Lloyd nets game-winner after Christian ties score to give SteelHounds 4-3 win

By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- When you're hot, you're hot!
And the Youngstown SteelHounds' captain-player-assistant coach, Jeff Christian, is definitely hot.
In a zone you might just say.
But then again, so is Darryl Lloyd.
Lloyd had two goals (his third two-goal game this season) including the game-winner with 6:55 remaining, while Christian followed up his four-goal effort Friday with the game-tying goal and two assists last night, as the SteelHounds defeated Oklahoma City, 4-3, for a sweep of the Blazers in Central Hockey League action last night at The Convocation Center.
"It was an awesome feeling to score the game winner. I just snuck in behind the defense, Jeff's [Christian] pass went up into the air and I just used a baseball swing and hacked it in," Lloyd said.
Christian continues sharp play
After scoring four goals in a game for the first time in his career in the home opener, Christian followed that effort up with three more points Saturday, and in his last four games he now has 15 points, a career-best stretch for him as well.
"The line with [Darryl] Lloyd and [Chris] Richards is just clicking right now. Both are all-stars and I feel the pressure to score," Christian said.
On his goal in the third period that knotted the score a three apiece, he felt a little bit lucky but was appreciative nonetheless of the outcome.
"The puck just dropped back to me, I had a fraction of a second to take it and it was just a lucky shot. I was aiming at the net and it just happened to hit the cross bar and go in," he added.
Ryan Johnston's second goal of the season with just 55 seconds remaining in the opening period gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead, as Oklahoma City out-shot the SteelHounds, 14-8, in the period.
Lloyd, Barnes tally
Youngstown then took the lead in the second period on the strength of two power-play goals, the first coming at 12:26 as Lloyd scored his first goal of the night when the SteelHounds had a two-man advantage on the Blazers.
Scott Barnes' power play goal just 55 seconds later, his second of the year, gave the SteelHounds a 2-1 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the contest.
Oklahoma City tied the game at two goals apiece just 2:04 into the final period on Tim Earl's net ripple, and when Marty Standish added his shorthanded goal at the 14:17 mark, the Blazers increased their margin to 3-2.
Christian then tied the game at 3-3 with his eighth goal of the year at 11:33, and then assisted Lloyd on his sixth goal of the campaign when he registered his game-winning shot at the 6:55 mark of the final stanza.
St. Germain now 2-2
David St. Germain rejected 36 shots while in goal for the SteelHounds, as he improved to 2-2 on the year, Sebastien Centomo taking the loss for the Blazers as he fell to 0-3 despite turning back 26 net attempts.
The Blazers held a 39-30 shots-on-goal advantage.
Youngstown next will play the Tulsa Oilers in a two-game set next Friday and Saturday night, as the middle portion of their six-game home stand continues.
The puck will drop both nights at 7:05 p.m.