The SteelHounds rally to spill the Bucks, 3-2

By Tom Williams

YOUNGSTOWN — Battling for their playoff lives against Central Hockey League quality, the Youngstown SteelHounds rallied for a 3-2 victory over the best team from the Southern Conference.

Defenseman Steve Birnstill and winger Petr Pohl scored power-play goals Friday as the SteelHounds overcame a first-period 2-1 deficit to defeat the Laredo Bucks before a rowdy crowd at the Chevrolet Centre.

“Huge,” said SteelHounds captain Chris Richards after the SteelHounds won their 35th game to set a franchise record. “It sets the tone for the weekend. We’ve got to keep working hard and playing physical.

“Their PK [penalty kill] was pretty good tonight — we’re pretty fortunate that shot went in,” said Richards of Birnstill’s shot from the point that eluded Bucks goalie Dustin Traylen (23-7-2) late in the second period. “It was a hard from the point and I don’t think he saw it.”

In the third period, Pohl netted his 24th goal in an unusual fashion. With his back to the net, Pohl skated to the slot for a rebound, then turned slightly before sending the puck over the sprawled Traylen.

“It was a little bit of a different goal,” said Pohl who noticed the fans’ enthusiasm. “It felt a little bit like playoff-time.”

SteelHounds coach Kevin Kaminski said Pohl “was kind of going against the grain. Petr showed patience. It [shows] why the best pass ever is [one] off the pads.”

The victory moves the SteelHounds (35-19-4, 75 points) into a tie with the Rocky Mountain Rage for fourth place in the Northern Conference. The top five teams qualify for the playoffs.

The SteelHounds played one of their strongest games defensively, limiting the Bucks to 19 shots.

“Our [defensemen] played really well,” Richards said. “They had their sticks on the puck everywhere. We kept them to the outsides and they couldn’t get the puck to the net.”

Goaltender Andy Franck (22-10-4) stopped 17 attempts as the Bucks were 1-6 on the power play.

And the power-play goal was a bit of a fluke as Jeff Bes (the Bucks’ league MVP candidate) banked the puck off the back of Franck’s leg into the net for a 1-0 lead. Andrew Desjardins assisted on Bes’ 44th goal.

The SteelHounds responded when Richards sent the puck to Jason Baird streaking down left wing. Baird took the pass in the faceoff circle, skated to the slot then beat Traylen with a backhand shot. Mark Odut also received an assist.

But late in the first period, Chris Stanley pounced on a rebounds off of Franck’s goalpad to score in his Bucks’ debut.

Before Friday, Laredo (39-18-3) had lost just once in regulation in the 20 games they had led after the first period.

Kaminski was impressed with how his players picked up the pace after a sluggish start.

“The urgency wasn’t there for the first 10 minutes and they got kind of a lucky goal,” Kaminski said. “But we responded with a big goal from Baird.”

The SteelHounds scored twice on five man-advantages.

“They had good pressure on their penalty kill and we did a good job of beating that pressure,” Kaminski said.

Birnstill’s goal helped wipe out SteelHounds’ frustrations that were building after they could only produce one shot during a 68-second two-man-advantage courtesy of Paul Eliot (hooking) and Chris Korchinski (high sticking).

In the middle period, the SteelHounds limited the Bucks to three shots even though Laredo had three power-play chances.

williams@vindy.com