67’s come up short in 3-2 loss to the Steelheads

After earning their first road victory over the Niagara IceDogs last night, the Ottawa 67’s were back on the road to take on the new-faced Mississauga Steelheads for the first time this season.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the start the 67’s were hoping for.

Six minutes in and the 67’s quickly found themselves behind as Dylan Smoskowitz scored back-to-back goals giving the Steelheads a quick 2-0 lead.  Riley Brace redirected a rebound on to Smoskowitz’s stick and he made no mistake but to fire it over the glove hand of Keegan Wilson in the Ottawa net.  His second goal came at the six minute mark with traffic in front of Wilson. Smoskowitz made a great move to flip the puck in the net on the backhand.

But that wasn’t all.

The Steelheads continued to press and their hard work paid off.  Trevor Carrick gave the Steelheads a commanding 3-0 lead after a harmless point shot beat a screened Wilson out in front.   The 67’s were outshot 17-8 in the first period.

The 67’s came out firing in the second period doubling their shot total in the second period.  With Kristoff Kontos off in the box for slashing, Remy Giftopolous took advantage of the power play opportunity scoring the 67’s first goal on Spencer Martin.  It was a great individual effort by Giftopolous and showed his skill when he still had a hold of the puck after being knocked down.

Down by two after 2 periods, the 67’s looked to their veterans to take control.  While Sean Monahan and Cody Ceci were held off the score sheet, Tyler Graovac stepped up to cut the Steelheads lead to 1 after snapping a wrist shot past Martin right off the rush.  The 67’s would continue to press in the final minutes, but the Steelheads came up strong and were able to hold on to the 3-2 win in regulation.

The 67’s have the day off tomorrow but are back in action when the Kitchener Rangers pay a visit to Scotiabank Place for a Sunday matinee.