SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers carried on their fine form of late by securing four valuable points on the road against the Edinburgh Capitals, cementing themselves in the third place spot in the EIHL standings, seven points behind leaders Belfast, but with six games in hand on them.
Steelers title defence gathers momentum with their ninth straight win
The South Yorkshire side took to the ice at the Murrayfield Ice Rink for the first of the two games on Saturday and wasted no time in getting acquainted with Caps’ netminder Nathan Craze by firing a barrage of shots on him, within the opening five minutes.
Sheffield were made to wait until the fourteenth minute of the game for their breakthrough, with Mike Ramsay being on hand to fire home his 18th goal of the season and Sheffield’s first of the night to make it 1-0.
The Steelers doubled their lead thanks to the ‘British Bulldog’ Jason Hewitt who’s typical workmanlike style of play created the opportunity in front of net and made no mistake in firing it past Craze at 18:39.
The hosts came out much stronger in the second period and almost clawed a goal back in the early stages with Bari McKenzie hitting the metalwork, much to the frustration of the home fans.
The Caps’ did get their lifeline thanks to former Latvian-international Marcis Zembergs who fired home a neat goal at 32:28 after a good pass from Bari McKenzie.
The Capital’s celebrations were short-lived when Steelers Captain Jonathan Phillips netted just 40 seconds later, to restore the Steelers two goal lead, making it 3-1 at 33:08.
The visitors were celebrating once again at 34:50 this time Steelers fan favourite Colt King, earning bragging rights with 17th goal of the season, after a nice pass from Mike Ramsay, paving the way for the goal.
No further scoring followed in the second period, ensuring that the South Yorkshire side went into the period break the happier of the two teams.
Both teams came out strong once again for the third period, but Sheffield were controlling the tempo with some smart defensive plays and keeping the Caps’ chances to a minimum.
The Caps’ were to get a late consolation goal at 57:04 with Marcis Zembergs claiming his second of the night, but it was to prove too little to late for the Capitals.
Less than 24 hours later and the same two teams battled it out once again, Sheffield were once again celebrating with a 6-3 victory.
Matt Stephenson with a brace against the Caps (Image courtesy of Sheffield Steelers)
Sheffield were once again soon off the mark and it took them just 68 seconds to get on the scoresheet thanks to Great Britain international Ashley Tait to make it 1-0.
Both teams pressed looking to find the all important next goal, and once again it came the way of the visitors, with Ashley Tait turning from scorer to provider as he set up Steve Birnstill who rocketed home an unstoppable shot at 7:55 to make it 2-0.
Edinburgh, who surprisingly outshot Sheffield in the first period were desperate for a helpline, and they got just that in the fifteenth minute with a powerplay goal from EIHL top goalscorer Rene Jarolin who fired home his 35th goal of the season and the Caps’ first of the night.
Sheffield came out strongly in the second period and whilst Bari McKnezie was sitting out a hooking penalty, Steve Birnstill fired home his second goal of the night on the powerplay to make it 3-1 to the visitors at 22:44.
Bari McKenzie soon made up for his mistake, when he set up Jan Holecko for the Caps’ second goal of the night to bring the game to within one at 32:37.
Both teams shared chances in the closing stages of the second period, but netminders John DeCaro and Nathan Craze of Sheffield and Edinburgh respectively, were earning their crust.
The visitors came out firing on all cylinders in the third period and were soon on the scoresheet once again. Steve Birnstill fired home his hattrick marker thanks to a neat pass from Jonathan Phillips at 49:08 to make 4-2 to the Steelers.
The Caps’ brought the game to within a goal at 52:42 when Player/Coach Richard Hartmann rifled home a well worked goal making it 4-3.
Sheffield piled on the pressure in the Capitals defensive zone and were soon on the scoresheet with a goal from another defenceman, Matt Stephenson at 53:25 giving the visitors a two-goal cushion.
A Martin Petrina penalty for the Caps’ gifted the Steelers another powerplay opportunity, which Matt Stephenson grabbed with both hands as he fired home his second of the night and the last goal of the game for his team to make it 6-3 to Sheffield.
No further scoring followed in a strange game, with 5 of the 6 Sheffield goals coming from defenceman.
Sheffield Steelers Player/Coach Ryan Finnerty offered his thoughts from the weekend, “I know many people had us down for 4 points but this is a tough place to come, especially two nights running. Many have come unstuck but we played well on both nights and deserved the wins. Tonight was a similar game to Saturdays, I felt we were always in control but didn’t finish the job off early enough. Give the Caps’ credit they battled all weekend,” Finnerty said.
Sheffield now face a tougher challenge this weekend, firstly playing host to the Hull Stingrays on Saturday, before hosting the league leading Belfast Giants 24 hours later.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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