Hero Gospel on song to answer Steelers’ prayers and leave Cup kings Panthers stunned

The Telford Tigers goaltender was only signed yesterday morning on an ‘emergency deal’ after Steelers were left without a netminder due to injuries suffered by Frank Doyle, Josh Unice and Geoff Woolhouse.

And the 20-year-old, who came through the East Midland city’s youth system, denied his hometown club Nottingham Panthers a chance to make it six Cup triumphs in a row when he kept out 25 of 29 shots and then made the crucial saves in a penalty shoot-out to send Steelers through to the final on Sunday, March 8 on their home ice at the Motorpoint Arena.

Steelers head coach Gerad Adams said afterwards that he didn’t even know who Gospel was until hours before face-off, but admitted it was a name he would never forget as a result of the youngster’s exploits.

“It couldn’t have worked out better for Sam,” said Adams. “He played so well, he was calm and mature in between the pipes. We played so well and so hard in front of him but there were many times we needed him to make the big save and he never let us down once.

“I guess that shoot-out is one we will all remember for a long time. (chris) Lawrence, (Robert) Farmer and (Bruce) Graham are top players, big time players, guys who expect to score in those situations. For him to stop all three as he did was incredible.

“He did himself and Telford Tigers great credit and in doing so became a Steelers hero.”

On an incredible evening at the National Ice Centre, Steelers quickly overturned a 3-1 deficit from the first leg by taking a 3-0 lead on the night against the defending champions.

Colton Fretter struck first, firing home on the powerplay at 4.34 before Mathieu Roy doubled the lead at 5.16. It got even better for the visitors when Tyler Mosienko made it 3-0 25 seconds later to stun the hostile home crowd.

But, by the end of the second period, Panthers were two goals ahead again overall after hitting back with three of their own.

Evan Mosey was first to find a way past Nottingham-born Gospel, striking at 30.30 to make it 4-4 overall.

Then Chris Lawrence put Panthers ahead again when he struck on the powerplay at 37.33 with Jonathan Phillips in the penalty box on a holding call.

Former Steelers’ forward Robert Farmer then increased the agony for his old team-mates when he made it 6-4 overall with his 14th goal of the season.

Yet again, the momentum changed early in the third when defenceman Ben O’Connor scored for the visitors at 41.48, only for Mosey to restore Panthers’ two-goal advantage with a short-handed effort 45.08.

It was only a matter of seconds, however, when Robert Dowd was on the schoresheet for the first time on the night, firing past Kowalski on the powerplay.

Then, just as the game moved into the last five minutes, Dowd was on hand again, notching his 18th of the season to make it 6-4 on the night and 7-7 on aggregate.

Overtime produced plenty of chances at both ends, but no game-winning goal could be found bringing a nerve-jangling penalty shoot-out.

Fretter’s miss was matched by Lawrence’s failure to find the net before Tomas Petruska netted for the Steelers.

Farmer then missed for the hosts, as did Forney for the Steelers, allowing Gospel to earn himself a place in Steelers’ folklore by denying Bruce Graham and finally ending Nottingham’s domination in the competition which has run since 2010.

Steelers will find out who they face in the final on Wednesday night when Cardiff Devils will look to make their 4-1 advantage pay against Coventry Blaze when the two teams meet for their second leg in South Wales.