The Barrhead Steelers returned to their winning ways defeating the Athabasca Hawks 1 to 0 at home on Dec. 15.
The lone goal of the game was scored by Barrhead’s Rob Geis just short of the eight-minute mark in the first period. Assisting on the goal were Luke Szybunka and Frank Scholten. Shots on goal were 11 to 4 for Barrhead and a marked lead in territorial play.
In the second period the teams were evenly matched with perhaps a slight edge going to Barrhead in puck possession and shots on net, 8 to 6. The Steelers penatly killing was especially strong as they killed off two penalties almost in succession, midway through the period.
However, Barrhead’s best period was the third period where they limited Athabasca’s chances and had two or three chances to put the final nail in the coffin, with an insurance goal.
Perhaps the best chance to cement the victory came with about two minutes left when Scholten had a short breakaway, but was robbed by Athabasca’s starting goaltender Ryan Plat.
Steelers head coach Allan Measures said although the team played well enough in the first two periods it took them a while to find their game.
“Last week [against Vegreville] wasn’t our best outing and it often takes a bit of time to play your way out of something like that. In the first 40 [minutes] I though we were a bit to indivalistic and we were were not playing our system the way we can, but by the third period I thought we played really well,” he said. “It was nice to be up one-nothing in the third because it gave us a chance to try some different things to protect the lead. It was a good teaching tool,” he said.
Measures noted that goaltender Ty Steinbring played an exceptionally strong game. “They had some really good chances to tie the game, but he really shut the door. Our goaltending has been really strong all year.”
He was especially pleased with the team’s effort, noting a lot of the players were playing while under the weather.
“We have a lot of guys who are coughing and hacking and one with pneumonia, but they took a Tylenol and came to play. That means more to me than the win. To be willing to come out and play when they are under the weather. It shows that they have a lot of guts and passion and when it comes down to it that is what it is all about.”
The win put the Steelers record at 8-1-0. The next Steelers home game is on Dec. 22 at the Agrena at 8 p.m., before taking a break for the Christmas holidays.
