SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers quest to land the Elite League Championship, gathered momentum with three good wins against Edinburgh, Hull and Newcastle. 
Sheffield firstly took on the Edinburgh Capitals at Ice Sheffield on Wednesday 3rd November. It was the third match in a row between the two teams, after Sheffield claimed two wins, in a double header of fixtures up in Scotland the previous weekend. Sheffield carried on that trend once again with a 7-5 victory over the Caps’ who earlier in the day announced the departure of their Coach Brad Gratton.
Sheffield came out of the gates flying and took the lead at 2:15 with a powerplay goal from Neil Clark. Sheffield extended their advantage just over four minutes later thanks to the in-form Jeff Legue who made it 2-0 to the home side. Edinburgh were soon back in contention after a shaky start, and Kyle Horne found the back of the net for the visitors at 10:36. The Caps then tied the game up at 16:19 through former-Steeler Jeff Hutchins.
Sheffield started the second period the better of the two teams, and they were soon in the lead once again through Joey Talbot on the powerplay at 26:29. Edinburgh showed their defiance once again and were soon back on level terms through their Captain Martin Cingel at 33:13 to make it 2-2.
Sheffield then stepped up a gear and hit three unanswered goals before the end of the period to race to a 5-2 lead. Rob Dowd netted two neat goals, and ex-NHL’er Rob Globke bagged the other.
Sheffield were looking to cruise to a comfortable victory with just over five minutes remaining in the game, so they withdrew goaltender Ervins Mustukovs for local back up Richard Adams who has been deputising for regular back up netminder Geoff Woolhouse, who is recovering from a knee injury. Adams was unlucky to concede two goals during his tenure in goal, as he made a string of good saves to see out the game. Chris St. Jacques firstly netted shorthanded at 55:23, and Jeff Hutchins netted at the final hooter. Both goals came either side of a Rod Sarich effort at 57:14 with the game ending 7-5 to the Steelers.
Sheffield then travelled to Hull on Saturday 6th November to take on the Stingrays in Challenge Cup action. Sheffield claimed bragging rights against their Yorkshire counterparts with a 6-3 win, completing their group games.
The Steelers opened the scoring after 78 seconds with a fine solo goal from Player/Coach Ben Simon. Sheffield’s celebrations were short lived as Hull pulled a goal back through Captain Kurtis Dulle at 3:38 to make it 1-1.
Ben Simon was on hand once again at 8:46 to net his second of the game after a neat feed from Rob Globke to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
Stingrays Player/Coach Sylvain Cloutier netted a goal of his own at 15:32 to tie the game at 2-2. Young Matty Davies gave the home side a shock lead at 18:07 and the goal ensured that the Rays’ were the happier of the two teams at the end of the first period with a 3-2 lead.
Jeff Legue then netted the only goal of the second period to put Sheffield back on level terms at 22:28 with his nineteenth goal of the season.
Sheffield carried on where they left off from the second period and netted three unanswered goals in the third period to ensure a fine come from behind victory. The three goals were all strangely scored by Sheffield’s defensive corps, with Steve Munn, Rod Sarich, and Jerramie Domish all hitting the back of the net. It was the latter who scored the pick of the bunch with a great coast-to-coast effort.
Both Legue and Talbot scored vital goals over the weekend (Image courtesy of Sheffield Steelers)
Sheffield then took on the Newcastle Vipers at the Motorpoint Arena 24 hours later. The Vipers were annihilated 8-0 by a Sheffield, not for the first time this season either. Sheffield beat Newcastle at home with the exact same scoreline on the 18th September. Only one goal separated the teams in the first period and this was courtesy of Sheffield’s Rob Globke, who scored the first of his four goals, shorthanded at 18:19.
Sheffield started the second period in a similar fashion in which they ended the first. Jeff Legue netted his twentieth goal of the season at 24:44 to make it 2-0 to the home side. Rob Globke sealed his brace at 32:31 with a fine effort on the powerplay, to give his side a 3-0 lead. Former Viper Derek Campbell completed the second period scoring with a powerplay goal of his own at 36:35, to give his side a comfortable 4-0 lead going into the final period.
Sheffield soon found the back of the net in the third period through Joey Talbot on the powerplay at 43:46. Sheffield-born Tom Squires added the Steelers sixth goal with a fine wrist shot at the top of the hash marks beating a helpless Charlie Effinger in between the pipes for the Vipers at 49:39. Rob Globke netted his hattrick marker less than three minutes later with a short-handed effort to make it 7-0 to the Steelers. Once again ex-Florida Panther Globke completed the scoring rout with another shorthanded goal to make it 8-0 to Sheffield with just under two minutes remaining in the game. There was no further scoring, which ensured that Sheffield claimed the win, with Steelers goaltender Ervins Mustukovs recording his fifth shutout of the season.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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