Sheffield Steelers let a two-goal lead slip but recovered to beat rivals Nottingham Panthers in overtime at the Utilita Arena. The point Nottingham earned in coming back from two down kept them one clear at the top of the league.
“Overall I thought both teams played pretty good tonight, it was a tight, checking game and it could have gone either way,” said Stephen Harper, who scored the overtime winner. “You want to continue going. Tonight we had a packed house against our rivals and you want to have your best game. They pulled one out last week and we got it tonight, so we just have to keep it rolling and keep bringing the energy.”
The rivalry delivered an immediate spark. Mikko Juusola intercepted a pass at the blue line and dropped it to Mitchell Heard, who fired past Jason Grande just under five minutes into the game. The Steelers struck again five minutes later when Brien Diffley sent Ryan Tait through the zone and his cross-crease pass left Evan Jasper with an empty net to finish.
Four minutes before the buzzer, Jack Dougherty stepped out of the box after an interference call just as Chase Pearson got a touch on Matt Spencer’s looping shot to make it a tied game. The play was reviewed but confirmed as a good goal.
A scoreless second period kept the tension high with tight, physical play at both ends.
Nottingham grew stronger as the game went on and earned their reward with 4:31 left in regulation. Pearson fired the puck into the slot and it deflected off Diffley and into his own net to tie the game.
“We’ve got mixed emotions after that,” said Panthers captain Matt Alfaro. “I thought we had a really good third period and put ourselves in a position to win the game there in overtime. We came into a tough building and got a point so there are definitely positives to take out of this game.”
Overtime lasted just long enough for one clinical break. Excellent recovery work from Kevin Tansey kept the puck alive, captain Robert Dowd moved it on, and Harper finished past a diving Grande.
“Obviously you don’t want to get scored on in the last five minutes of a game, but at the same time we’ve been in tight games this year and I thought overall our process was good tonight and we played well,” Harper added. “I wasn’t sure if Tansey would get the puck up to Dowd there on that final play, I didn’t really know where the goalie was but threw the puck on the net and got a bit lucky, but I’ll take it!”
As Alfaro summed up afterwards: “We just need to keep doing what we’re doing, honestly. We’re first in the league, we haven’t lost in regulation yet and we’re a confident group.”
Photo: Hayley Roberts
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