Yunost Minsk 7-1 Sheffield: Steelers mauled by Belarussians

Sheffield Steelers were outgunned as they opened their Continental Cup excursion, against Yunost Minsk of Belarus.
Mathieu Roy gets stuck in against Minsk. Pic by Dean WoolleyMathieu Roy gets stuck in against Minsk. Pic by Dean Woolley
Mathieu Roy gets stuck in against Minsk. Pic by Dean Woolley

A dominating last period didn’t repair the damage of the first two, eventually going down 7-1.

The Brits can still get through to the finals if they win their next two games though.

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Steelers goalie Ervins Mustukovs had warned about the risks attached to taking penalties - and four of the goals conceded came on the Power Play.

Clever, fast on the forecheck and super-skilled on the transition and not bad at face off - Minsk were good and home grown centreman Viktor Turkins with two goals and two assists was excellent.

Minsk, fast, big and well co-ordinated dominated centre ice in the mainly empty stadium in Rungsted, Denmark, and grabbed two goals in the first and eighth minute from Alexander Kogalev and Nikita Mitskevich.

A back hander from Dowd almost got Steelers on board but they took a penalty and Minsk’s crisp passing delivered again, Belarus international Turkin scoring with a one-time blast.

Levi Nelson comes a cropper against Minsk. Pic; Dean WoolleyLevi Nelson comes a cropper against Minsk. Pic; Dean Woolley
Levi Nelson comes a cropper against Minsk. Pic; Dean Woolley
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Minsk, a feeder team for the KHL giants Dinamo Minsk who were founded in the same year as Steelers in 1991, had a fourth scorer on the board through Konstantin Zackharov at 23;15.

Then Mustukovs rebounded a shot and Pavel Razvadovsky put it away for 5-0 (PP.)

A third PP goal of the afternoon from Marek Slovak ended a second 0-3 period.

Sheffield spent more time in the opposition zone at the start of the last session.

Levi Nelson comes a cropper against Minsk. Pic; Dean WoolleyLevi Nelson comes a cropper against Minsk. Pic; Dean Woolley
Levi Nelson comes a cropper against Minsk. Pic; Dean Woolley
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It was a relentlessly fast game of few stoppages - and it was enlivened by a good clean hit from Zack Fitzgerald and some aggression from Brady Ramsay and then a Power Play goal to avoid the shut out from Roy, assisted Matheson and Valdix.

Penalties against Marquardt and Fitzgerald near the end interrupted the offensive flow - and it was game over when Turkin struck again on the PP.

Attendance: 641.

*Steelers’ second game of the tournament is Saturday against the host club Rungsted. Thjey play Latvians Riga on Sunday.