Steel Rout Musketeers 7-0 Friday Night
February 13, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release
GENEVA, ILLINOIS - Christiano Versich and Jack Gessert combined for seven points while Daniel Vladar recorded a 29-save shutout as the Chicago Steel (18-18-4-3, 43 points) defeated the Sioux City Musketeers (18-21-1-0, 37 points) 7-0 Friday night at Fox Valley Ice Arena. The Steel had a perfect night on special teams, going five-for-five on the power play while killing off all four Sioux City power plays in the victory.
Steel forward Marc Johnstone opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 16:22 of the first period. Jack Gessert fed a pass to Johnstone who was positioned at the Musketeer blue line along the far boards. Johnstone aggressively skated past the Musketeer defense to put himself in on goal. He deked Sioux City goalie Cameron Gornet, moved to his forehand and slid the puck around the left skate of the Musketeer netminder to take a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Christiano Versich doubled Chicago's lead on the power play in the second frame. Versich received a pass from Jake Jaremko in the slot, patiently waited for an opening and put a wrist shot top-shelf over the glove of the Sioux City netminder at 4:47. Max Zimmer added to the goal total late into the frame. Zimmer carried the puck into the offensive zone along the near boards, side-stepped a defender and veered into the slot. Zimmer finished off the play with a wrist shot that beat Gornet past the stick-side at the 13:39 mark. The Steel went into the final period with a comfortable 3-0 advantage.
Chicago kept up the pressure in the third period, tallying four more goals. With the man advantage, Versich tallied his second goal of the night. Gessert carried the puck into the slot to draw the attention of the Musketeer goaltender and defensemen. Gessert patiently waited and found Versich down low at the left post and put a one-time shot into an open net at 5:22 to increase the lead to 4-0. Later in the period, Gessert scored two consecutive goals two minutes apart, and Mitch Lewandowski tallied the seventh goal for the Steel as Chicago capped off the offensive explosion with a shutout on the other end for the 7-0 win.
Chicago continued its effectiveness on the penalty kill and has now killed off 47 of its last 50 penalties in their last 11 games. Daniel Vladar stopped 29 shots on net in rout to his third shutout and sixth win of the season. Chicago sweeps the season series against the Musketeers, 2-0, following a 3-0 win one week ago at Sioux City.
The Steel travel to take on their in-state rivals, Bloomington Thunder, next Friday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m., followed by a visit Saturday to Des Moines. Chicago then returns to Fox Valley Ice Arena on Friday, Feb. 26 as they host the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 7:30 p.m. The Steel will celebrate mascot Rusty's birthday with a visit from Chicagoland mascots and a special intermission mascot game. Plus, it's a Steel Family Pack game with four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and four chuck-a-pucks starting at just $59. Tickets are available at the box office inside Fox Valley Ice Arena, by phone at 855-51-STEEL and online at ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.
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