SHEFFIELD – Off the back of a disappointing loss in Manchester on Friday night, Aaron Fox and his Steelers side got back to winning ways by beating the Dundee Stars 4 goals to 2
Sheffield were quickest out of the blocks and instantly hit Dundee with a number of good chances but they failed to take advantage.
Both Robert Dowd and Michael Davies came close to opening the scoring on the night but Alex Leclerc was in fine form on Sunday afternoon.
Steelers did eventually take the lead (11:47) when Marek Troncinsky found Marco Vallerand and with seemingly all the time in the world buried his shot past the goalie.
It was bang, bang, bang as Steelers raced away to a three goal lead.
After a lengthy goal-review, an excellent piece of hand-eye coordination from Robert Dowd was awarded as a goal. Leclerc saving the original shot and Dowd batting home the puck level with the crossbar (12:47)
This goal would send Dowd to fourth on the list of all-time Steelers point scorers.
Head coach of the Stars, Omar Pacha, was left raging on the bench with the goal being awarded. It was a controversial decision but one that fell in favour of the Steelers.
Two became three a little over a minute later with Tanner Eberle finding a burst of speed to get around the defenceman, round Leclerc and then tapped the puck home as he was falling to the ice (13:58)
At this point in the game Sheffield had full control and limited Dundee to very few chances, keeping their foot on the gas for the whole of the first period.
Dundee needed to respond and respond fast in the second period. They did exacty that.
Just 1:40 in to the middle frame and Brett Stovin got the first goal back for the visitors. A well taken goal and one that the Stars needed to get back in to the game.
That was it for scoring through forty minutes and it was a period that lacked any real talking points bar the one goal. There was a subdued atmosphere in the FlyDSA arena and the game required a new lease of life.
Coach Pacha was impressed with his sides middle twenty minutes and for good reason too. They were effective in stopping the Steelers from pressing and made life difficult for the hosts.
In to the third period and it was Dundee who struck next.
One of the most formidable power plays in the league and they finally came good on the night, Elgin Pearce rounding off a nice move to make it 3-2 at 46:03.
With already a strange feeling to the game it was becoming a scrapy encounter despite the talent on show across the two sides.
As Sheffield looked to get a grip back on the game, Eric Meland went close but Leclerc deflected the forwards effort off his mask.
Time was winding down in the game, but Dundee were still pressing for a third, it was the point of the game where the next goal would prove to be vital.
For the home fans it was good news. Eric Meland steadied a bobbling puck, fired a shot on goal and Tanner Eberle got the final touch to direct his second of the night past the goalie (51:31) and make it 4-2.
Pressing for a way back in to the game late on, Dundee pulled their goalie for the extra skater, but weren’t able to find a way past Tomas Duba in the Steelers goal
Photos by Mick Johnson
@MickGta
Michael.Johnson@prohockeynews.com
@prohockeynews.com
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