he was down hurt at the time but he would be ok. Into the last three minutes Frank Doyle would make a match winning save when Lachowicz was in front of goal and Doyle was down on his side but made a beautiful glove save to deny the Nottingham forward. Nottingham would pull Modig for the extra attacker but wouldn’t be able to find a way through but Fretter would hit the post from distance trying to shoot into the empty net but Sheffield would take the win and level the series 2-2 with Nottingham.
Shots on Goal: Steelers 7–13 Panthers

FINAL SCORE: Sheffield Steelers 3–2 Nottingham Panthers

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

Sheffield        - 1-1-1-0-[24]-{1/7}-30

Nottingham - 0-1-1-0-[18]-{0/5}-31

Sheffield Man of the Match: #75 Robert Dowd
Nottingham Man of the Match: #61 Cody Wild

Sheffield Points Round Up: - 9 Points
Gord Baldwin (0+1), Cullen Eddy (0+1), Michael Forney (1+0), Mathieu Roy (0+2), Mark Thomas (0+1), Colton Fretter (1+0), Darrell Hay (0+1), Robert Dowd (1+0)

Nottingham Points Round Up: - 5 Points

Maxime Langelier-Parent (1+0), Robert Farmer (1+1), Cody Wild (0+1), Jonathan Boxill (0+1)

Referee: #10 Neil Wilson

Referee: #19 Rab Cowan

Linesman: #14 James Kavanagh

Linesman: #31 Ally Flockhart

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