SHEFFIELD, U.K.- It was always going to be a difficult weekend for the Sheffield Steeldogs, facing the league leaders, Guildford Flames, and 3rd place side, Slough Jets, the following day. On Saturday Feb. 25, the Steeldogs travelled to the home of the Flames and found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 score-line. Steeldogs fans found much more to cheer about the following day when the Steeldogs secured a 5-3 victory over Slough Jets. Having lost 4 of their 5 encounters this season, the Steeldogs expected tough opposition from the Flames. The Flames quickly opened up the scoring at 9:31 through Jozef Kohut. The Steeldogs managed to contain the Flames offence during the rest of the period, sending both sides into the dressing rooms with 1-0 score-line at the end of the first. With 5 minutes left of the second period, Jozef Kohut claimed his second of the night to put his team up 2-0. At 44:30, Steve Duncombe fired a rocket from the blue line to put the Steeldogs back into contention. However, the Steeldogs’ hopes at pulling back level were crushed when Guildford quickly sealed their victory with another two goals during the third period. At 46:41, Jozef Kohut completed scored again to complete his hat-trick and a goal by Nathan Rempel at 52:38, put the game beyond all doubt. The game finished 4-1 to the Guildford Flames. On Sunday Feb. 26, the Steeldogs played host to the Slough Jets in what promised to be a close, end-to-end match. It was a disappointing start for the Sheffield side as Slough gained the lead at 4:44 through Doug Sheppard. The Steeldogs quickly regained their composure and pressed to find an equaliser. After a fast paced first period, with further chances for both sides, the period finished 1-0 to the travelling side. The Steeldogs raced out of the starting blocks in the second period. Bebris missed a golden opportunity to level the game after skating through the Jets defence and netminder. Bebris just could not find the finishing touches to bring the Steeldogs level. More chances came for both sides in what was another end-to-end period. The second period finished goal-less and the score remained 1-0. At 42:58, the Steeldogs pulled back level after Pavel Gomeniuk skated with the puck round the net before firing it past Slough netminder, Gregg Rockman. The Jets quickly replied at 43:58 through Andrew Melachrino, putting the travelling side back into the lead. At 45:59, Raivis Kurnigins re-directed Gomeniuk’s slap shot to equalise once again for the Steeldogs. Almost 5 minutes later, Edgars Bebris’s rebound shot put the Steeldogs into the lead for the first time in the match. Superb play from leading point scorer, Janis Ozolins, to race through the heart of the Jets defence, and to produce even better pass, gave Calvert an easy chance to extend Sheffield’s lead at 52:09. With only three minutes remaining, Mindaugas Kieras pulled one back for the Jets to make it 4-3. Janis Ozolins secured the win for the Steeldogs, however, with a composed empty net goal with 33 seconds left on the clock.
Superb performance by MOTM%2C Gomeniuk (Picture Courtesy of The Sheffield Steeldogs)
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