Posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
A heartbreaker at the Odyssey on Tuesday Night as the Coors Giants fell to the Sheffield Steelers 3-2 in front of 4,000+ spectators. A man of the match performance from Jody Lehman in net for the Steelers, turning aside 46 of 48 shots fired at him led the way, as the Giants couldn’t take advantage of their scoring opportunities.
The Steelers opened the scoring with a short handed tally courtesy of Jeff Legue at 5:25 of the first period. Despite out shooting the Steelers 20 to 8 in the first, the Giants trailed until 24:43 when Malcolm MacMillan finished off a Steve Thornton pass to tie the game at one goal a piece. The Giants had an opportunity to swing the momentum their way with nearly two minutes of a 5 on 3 advantage, but failed to convert and on an ensuing powerplay, the Steelers made their man advantage count, making it 2-1 thanks to Robert Dowd who tipped in a shot from the blueline that was protested by the Giants, but stood to give the league’s top team the lead.
The Giants battled back with a powerplay tally of their own in the final minute of the second period when Paul Deniset tied the game at 39:33 meaning it was all to play for in the final frame. Despite another 12 shots on goal, Lehman stood tall and turned away everything the Giants could throw at him. A giveaway by the Giants defence handed the Steelers the winning goal with Jeff Legue firing home his second of the night at 51:31 and despite constant pressure in the final minutes, the Giants couldn’t equalize.
Steve Thornton finished with two assists for the Giants but left the ice shaking his head at another lost opportunity against the Steelers. The Giants powerplay went 1 for 6 and the Giants tallied over 40 shots for the third game in a row but once again failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunity.
Next up is the Manchester Phoenix on Saturday Night, face off is 7:00pm.
Period Scores: 0-1, 2-1, 0-1
Penalty Mins: 8-44
Powerplay: Bel 1/6, Shef 1/4
Shots On: Stevie Lyle 20, Jody Lehman 48
Referee: M. Thompson
© 2008 Belfast Giants Limited, unless otherwise stated. Imagery © Michael Cooper Photography.
