Flames' shootout win keeps Steelers five off the lead
Photo: John Uwins
Sheffield Steelers were denied cutting the gap on leaders Belfast Giants to four points by a shootout defeat in Guildford, the Flames winning out 3-2 overall in an exciting game at the Spectrum for their third straight victory this week.
"That was a really fun one to play in," said Flames' Jack Jacome. "Coming off a tough of days of travel and then playing one of the top teams in the league, it was a lot of fun to see how we battled and be a part of."
The Flames were out of the blocks quickly and an early hooking minor on Mukko Juusola helped them get ahead - a rebound falling straight onto the stick of Daniel Catenacci to get the puck over the line as a crowd of players were about to crash into Matt Greenfield's net. The Flames continued to dominate the opening stages of the game but found Greenfield in their way from adding more. Catenacci was instrumental in preventing a chance at the other end, as was Eamon McAdam who bailed his team out where needed under pressure towards the end of the period.
Just under three minutes into period two, the Flames were given another powerplay but failed to extend their advantage. That didn't bother them, however, as Ryan Tait fed Daniel Tedesco who used defensemen as a screen and fired past Greenfield to double the Flames' lead at 25:11
Austin Glover was denied by Greenfield on a breakaway, while the Flames also saw another shot hit the pipes, as they led by two through 40 minutes.
Sheffield came out hard in period three, and it seemed like only a matter of time before they would get on the board - 4:36 into the period, Daniel Leavens beat McAdam five-hole in close to half the deficit. Tait had an excellent chance to put the Flames back two up but shot easily into Greenfield's glove on an odd-man rush, and then with just 6:02 to play Joona Huttula crashed a shot through traffic off a faceoff to tie the game.
"It was a good game of hockey. Guildford played a very good first period, and I thought McAdam was outstanding" said Steelers captain Robert Dowd. "Our boys were fantastic to push back and come back from two goals down, but we have to find a way to make sure we start better.
"It's been a few games now where we've been trailing, and it's been hard work to try and fight back. We grew into the game as it went on, and by period three I thought we were quite dominant. We had some big goals to tie it up, we'll go away with one point and move on.
"We're in a tight title race with Belfast at the moment so we have to be on our game every night. We'll rest up now and get ready for Wednesday."
A point each was probably a fair reflection on the game with things heading into overtime. In the bonus period, only Greenfield's excellent glove save prevented the Flames from taking the extra point as the home side looked to have more legs.
In the end, the game was decided in a shootout. Jack Jacome and Ethan Strang scored wonderful attempts either side of a Mikko Juusola goal to give the Flames a 2-1 advantage, and with no further scoring they took the bonus point to cap a six-point week.
"You just have to trust your instincts in a shootout," added Jacome. "It's something we've worked on with our goalies, picking their brains on how they react to certain moves. It's like anything else in the game, the work is done and hope it pays off.
"It hasn't been easy for us the last few weekends, we were on a little bit of a slide, but to get some wins against some really good teams is big for our confidence. Hopefully we're peaking at the right time and we'll have a big finish,"
