The weekend that was - Storm & Devils - 24 & 25 January
Two good wins for Sheffield, that certainly didn't feel like the wins we were getting before the losing streak, so lets see what we did better, and where the team can maybe still improve. This will be broken down into 3 sections - the good stuff across the weekend (as I think both games were largely played the same way) the bad stuff vs Storm and the bad stuff vs Cardiff. I wont be covering every goal in this, otherwise it'll be about 4000 words long again - just the ones I think are worth covering.
Good things:
Across both games, faceoff win% was hovering near 50% (55% on Saturday, and 46% on Sunday) which is something we cannot take for granted this season. The main standout in this category is Dowd against Storm, going 13/3 in his efforts.
In terms of SOG, Manchester had everyone having a go, with only Tremblay, Shudra, Watson and Kelly not being credited with one
Against Cardiff, there were a few more people kept from getting an SOG, but everyone you'd want to see got them.
The first line was great against Manchester, with only Dowd not getting himself a point. Jasper got himself a brace, which is great to see him finally have an offensive explosion after being stuck on the third line for a lot of the season. Diffley and Southorn were also good for 2 assists each together too, with Tansey also getting himself 2.
The second line was absolutely on fire against Cardiff, with the first 4 goals having come from a player from that line. Harper came in and showed his quality, and what got him his career in the DEL. Brett Ritchie, after not really pulling up any trees but looking decent in his outings so far, got himself a brace and assists against Cardiff. Cormier was his usual self tonight, getting 2 points in a game where Fox leaned on him for a monster 33 minutes, and Southorn again got himself 2 points, getting the shorthanded goal (after an exceptional individual effort from Juusola) to boot.
Across both games, Balmas added another 2 goals to his tally, bringing him to 23 on the season - matching his previous season best with 21 games left to go, so don't look now.
Special teams were also a great credit to us on Sunday, especially the the PP which has been absolutely dreadful at times this season, was firing on all cylinders, going 2/3 against Cardiff, and the PK was at the rate it's been at all season, keeping a clean sheet (and, even getting the seventh!!!! shorty of the year)
On top of that, team wide shot suppression was great. Giving up 29 SOG against Manchester, split 9/9/11 on Saturday, and 23 on Sunday, split 7/6/9.It makes for much better viewing than the 30-40 SOG firefights we've had in the last month and a half.
To use the much maligned expected goals, that's another performance to be proud of. Saturday saw a 4.62 v 1.25 xG performance across the board, with the majority (apparently 40) of Storm shot attempts coming from low danger, and 0 high danger.
Cardiff was a bit of a different story, with the xG being 3.20 to 1.71, but 2 more shots being high danger (although, Josh MacDonald only being .28 xG has to be some sort of tracking error, or something to do with the EIHL xG model. One of them was an empty net from about 2 cm out)
Just before I close this section out too, big shout out to Patrick Watling. His return hasn't been perfect, and the run of games he's been in has been an absolute trial by fire. Personally I think he had his legs back under him after a few games but his hockey brain wasn't there and he was starting to second guess himself, and we all know he's at his best when he's playing purely by instinct. Getting his 1st goal (and 50th in Steelers colours) followed by trying to round his man a few times surely has to be a huge confidence booster for him, and long may it continue.
The bad stuff - vs Storm
Defending. Again. The first goal Storm scored, is a bit of a set play, but i think we could have done better. Fourth line is out, Tremblay tied up on the faceoff and the puck pops out to the nearside winger
He drags it to the side about half a foot and lets go of a cannon from behind a screen, and the opposite winger skates by and gets the tip, for his first senior goal.
Fair enough, there's not much you can do on a tip if changes direction on you. Tremblay was 57% in the dot this game, with his opposite man (Harrison Caines) being 0 for 2? If I was going to suggest a way to deal with this better - change players round on the faceoff formation. I dont think you need Kelly on the wall here, and you'd be much better served with a winger who can get out to that puck quicker and stop that danger before it starts.
Goal 2 was the far more annoying goal, if not a bit of a fluke
Steelers are on the breakout, and Watling is taken down at the blue line, and Storm get setup in a 2-1-1-1 (interesting), with 1 man behind the net, one on Greenfield, one in the hashmarks and the 2 d men on the blue line
I dont think the setup for Sheffield is inherently bad here, apart from maybe Southorn (nearside post) could be tracking his man better, but the positioning taken up here allows Sheffield to collapse 2 on one if the puck comes into the house.
The shot coming from the D man winding up misses and turns into more of a slap pass to the man behind the net, and usually, you'd expect something this hard hitting someones ankle to put them on the floor, but he's not too bothered
It ricochets of his ankle, he manages to turn and get it back to the hashmarks to Stephen Johnson who you dont want in that position, and believably, he makes it two for Manchester
This all happens a bit quick and is a bit of a mad dash to get to the puck, and as I said, you'd maybe want Southorn to follow his man down low, and you'd probably have expected that slap pass to take his boot off, but good goal Storm. They do like to keep games in Sheffield interesting. This isn't exactly unexpected, though. If you look at the shotmap, they love a shot from the blue line, as it's the quickest way to get the puck front to back, so it's maybe something we can learn to pick up on a bit more. Anyway, onward.
The bad bits - vs Cardiff
Goal 1. This is really the only one I think that's worth covering from a "Steelers bad" POV. Goal 2 was a breakaway on a puck fired into Dougherty's feet, whilst MacDonald is about 3 feet from him, who is finishing that breakaway 99 times out of 100. Bad luck for both the bad pass, and it being MacDonald, and I dont think Sheffield did anything wrong on the Martin goal, he's just got a great release.
Cardiff are cycling down low and Sheffield seemed to have learned from the game(s) against Belfast because this defensive positioning is loads better
It gets sent down the wall to MacDonald, who turns and fires to a streaking D man
MacDonald then gets free of coverage and the pass is slipped perfectly back to him at the back post
At this point the cage is yawning, but he doesn't take it - he instead rounds his man, rounds Greenfield, and just pops it in.
All three Steelers defenders here are sent for their dinner by that pass, and whilst Watling does well to get back, ultimately he can't get it off of MacDonald. 1-0.
Whilst the original bit of defending up the wall is decent, as soon as that pass goes across the ice and comes back, it's just a complete fire sale for positioning and that is part of the problem we have at the minute, just pure panic. Though, to be fair to Cardiff, good passing play and an unbelievably patient finish by MacDonald.
Let's hope the Cardiff win is the jolt the team needed to get back into good form, as it's the sort of game we'd have lost a few weeks ago - scrappy, back and forth, and a perfect excuse to let heads drop and play within ourselves after that second goal went in for Cardiff.
