The Chicago Steel split their road trip this past weekend, losing to Sioux Falls 8–6 before beating Sioux City 5–3. With the split, Chicago moved their record to 26–14–1–0 (53 points) and still in command of second place in the Eastern Conference of the USHL.
Sioux Falls 8, Chicago 6
Chicago started the scoring midway through the first period when forward Nick Abruzzese scored his 17th goal of the season. The goal, assisted by forward Mathieu De St. Phalle and defenseman Luke Reid fave the Steel the lead for 43 seconds before the Stampede tied the game. The goal would put Abruzzese over the 50 point mark for the season, the first player to do so this season in the USHL.
After outshooting the Stampede 12–4 in the first period of play, the game was tied at 1–1 heading into the first intermission.
Sioux Falls scored at the 2:21 mark of the second period to take the lead 2–1. The goal, unassisted, scored by forward Andre Lee, would only be the start of a back-to-back wild-scoring in the game.
Steel defenseman Owen Power tied the score at the 5:11 mark of the second period, beating Stampede goaltender Alex Calvaruso. The goal, assisted by forward Cole Quisenberry, was the University of Michigan commit’s sixth goal of the year.
Another quick strike by the Stampede gave them a 3–2 lead with just under fourteen minutes to play in the second period.
Chicago tied the game when Abruzzese scored his second goal of the game. Assisted by forwards Robert Mastrosimone and De St. Phalle, the goal (18) gave the Harvard commit nine points in his last seven games.
Both teams would combine for eight goals in the third period, started by Mastrosimone scoring :12 into the period. The goal, assisted by De. St. Phalle and Power, gave Chicago their only lead in the game at 4–3.
Sioux Falls scored only a few minutes later to tie the game at 4–4, before taking the lead again. The goals, scored by Stampede forward Artem Ivanyuzhenkov and defenseman Brandon Tabakin, were scored 1:12 apart.
Chicago forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine tied the game with his 15th goal of the season, extending his point streak to eight games (7 goals, 2 assists).
Lee scored his second goal of the game, on the power play, to give the Stampede the lead at 6–5.
The Stampede found the back of the net two more times to extend their lead to 8–5. Forward Anthony Romano scored his 14th of the season, moments before Lee finished off his hat trick with an empty net goal.
Steel forward Christian Sarlo scored his tenth goal of the season, assisted by Jim Dowd and Matthew Sutton, at the 19:57 mark of the game, giving the Stampede the 8–6 victory.
Chicago 5, Sioux City 3
Chicago would open the game on Saturday a little flat and found themselves trailing 2–0 after the first period. The Musketeers outshot the Steel 9–2 in the period.
After regrouping at the first intermission, Chicago cut the Sioux City lead in half when forward Travis Treloar scored his 13th goal this season. The goal, assisted by forwards Cole Quisenberry and Robert Mastrosimone, was finished off on a nice breakaway goal by the Western Michigan commit.
Travis Treloar breakaway GOAL 👏 @ChicagoSteel pull within ☝️#WhosNext pic.twitter.com/KjVz4CzWD0
— USHL (@USHL) February 10, 2019
Sioux City extended their lead to 3–1 when winger Kevin Lombardi scored his sixth goal of the season. The goal would be the last one to beat Steel goaltender Reilly Herbst.
At the 14:39 mark of the third period, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine continued his hot scoring with his 16th of the season, assisted by Nick Abruzzese and Neal Shea.
After two periods of play, Chicago was outshot 21–10 but held the momentum going into the second intermission.
Forward Neal Shea tied the score only 25 seconds into the third period. The goal, Shea’s 11th on the season, was assisted by Fontaine and Abruzzese.
Chicago Blackhawk’s forward prospect Josiah Slavin gave Chicago the Steel their first lead of the game, 4–3, when he buried home a nice pass from Abruzzese, beating Sioux City goaltender Jake Sibell.
Perfect execution from the @ChicagoSteel finished off by Slavin 🌪 #WhosNext pic.twitter.com/QlyOM1l23Z
— USHL (@USHL) February 10, 2019
Chicago finished off the scoring with an empty net goal, at the 18:57 mark, to give them the 5–3 victory. Forward Mathieau De St. Phalle found the empty net for his seventh goal of the season, assisted by defenseman Owen Power.
Chicago will look to extend its 13-game home win streak, on February 15, when Muskegon comes to town for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop for Military Appreciation/Hometown Heroes night. The Steel will then host Team USA U18 on Saturday, February 16, for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The first 500 fans will receive a collectible Steel snow globe.
TRADE ALERT FROM FEBRUARY 5
The Chicago Steel traded forward Adam Gajarsky, a 2019 Phase II 3rd round pick and a 2019 Phase I 9th round pick to the Fargo Force for a 2019 Phase I 2nd round pick and a 2019 Phase II 6th round pick.
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