SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers were crowned Elite League Champions for the second consecutive season after a 3-1 victory over the Fife Flyers on Sunday evening.
The Steelers firstly hosted fierce rivals Nottingham on Saturday evening with a crowd of 9,208 in attendance. The bumper crowd didn’t go home disappointed as the Steelers recorded a hard fought 4-3 victory.
A worthy Man of The Match for Captain Jonathan Phillips (Image courtesy of Dean Woolley)
A great start to the game saw the Steelers register their first shot on goal after just 18 seconds courtesy of former NHL’er Guillaume Desbiens.
The Panthers responded and offered a chance of their own through veteran forward Brad Moran who forced Marek Pinc into making a low glove save at 1:12.
Despite powerplay opportunities within the first six minutes of the game for both sides, neither team could take advantage in a lively opening period.
With just 22 seconds of the period remaining the Steelers took the lead courtesy of defenceman Cullen Eddy who fired a low shot from the point through traffic which beat Shane Madolora to give the Steelers a 1-0 lead.
The hosts started the second period strongly and had the visitors on the back foot with a string of early chances, most notably from Mathieu Roy who forced Madolora into making an outstanding leg pad save at 22:14.
The Steelers pressed and soon added a second goal when Levi Nelson re-directed a Rod Sarich point shot past Madolora to give his side a 2-0 lead at 27:50.
Levi Nelson scores the Steelers second of the game (Image courtesy of Dean Woolley)
The visitors responded and reduced the arrears to one when defenceman Kevin Quick snuck into the slot and one timed low past Pinc after some nice work from Stephen Schultz on the powerplay at 31:54.
The Steelers regained their two-goal lead less than a minute later with Robert Dowd linking up with linemate Jeff Legue on a 2-on-1 break. Legue feathered a pass across to Dowd who fired a blistering one-timer shot high over Madolora’s shoulder at 32:46.
The Steelers added a fourth goal before the end of the period with blueliner Ben O’Connor firing a rocket from just inside the zone high past Madolora after a nice feed from Captain Jonathan Phillips at 38:40.
The Steelers were happy to go into the period break with a 3-goal cushion after dominating the Panthers and outshooting them by thirteen shots to four.
The final period the visitors added two unanswered goals which ensured a nervy finish to the game.
Firstly Brad Moran re-directed an Evan Mosey point shot sublimely past Pinc at 44:23 and then Geoff Waugh fired high past Pinc from the right wing slot after another excellent assist from Mosey with less than eight minutes left in the game.
With just over a minute to go Panthers Head Coach Corey Neilson pulled netminder Shane Madolora in favour of an extra attacker. Despite late pressure from the visitors, the Steelers held firm and collected the vital two points at the final buzzer.
The Steelers made the long bus journey up to Fife on Sunday to take on the Flyers in a game in which a point would see them crowned Elite League Champions.
A fast and frantic start to the game saw both teams exchange early chances in front of a vociferous crowd at the ‘Auld Barn’.
At 07:20 Jeff Legue found himself on a breakaway but he saw his backhand effort turned aside by David Brown.
The visitors piled on the pressure and came close to breaking the deadlock when Rod Sarich struck the right post with a wrist shot from the blueline at 08:30.
The Flyers responded at 09:15 with Justin Fox forcing Marek Pinc into making a great low leg pad save.
The Steelers took a deserved lead at 12:21 when Tyler Mosienko who was trailing on the play fired home from the slot after a 2-on-1 play involving Ben O’Connor and Guillaume Desbiens.
Just over a minute later and the Steelers doubled their advantage with Mathieu Roy scoring his trademark goal as he tipped a shot from Jace Coyle low past Brown to make it 2-0 at 13:45.
No further scoring followed in a great opening period for the Steelers.
The Flyers came out of the gates flying for the second period and had the Steelers on the back foot for the majority of the period.
The prolific partnership of Ryan Dingle and Michael Dorr threatened early on, and caused the Steelers problems with their speed and creativity.
The hosts pulled a goal back at 35:37 with Shayne Stockton slotting the puck calmly past Pinc at the back post after a great pass from Ryan Dingle.
No further scoring followed in the second period, one in which the Steelers narrowly outshot the Flyers by ten shots to eight.
The Steelers started the third period strongly and put pressure on the hosts with a barrage of efforts, one most notably from Rob Dowd striking the outside of the post.
The visitors then gave themselves some much needed breathing room when Conny Strömberg made a great heads up play from the corner in the Fife zone to put the puck across the crease which bounced in off Mathieu Roy’s leg to give the Steelers a 3-1 lead at 44:49.
The Flyers offered chances of their own with T.J. Caig and Dingle testing Pinc’s resolve midway through the final period.
The hosts elected to pull netminder David Brown in favour of an extra attacker in desperate hope to claw a goal back. The Steelers thwarted the Flyers’ pressure and ensured the away section of Fife Ice Arena was sent into raptures when the final buzzer sounded.
Steelers crowned Elite League Champions once again (Image courtesy of Dean Woolley)
The Steelers now face the Coventry Blaze in the Playoff Quarter Finals at the weekend in back to back fixtures. A Steelers aggregate win will see them progress to the final four Playoff Final weekend in Nottingham.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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