Photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm Steel forward Jacob Berkowitz takes a shot during the Steel’s game against Alexandria Dec. 27.

NEW ULM — Just 22 seconds into the second period, New Ulm’s Joey Gimberlin scored his sixth goal of the season to cut Granite City’s lead to 2-1 and give the Steel some momentum.

But nothing will kill momentum in a hockey game like penalties.

Following Gimberlin’s goal — on a Steel power play — New Ulm was whistled for five penalties. That forced them to basically play 10 of the 20 minutes of the period shorthanded.

The Lumberjacks scored a power-play goal in that period and then added an empty-net goal with less than a minute left in the game to down the Steel 4-1 Saturday at the New Ulm Civic Center in an NA3HL game.

New Ulm goalie Zac Hattan stopped 39 of 42 Granite City shots.

For the Steel, who suffered their second loss in as many days, it was a case of not playing good, fundamental hockey.

“We played half of that period in the (penalty) box,” he said. “And we are going to have to address some things in practice on Monday. Our penalties were dumb — there were not many hard-working penalties — our penalties were soft and stupid and will be addressed.”

The Steel, who host Breezy Point at 7:10 p.m. next Saturday night, fell behind 2-0 on goals from Jonah Jangula and Ryan Pogue after one period before Gimberlin notched his goal on assists from Stanislav Danaev and Jack Parks.

But like Friday, it was the lone goal for the Steel.

Troy Dahlheimer’s power-play goal three minutes later regained any lost momentum for the Lumberjacks as New Um was called for five straight penalties.

It was a period where the Steel were outshot 20-9.

“You are not going to win many hockey games — especially against good teams like Granite City — when you are sitting in the box half of the game,” Stepan said. “They are a really good hockey team and you need to play five-on-five against a team like this. Every time we had a push we took a penalty and killed our momentum.”

The Lumberjacks officially sealed the game with 55 seconds left in the contest on Kearby Larson’s open-net goal.

“This was a step back from a mental side,” Stepan said. “We got frustrated tonight, which showed. If we cannot control our emotions, it will be a tough stretch.”