23 Feb 2025, 18:30 | Regular season | Guildford Spectrum |
Guildford Flames | 3-2 SO | Sheffield Steelers |
Periods: Shots: | 1-0 (13-7) | 1-0 (12-16) | 0-2 (10-9) | 0-0 (4-0) | Total: 39-32 |
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Referees: #11 Matt Rose, #52 Stephen Matthews  |  Spectators: 1924 |
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Goals and assists
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,"