Adam Rockwood reveals secret behind his shoot-out heroics after Sheffield Steelers sink Guildford Flames
Adam Rockwood was the Steelers shootout hero at the weekend
Sheffield Steelers shootout hero Adam Rockwood revealed how hours of practice and a little deception helped him hold his nerve to secure a dramatic 4-3 Challenge Cup victory over Guildford Flames on Sunday afternoon.
The American forward scored twice in the penalty shootout, including the sudden-death winner, as Aaron Fox's side completed a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down to claim two valuable points at the Utilita Arena.
And Rockwood admitted he felt the Steelers owed their supporters a performance after a difficult weekend which had included Saturday night's late defeat against Nottingham Panthers.
"We really felt like we owed it to the fans," said Rockwood.
"It was no secret it wasn't our best effort in the first half of the game. You really have to trust your abilities, especially when the ice is jumping a little bit.
"We work on penalty shots a lot and I try to master two or three moves for moments like that."
Rockwood certainly demonstrated that preparation when it mattered most, twice beating Guildford goaltender Brad Arvanitis with almost identical finishes.
And the Steelers forward revealed there was plenty of thought behind his successful technique.
"That's a move I've used quite a bit in my career," he explained.
"I'm pretty easily able to open my hips up like that and it just kind of stalls the goalie.
"It opens up that little blocker side as a lefty. Adding that little hip opening almost confuses the goalie."
Rockwood converted Sheffield's opening shootout attempt before Mikko Juusola also found the net with a superb finish.
But with Guildford refusing to surrender, the contest eventually reached sudden death.
When Steelers netminder Matt Greenfield denied Josh Waller, the opportunity fell to Rockwood to secure the victory.
And although the pressure was enormous, he admitted Greenfield's intervention had actually helped settle his nerves.
"There's a lot more pressure on the second one because it's a shot to win it," he said.
"But once Greener stops it, it does drop your shoulders a bit. If Waller had come in and scored, there's obviously way more pressure.
"Credit to Greener. We have so much confidence in him. We do shootouts every week and he's so hard to score on.
"I think I actually felt it more on the first one. The fact that I'd scored on him the first time meant the ball was in my court.
"Nerves are good. When you have fans like this and an arena like this, you want nerves. I just tried to take a couple of deep breaths."
Rockwood's heroics completed a dramatic turnaround after Sheffield had trailed 2-0 following a disappointing opening forty minutes.
Goals from Tim Gettinger and Brandon Whistle brought the Steelers level before Cole Sanford restored Guildford's advantage.
Olivier Archambault then struck to force overtime, setting the stage for Rockwood's match-winning contribution.
But despite taking the Man of the Match honours, the forward was quick to acknowledge that Sheffield must improve their performances over the full sixty minutes.
"The execution level came up and I think everything came up," he said of the third-period fightback.
"The battles, the willingness to play fast, play hard and go.
"This weekend you saw a lot of puck possession, but there weren't enough direct attacks. I'm probably one of the biggest culprits for that.
"The third period was just really desperate. We didn't play great for the first forty minutes and we're sitting in the room thinking, 'Let's figure it out here.'
"That's a really gritty win. Guildford play everybody hard and everybody's having difficulties with them this year.
"Obviously you want to play better for the full sixty minutes, but the fact we came out with a win is great."