No ‘Krest’ of a wave as Steelers beat the Clan

Axed former Clan player-coach Jordan Krestanovich returned to the ice to a rapturous applause last night, but his presence in the Braehead line-up could not ignite the home side to victory as they lost 5-4 to the Sheffield Steelers.

It was the first loss under new coach Paul Gardner’s reign following three successive victories and he later claimed that the defeat showed the lack of depth in his roster.

While Krestanovich chipped in with a goal, it was Steelers forward Steven Goertzen who stole the show with a game winning hat-trick as Sheffield claimed a deserved two points.

There was no denying the emotion at the start of the evening as Krestanovich was introduced to the crowd. Gardner paid tribute to his predecessor, who had previously stated his desire to leave the Glasgow outfit following his dismissal as coach, calling the Canadian a ‘big, big part of this team’ and confirming that he will be staying in purple for the remainder of the season.

The emotion seemed to get the better of the Clan in the opening exchanges as Sheffield started off in dominant fashion, opening the scoring inside the first five minutes. Jonathan Phillips netting past Daren Machesney’s left glove.

The Clan almost fell further behind when Machesney denied Shawn Limpright a short-handed goal from point blank range. Less than 30 seconds later, the game was tied as Krestanovich slotted home a rebound after a great pad save. The celebration was understandably full of energy and emotion, both from the forward and his teammates.

With just under seven minutes left in the first period, however, the Steelers edged back in front thanks to Goertzen’s first goal of the game.

Despite several great saves from Machesney that was the way it stayed until four minutes into the second period when ex-NHLer Goertzen converted his second shortly after a big penalty-kill from the Clan.

That goal seemed to spark the Clan into life as they produced their best hockey of the match during the next few minutes.

Matt Hanson scored his 3rd goal of the season on a power-play just moments after fellow defenseman Steve Birnstill almost netted against his former club. The Clan then equalised through captain Ash Goldie with 8:06 left in the second period with his shot from the beyond the blue line leaving Steelers goal-tender John DeCaro helpless.

After bringing it back to 3-3, the Clan shot themselves in the foot by conceding two power play goals.

The first, Goertzen’s hat-trick, came with 2:32 left in the second period and followed a sensational defensive effort from Machesney and his teammates. The Steelers peppered the Clan net with shot after shot, but the defence stood firm during a 5-on-3 powerplay before eventually caving under the pressure shortly before the penalty was due to expire.

With just one goal in the game the crowd could be forgiven for expecting a rip-roaring start to the final period, but in truth it was a rather drab affair until Kevin Phillips was given a two and two penalty for high-sticking with 10:27 left.

It took the Steelers just six seconds to convert on the powerplay with Rod Sarich’s effort trundling into the net after heading through a host of bodies to give the away side a 5-3 lead.

Just as was the case when the Clan fell two goals behind earlier in the contest, they seemed to step it up a gear and controlled territory and possession although DeCaro in the Steelers goal was never really tested.

They did, however, close the gap to just a solitary goal with 4:23 left to play. Ash Goldie converted his second of the game after great play from Rob Farmer, who had his three assists on the night.

Frustratingly for Coach Gardner and the Clan, however, the Steelers dominated the puck in the final exchanges and the home side were never able to threaten what would have been an undeserved equaliser.