SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers bounced back after the humiliating 7-1 loss to Cardiff in emphatic fashion after two wins over the weekend to Belfast and Dundee. The two latest victories have added to the Steelers tally of five straight wins scoring 43 goals along the way.
Steelers title hopes gather momentum
Steelers faced fellow title challengers the Belfast Giants first on home ice in a nail biting encounter on Saturday 22nd of January. The game was a tense affair with the home side claiming honours in a 5-4 victory.
Brandon Benedict opened the scoring for the visitors at 9:45 with a powerplay marker and his third of the season to give Belfast a 1-0 lead.
The visitors pressed but couldn’t find a way past Ervins Mustukovs in the Sheffield net, turning away 12 of their 13 first period chances, with Sheffield only testing Belfast 5 times.
Derek Campbell restored parity for the hosts at 27:24 after good work from linemate Rob Dowd who paved the way for Campbell’s seventh goal of the season to make it 1-1. Sheffield’s Rob Globke showed his NHL pedigree with a superbly taken goal at 31:47 to give the home side a 2-1 lead, much to the delight of the 3015 fans in attendance.
Belfast out shot Sheffield once again by 16-7 in the second period, in a night that Giants goaltender Stephen Murphy would want to forget.
The third period saw a much more resurgent Belfast team take to the ice for the final 20 minutes. It only took 51 seconds for them to make their mark, with Craig Peacock netting after a good pass from Mike Hoffman.
Steelers defenceman Rod Sarich netted a powerplay marker at 44:13 to restore his teams three goal cushion, making it 5-2.
Craig Peacock gave the Giants a glimmer of hope when he fired home his second of the game at 45:40.
Colin Hemingway then ensured an intense finish for the Giants as he brought the game to within a goal when he netted at 58:33 on the powerplay.
Giants then pulled Stephen Murphy in favour of an extra attacker to try and tie the game up, but Sheffield held firm ensuring they were the ones claiming the two points as the final buzzer went.
Steelers Player/Coach Ben Simon leads his team to another four point weekend (Photo Courtesy of Sheffield Steelers)
Sheffield then travelled up to Dundee twenty-four hours later to face a Stars team that ended Cardiff’s incredible 22 game winning streak just a week earlier.
The Stars were no match for the Steelers, as Sheffield claimed honours with a 7-0 win, in a game which saw Ervins Mustukovs, beat the Elite League record, held ironically by former Steeler Jody Lehman for the most shutouts in one season, after his ninth of the season, and his third against Dundee.
Sheffield were first on the scoresheet thanks to Player/Coach Ben Simon who netted the only goal of the period in the 14th minute to give his team a 1-0 lead. A four-goal bonanza in the second period for the Steelers seemingly killed off the game, and it was just damage limitation for the Stars after that.
Rod Sarich netted his second of the weekend at 31:19 to give the Steelers a 2-0 lead. Steelers Captain Jonathan Phillips buried Steelers third of the night shorthanded after a great pass from Derek Campbell at 36:15.
Dundee’s frustrations began to show as the Stars’ Mark Nebus dropped the gloves with Sheffield’s Derek Campbell, with the latter coming off better in the exchange, rounding off a frantic second period.
Sheffield started the third period as they left off in second, with a couple of quick fire goals from two Great Britain internationals.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
