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The Steel Deal: Chicago Sweeps Weekend, Extends Win Streak to Five

  
The Steel Deal: Chicago Sweeps Weekend, Extends Win Streak to Five
Justin Robbins, Chicago Steel, Courtesy of Chicago Steel Facebook Page

Chicago 2, Central Illinois 0

Goaltender Justin Robbins stole the show for the Chicago Steel with his first shutout of the season, on Friday, against the Central Illinois Flying Aces. The Quinnipiac commit stopped all 30 shots he faced in backstopping the Steel to a 2 – 0 victory.

Chicago took the lead in the first period after forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine found the back of the net, on an unassisted goal, at the 5:40 mark of the period. The RPI commit, coming off a hat trick last weekend, now has nine goals on the season.

The Steel would hold that lead until the 1:02 mark of the third period when forward Adam Robbins scored, on the power play, his tenth goal of the season. The goal, assisted by forward Travis Treloar and defenseman John Spetz, gave Chicago a 2 – 0 lead.

Chicago would hold off the Flying Aces the rest of the third period for the victory. The win extended Chicago’s winning streak to three games. The whitewashing gave Robbins his second career shutout in the USHL.

Chicago 5, Sioux City 1

Chicago would be right back in action the next night as the Sioux City Musketeers came to town for “Teddy Bear Toss” night. The Steel kept the crowd on edge waiting for their first goal until the second period, but would strike four times in the third period for the 5 – 1 victory.

Justin Robbins was back in net and played another stellar game. Robbins stopped 28-of-29 shots giving the veteran a .983 save percentage on the weekend.

Chicago struck first after forward Nick Abruzzese scored his fourteenth goal of the season. The goal, assisted by forward Mathieu De St. Phalle gave the Steel a 1 – 0 lead, at the 14:38 mark of the second period. The goal brought a rain of teddy bears from the crowd of 1551 in attendance.

The score would remain 1 – 0 until the 2:38 mark of the third period when forward Travis Treloar scored on the power play. The Western Michigan commit’s goal, assisted by forward Adam Robbins and De St. Phalle, was his tenth of the season. The goal would end up being the game winner.

Gunnarwolfe Fontaine would extend the lead to 3 – 0, again on the power play, when he buried a shot after a nice feed from forward Robert Mastrosimone. The goal was also assisted by Adam Robbins.

Sioux City would finally crack the Robbin’s code for the first time on the weekend at the 12:11 mark of the third period. However, that would be all the Musketeers would muster.

An empty net goal by forward Cole Quisenberry extended the Chicago lead to 4 – 1. The goal gave the Brown University his sixth goal of the season.

Forward Josh Groll would finish off the scoring with :27 seconds left in the game for his fifth of the season.

Chicago extended their winning streak to four games before hitting the road to take on Team USA on MLK Day.

Chicago 4, Team USA 3

The Steel hit the road to play Team USA for a matinee game on Monday. After taking two games at home, the team was in good spirits for the trip.

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At the start of the contest, Team USA controlled much of the play. Chicago would surrender a goal at the 11:05 mark of the first period giving USA the 1 – 0 lead. The Steel were outshot 11 – 8 in the period and looked to regroup at the intermission.

Team USA would strike again when forward Luke Tuch scored on the power play. The goal, at the 4:01 mark of the second period, extended the USA lead to 2 – 0. However, Chicago would score four of the next five goals.

Forward Josh Groll got the Steel on the board with his sixth goal of the season. Groll’s goal, assisted by defenseman Luke Reid, shortened Team USA lead to 2 – 1.

Chicago continued to lead the attack against Team USA, forcing a lot of action in deep in the home team’s end. The consistent pressure would finally payoff when captain Matteo Pietroniro tied the score at the 19:17 mark of the second period. The defenseman put a nice shake-and-bake on the defender before firing a shot glove side.

Team USA took back the lead on with a shorthanded goal at the 2:01 mark of the third period when forward Thomas Bordeleau beat Chicago goaltender Reilly Herbst.

Chicago forward Robert Mastrosimone tied the game after finishing off a pretty feed from forward Nick Abruzesse. The assist moved Abruzzese into third place in the USHL scoring race with 44 points.

The hard fought sixty minutes would not be enough for these two teams to settle the contest. In overtime, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine finished the game off for the Steel. Fontaine’s eleventh goal of the season, assisted by Adam Robbins, secured the 4 – 3 victory.

The Chicago Steel would take all six points on the extended weekend, moving their overall record to 22–12–1–0 and firmly into second place in the Eastern Conference in the USHL. The win also extended the Steel’s winning streak to five games.

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The Steel return home for a pair of weekend games on January 26 and. Saturday the defending Clark Cup Champion Fargo Force come to Fox Valley Arena on the “Game of Thrones Night,” which will celebrate the matchup between the past two Clark Cup Champions. The Steel will also support “Raising Cane’s Kids Day” as your $10 children’s admission will include a Red Zone ticket, Steel drawstring backpack and a free Raising Cane’s kid combo card. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m. On Sunday, “Trains, Trains, Trains,” presented by Wausau Homes North Aurora will be the feature for the game, also against Fargo, at 3:05 p.m.

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