MATCH REPORT | Steeldogs whimper away after home loss

The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms travelled up to Sheffield in a mid-week game, intending to keep their winning streak. Just over 30 seconds into the game Captain Jonathan Kirk received a high sticking penalty - this allowed Duncan Speirs, Austin Mitchell-King and Nathan Salem to wind their sticks up at Steeldogs goalie Daniel Crowe on the powerplay.

The Steeldogs had a quick response to this attack as Walker Sommer hit the back of Hayden Lavigne’s net. Immediately after the next face-off, Jarvis Hunt wanted to return the favour to the Steeldogs, he charged at Crowe, but he shot a little too wide of Crowe’s net. Adrenaline-filled Sommer had dreams of getting an early second goal but Phantoms’ defencemen Joe Gretton dispossessed Sommer as he tries to enter the Phantom zone. Soon after, Speirs crossed the threshold of the Steeldogs’ zone, skated towards Crowe, and made a quick pass to Mitchell-King, who tidied up the goal and rang the first bell for the Phantoms.

After the 14th minute of the game, Gretton and Sam Cooper found themselves mid-ice exchanging fist throws before the officials intervened and both were handed 5 minutes for fighting. Elmeri Hällfors took advantage of a powerplay which Tom Norton provided when he was given two minutes for delay of game - Hällfors boosted the scoreboard towards the Steeldogs. Early in the second period, Cam Hough, Janne Laakkonen and Luke Ferrara entered ferociously, repeatedly sending pucks at Crowe’s net.

Despite not scoring within the first few minutes of the period, Ferrara made up for this when he took advantage of a Steeldog turnover, he skated towards Crowe, made a tic-tac-toe move with Laakkonen, and Ferrara finished up the play and levelled the scoreboard. Less than one minute later Hough found an opportunity to get another goal for the Phantoms; he fired the puck from above the circle and into the top shelf of Crowe’s net, proving that this top line is dangerous to a play against.

Hoping for a quick turnaround Sommer paired up with Ivan Björkly-Nordströrm as Sommer went towards Lavigne then a quick back pass to Björkly-Nordströrm to finish up the play but Lavigne saw through their plans and stopped the duo. Finlay Ulrick entered the Phantoms’ zone intending to get the better of Lavigne, but Norton saw Ulrick’s ideas and blocked his shooting lane, defending his netminder.

The Phantom pressure became too much for Sommer this was evidenced when he elbowed Phantom defenceman Billy Thorpe knocking him over - Sommer was penalised with a 2-minute roughing penalty; upset with the attack on his teammate Hunt capitalised on a rebound off of Crowe, scoring the 4th goal for the Phantoms. Entering the third period, the Steeldogs became ravenous for more goals as they played more of an offensive style of play, but the Phantoms were one step ahead and cleverly kept the Steeldogs to the sides and stopped the Steeldogs from playing how they wanted to in their barn.

Sam Tremblay and Hallförs tried to link up but Hallförs mistook the plexiglass for Lavigne’s net. Hough was able to extend his league-leading goal streak as the top line linked up again to get the better of Crowe. Sommer had a quick return and scored the third and final goal for the Steeldogs. Not willing to end the game with the last goal being from a Steeldog, Callum Buglass tapped in the 6th goal for the Phantoms - proving that the Phantoms are the underdogs of the league.

Steeldogs called a time-out with less than 30 seconds left of the game, Lavigne also received an interference penalty - they pulled Crowe to provide 6 Steeldogs on 4 Phantoms, but the Phantoms kept pressing hard until the final buzzer and took themselves to joint 3rd in the standings with Swindon Wildcats.