The Mississauga Steelheads put on an excellent performance as they took down the Kingston Frontenacs to open the 2021-22 season this past weekend, by a score of 7-2. Following an early 5-minute penalty kill, Mississauga overcame adversity with great forechecking and causing turnovers.
Steelheads starting netminder Joe Ranger provided stability in the crease during the penalty kill. In the latter half of the first period, the Steelheads capitalized on the man advantage after a misconduct penalty. Kai Schwindt scored his first career OHL goal on a slapshot following a pass from Luke Misa, who also registered his first OHL point.
The Steelheads continued to generate chances during the powerplay and reaped the rewards with a 2-0 goal from James Hardie past the blocker side of Kingston goaltender Leevi Merlinainen. With over three minutes left in the period, Mississauga lit the lamp again as Luca DelDelBelluz went end to end and put one home for his first of the campaign.
The onslaught continued in the middle frame. It began with Del- BelBelluz intercepting Submitted Photo the pass in the Kingston zone, and feeding James Hardie, who went backhand past Merlinen for his second goal of the night. Then, 36 seconds later, Owen Beck scored his first career OHL goal after tipping in the shot from Callaghan. With just over 90 seconds left in the period, Del- BelBelluz continued his excellent showing with his second goal after Portokalis fed him in front putting the Steelheads up 6-0.
Netminder Joe Ranger showed composure in the net, stopping all 17 shots in the second period, including a highlight-reel pad save on Kingston’s Jordan Frasca. The third period was a layback for the Steelheads. A couple of unfortunate bounces led to Kingston’s two goals in the final frame.
However, the big positive for the Steelheads came on a 4-on-2 attack, when Charlie Callaghan when top-shelf scoring the team’s final goal of the contest. The Steelheads return to the ice this Friday to travel to North Bay to face the Battalion.
