SHEFFIELD, U.K. – Sheffield Steelers faced Dundee Stars for the second time this season after shutting them out the weekend before north of the border 6-0. Sheffield went one better and shut them out 7-0 on Saturday (11th September).
Joey Talbot opened the scoring at the Motorpoint Sheffield Arena, after good work from debutant Rob Globke. Ex-NHL’er Globke showed flashes of his experience but didn’t really find his stride during the game.
Dundee’s Player/Coach Dan Ceman found the back of the net, only for his goal to be disallowed by referee Tom Darnell who ruled that it had been kicked in.
Sheffield Steelers Captain Jonathan Phillips then rocketed home the third to give the South Yorkshire side some breathing space at 14.39.
Rob Dowd doubled Sheffield’s lead twelve minutes into the first period with Ashley Tait registering his second assist of the game.
Steelers Player/Coach Ben Simon led by example and grabbed the fourth of the game, after a fine breakout pass by ex-Newcastle Viper Jerramie Domish. Simon pulled a great move and slotted the puck home shorthanded past a helpless Jerad Kaufmann at 22.03. Jason Hewitt then grabbed his second of the season (Ironically both against Dundee) in the final minute of the second period after great work from fellow Great Britain international Robert Dowd. This turned out to be the final straw for Dan Ceman and he pulled netminder Jerad Kaufmann and replaced him with young Mark McGill for the third period.
McGill managed to keep the Steelers at bay for nearly fifteen minutes until Kevin Bolibruck bagged his first of the season at 54.40 with an assist going to debutant Rob Globke.
Fan favourite Jeff Legue completed the scoring rout at 59.03 to make it 7-0 after good work from Joey Talbot who recorded his second point of the night with a fine assist. Tempers then flared in the final minute of the game as Dundee tried to save some grace, with simultaneous fights breaking out between ‘The Sheriff’ Sean Mcmorrow and Steve Munn, and Steve Makway found an unwilling dancing partner in Jason Hewitt. Dundee claimed the honours in the fighting department that night. Steve Munn had already had a previous altercation in the first period with the Stars’ Mark Nebus, with Munn collecting the extra instigator penalty.
Sheffield then travelled to South Wales 24 hours later to face a Cardiff Devils side looking to avenge the previous weeks 5-1 loss to the Steelers. Cardiff did just that by winning the Challenge Cup game 5-4 in a nerve-wracking display at the Cardiff Arena. Sheffield were 4-0 down after twenty-six minutes with former Steelers’ Ryan Finnerty and Phil Hill netting, and newcomer Jon Pelle adding a brace to add further insult to injury.
Steelers Player/Coach Ben Simon started the comeback with a goal at 30.15 assisted by Rob Globke and Neil Clark.
Ben Simon was involved in an altercation with Devils enforcer Justin Sawyer moments later, with Steelers gaining a six-minute powerplay out of it.
This proved vital as Jeff Legue and Neil Clark both netted powerplay markers in quick succession as Justin Sawyer watched on from the comfort of the penalty box in disbelief.
Sheffield turned around a four-goal deficit when Joey Talbot netted his second of the weekend to tie the game up at 46.17.
Justin Sawyer went from villain to hero as he scored the game winner with less than three minutes remaining to send the home fan into raptures and ensured a first Devils win of the season.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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