SHEFFIELD, U.K.- The Sheffield Steeldogs were left with their tails between their legs as they were defeated by the Swindon Wildcats at home in a crushing 5-0 rout on Tuesday Dec. 4.
The Steeldogs were slow out of the blocks and found themselves 2-0 down after just over a minute.
Lee Richardson broke the deadlock after just 37 seconds, firing the puck into the top shelf, over the glove of Steeldogs’ netminder, James Flavell.
There was no rest bite for the Steeldogs as at 1:18, Aaron Nell slotted home a rebound to make it 2-0.
The Swindon Wildcats’ third goal came early in the second period. Richardson secured his second goal of the night at 22:03, fooling the Steeldogs defence with fast hands before shooting high into the roof of the net.
The Steeldogs pushed forward and applied pressure on the Wildcats net, but netminder, Dean Skinns, continually shut the door on the Sheffield offence.
The fourth unanswered goal came at 47:26. Nell claimed his second of the night firing in a one-timer from a Jonas Höög pass which flew into the net off of Flavell’s leg pad.
With time running out for the home side, and the prospect of a comeback looking decreasingly likely, the Steeldogs piled forward.
The forward line of new signings, Danny Wood and Lubomir Korhon, and Captain, Greg Wood, was looking dangerous and the three skaters created numerous chances, however, Skinns stood firm.
At 51:38, after an initial save from Flavell, the defence failed to clear the puck and Matias Perkkiö fired home Swindon’s fifth goal of the night.
Moments later, Swindon’s Richardson was down injured on the ice, causing a slight delay to proceedings. He was carried off the ice by teammates, with what looked to be a knee injury on his right leg. Play resumed shortly after.
With no further scoring, the game ended in a disastrous 5-0 home defeat for the Sheffield Steeldogs.
Lloyd Gibson was awarded the MOTM for the Steeldogs.
The Steeldogs will play the Wildcats again this weekend on Saturday Dec. 8 in Swindon, before returning back to Sheffield to face the Bracknell Bees.
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Contact the writer at ryan.laycock@prohockeynews.com
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