OHL Brampton Steelheads

Steelheads Prep for Must-Win Game Four

Published on March 26, 2019 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brampton Steelheads News Release


MISSISSAUGA, ON - A 5-3 loss to the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday Night has left the Mississauga Steelheads in a tough spot down 3-0 in their opening round series.

History may not be on the Steelheads side, since the team's inception they have won a playoff series from a losing position on just one occasion. That victory came after erasing a 1-0 deficit against the Oshawa Generals in Round 2 of the team's run to the 2017 OHL Finals. Four teams in OHL playoff history have emerged victorious from the position the Steelheads find themselves in now. Just one team, the 1988 Ottawa 67's took down the Oshawa Generals before the new millennium. Three teams since then have accomplished the improbable; being the 2005 and 2010 Windsor Spitfires and the 2014 Peterborough Petes.

The key to rewriting history, however, may be found in looking back at the games that led to the 3-0 deficit:

Game One:

A slow start for the Trout saw the Wolves score three unanswered goals to begin the game. The opening game of the series stands as the only game that saw the Wolves outshoot the Steelheads, doing so by a margin of 32-31. Alan Lyszczarczyk, Thomas Harley and Keean Washkurak were the only Steelheads to record points, the trio being awarded all the points on the Steelheads two goals in a 5-2 loss. Nolan Hutcheson supplied much of the Wolves offence recording a hat-trick in his playoff debut.

Game Two:

A much-improved performance in Game Two, sees the Trout open the scoring through rookie James Hardie's first career playoff goal. But, a disappointing four-minute passage of play sees the Wolves capitalized on a power play opportunity to tie the game through David Levin's first goal of the series. The damage was doubled just over a minute later, when Quinton Byfield just barely stayed onside while tracking down a stretch pass from Nolan Hutcheson, the highly touted rookie forward sped in and beat Jacob Ingham up top to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead in the first period. An Alan Lyszczarczyk goal in the second frame would be the last regulation marker, sending the teams to overtime tied at two. Despite the Steelheads outshooting the Wolves 7-3 in the extra frame, David Levin snuck his second of the game through Jacob Ingham handing Sudbury a 3-2 OT win and 2-0 series lead.

Game Three:

In the Trout's return to the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, the team put up a valiant effort. The Steelheads would again outshoot the Wolves 42-41 in the game, this time getting three past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The Wolves offence would pick up their goalie, a two-goal game from Quinton Byfield and two-point outings from David Levin and Blake Murray grabbed the Wolves the four goals they needed to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Looking forward to Game Four, Head Coach James Richmond addressed what he expects from his team going forward post game, "We'll just keep firing away, our guys are going pretty good... if we can win one then we stay alive, that's all we're doing, we're not trying to win the series on Wednesday, we're trying to stay alive."

Along with Quinton Byfield's six points, the play of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been the story of the series thus far. The Finnish netminder has stopped 107 of the 114 shots he's faced good for a .939 SAV% and 2.33 GAA so far.

"We've got some stuff on him, we're doing a pretty good job, but let's give the kid credit, he's a hell of a goalie," said James Richmond on the play of the Sudbury shot-stopper.

Liam Ham on the Steelheads approach to beating Luukkonen; "He's going to stop many things that he sees, so we've got to get bodies in front of him..., throw everything at the net. In the playoffs, weird bounces happen. We just gotta stick to it."

Ham spoke of the team's approach to Wednesday's elimination game, "We're gunna come back Wednesday and we're fighting for our lives, we're gunna play desperate hockey."

Puck drop on a do or die Game Four for the Steelheads is 7:00 pm at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 26, 2019


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