SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers bounced back from a crushing, empty-handed weekend against Belfast, with a four point weekend over Dundee and Coventry.
The Steelers played host to the Dundee Stars at IceSheffield on Saturday and came away with a hard fought 5-4 win.
Mathieu Roy instrumental this weekend for the Steelers (Image courtesy of Mick Johnson @MickGTA )
Sheffield got off to the perfect start when Mathieu Roy superbly re-directed a shot from recent returnee Jace Coyle past a helpless Joe Fallon after just 38 seconds.
The hosts doubled their advantage at 08:48 with a fortuitous goal from Rob Dowd. The speedy forward banked a cross-crease pass off Joe Fallon’s skate to give his side some breathing room.
Dundee coach Marc Lefebvre opted to make a tactical change by replacing starting netminder Joe Fallon with Craig Holland for the start of the second period.
The visitors came out for the second period flying and stunned the vociferous Steelers crowd with three unanswered goals, courtesy of Kevin Bruijsten (x2) and top scorer Vinny Scarsella, all within a 6 minute spell.
Three minutes later the Steelers were back on level terms courtesy of Levi Nelson with a blistering wristshot from the right wing slot to make it 3-3.
The South Yorkshire side regained their lead at 32:25 with Mathieu Roy netting his second of the game after a good pass from Ben O’Connor.
The visitors restored parity at 33:36 through Joey De Concilys with a great shorthanded effort after a good play from Vinny Scarsella who picked up his fourth point of the night with an assist on the play.
With the short bench playing a part, the Stars began to tire and the Steelers took advantage with Levi Nelson scoring the game winner with just over seven minutes of the game remaining to send the Steelers fans into raptures.
The Steelers travelled to the West Midlands 24-hours-later and came away with an impressive 8-2 win, with Colton Fretter taking the plaudits with a four-goal game.
Guillaume Desbiens and Garrett Klotz drop the gloves in a long bout – Image courtesy of Scott Antcliffe
Fretter opened the scoring at 4:34 with an impressive backhand finish past Blaze netminder Brian Stewart giving the Steelers a 1-0 lead.
The Steelers pressed and almost doubled their advantage when Mike Ratchuk forced a great leg pad save from Stewart on a breakaway in the eighth minute.
The hosts had chances of their own with Robin Bergman forcing a glove save from Ervins Mustukovs at 12:24.
With just 24 seconds remaining in the opening period, Sheffield added a second through Great Britain international Robert Dowd after some good work from linemate Levi Nelson to make it 2-0.
The Blaze got on the scoresheet at 24:10 through Swede Robin Bergman with a neat powerplay finish reducing the arrears to one.
Despite it being a more evenly contested period, the visitors reclaimed their two goal advantage when Rob Dowd recorded his second of the game after a strong forecheck and finishing sublimely on his backhand, low past Brian Stewart at 34:43.
No further scoring followed in the second period, one in which the Blaze outshot the Steelers 14-10.
The Steelers soon added a fourth at 43:25 with Fretter netting his second of the game after some great work from Markus Nilsson who provided a great assist on the play.
With little over nine minutes of the game remaining, the Blaze added a second goal through defenceman Marc Cantin. The 6’1 blueliner recording his fourth goal of the season after putting home a rebounded shot from Russ Cowley.
Less than a minute later, tempers were frayed when rugged Steelers winger Guillaume Desbiens took exception to a hit from Garrett Klotz on Robert Dowd. Klotz and Desbiens exchanged some big blows in a lengthy bout, much to the liking of the Skydome spectators.
Klotz’s post fight celebration fired up Steelers enforcer Zack Fitzgerald who mocked Klotz’s antics, earning the Steelers #28 an early shower.
Two further goals apiece from Colton Fretter and Mathieu Roy added insult to injury for the hosts, after a dominant road performance.
The visitors collected the all-important two points at the final buzzer, giving Paul Thompson’s side a much needed four point weekend.
Steelers and Blaze battle it out along the Image courtesy of Scott Antcliffe
Man of the Match Colton Fretter shared his thoughts after the game, “It was a tight game until it opened up in the third. We stuck to our system and tightened up defensively. Today we turned it around and good defence leads to offence,” Fretter stated.
Fretter spoke about his four goal night, “I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple before, but I’ve not had one in a long time. It feels good to be able to help the team anyway I can. If that’s the outcome then I’ll take it,” Fretter chuckled.
The Steelers next face a resurgent Fife side at IceSheffield who are coming off the back of a 4-3 overtime victory against the Nottingham Panthers.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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