Match Report: 2.1.2015 - Giants v Steelers EC/EIHL

Friday 2^nd January 2014 – Belfast Giants (17-9-1) v Sheffield Steelers (19-6-2) @ Odyssey Arena. Face-off: 7pm, Erhardt Conference/Elite League

Belfast Giants – 5
Evan Cheverie – 2^nd PP
Cody Brookwell – 2^nd
Calvin Elfring – 3^rd PP
Robby Sandrock – 3^rd PP
Craig Peacock – 3^rd EN

Sheffield Steelers – 3
Dustin Kohn – 1^st PP
Jonathan Phillips – 1^st SH
Ben O’Connor – 3^rd

The first game of a double header between two title contenders got underway and it was a heated battle and it was Sheffield who took the lead at 2:33 when Mathieu Roy was screening Chubak it was Dustin Kohn who fired a sweet shot that beat the Giants netminder from the blue line for a 1-0 score line.  That would be followed by a fight between Danny Bois and Adam Keefe and that was the result of a hit on Cody Brookwell against the boards which is a contender for hit of the season and before you know it Keefe had his gloves off and Bois just obliged there were punches thrown by both but was eventually broken up by the officials. Steelers took a 2-0 lead at 11:07 while shorthanded Mosienko fed the Steelers captain Jonathan Phillips who skated down the left and managed to get in front of Chubak and get a shot off and Chubak attempted to claw It back from inside the goal and Dean Smith signalled for a good goal, Belfast were still on the man advantage and were awarded a penalty shot after Darrell Hay covered up the puck in the crease but Craig Peacock  was denied by Frank Doyle and Sheffield took a 2-0 lead into the break.

End of the 1st Period: Belfast Giants 0–2 Sheffield Steelers

Shots on Goal: Giants 9-8 Steelers

Just over 9 minutes into the second period Belfast finally pulled a goal back when on the man advantage Giants broke in numbers before Evan Cheverie was played in at the back door and slotted the puck Doyle to bring the Giants within one goal timed at 29:44. Belfast levelled the game at 38:50 when it looked like Doyle had his stick slashed out his hands a bullet of a shot by Cody Brookwell from the point levelled the score at 2-2 but Doyle’s persistence with Hicks was ignored as he was arguing with the referee about how he could award the goal. There was a coming together near Chubak soon after the equaliser involving Colton Fretter and Calvin Elfring and the gloves were dropped and Fretter managed to land some big hits before Elfring put him on the Ice and soon left the Ice injured but both teams went into the second intermission all tied at 2-2.
End of the 2nd Period: Belfast Giants 2–2 Sheffield Steelers

Shots on Goal: Giants 14–6 Steelers

Into the third period Belfast took the lead at 48:10 when Calvin Elfring picked up the puck and fired a slap shot from the top of the circle to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. It was Belfast who would score a fourth unanswered goal when at 53:37 Robby Sandrock was in possession of the puck on the blue line and shot a slap shot through traffic and Doyle had no chance in saving it and Belfast had come from 2-0 down to lead 4-2 but the Steelers managed to pull another goal back at 54:20 when Roy played Forney who worked hard against the boards and managed to skate free in front of goal but his shot was saved by Chubak but the Giants netminder had lost the puck and O’Connor was there to tap home from 2 yards into the open goal. Sheffield were trying to get back into the game and pulled Doyle at 58:47 for an extra attacker but Giants finished the scoring at 59:38 when Peacock scored from his own zone into the empty net and that was just before Robert Dowd had blocked one off the line and Belfast secured the two points with a 5-3 win.
Shots on Goal: Giants 7–12 Steelers

FINAL SCORE: Belfast Giants 5–3 Sheffield Steelers

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

Belfast     - 0-2-3-0-[22]-{3/9}-30

Sheffield - 2-0-1-0-[34]-{1/4}-26

Belfast Man of the Match: #24 Calvin Elfring
Sheffield Man of the Match: #20 Jonathan Phillips

Belfast Points Round Up: - 15 Points
Robby Sandrock (1+0), Evan Cheverie (1+0), Kevin Westgarth (0+1), Mike Kompon (0+5), Colin Shields (0+2), Calvin Elfring (1+1), Cody Brookwell (1+1), Craig Peacock (1+0)

Sheffield Points Round Up: - 9 Points

Gord Baldwin (0+1), Michael Forney (0+1), Mathieu Roy (0+1), Jonathan Phillips (1+0), Tyler Mosienko (0+1), Dustin Kohn (1+0), Colton Fretter (0+1), Ben O’Connor (1+1)

Referee: #27 Mike Hicks

Referee: #26 Dean Smith

Linesman: #25 Andy Dalton

Linesman: #31 Ally Flockhart

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