With a come from behind victory against the Glasgow Clan tonight, the Steelers sealed third place in the league to book a place in the play-off quarter finals against the Manchester Storm who also came out victorious over the Nottingham Panthers.
Two goals from both Robert Dowd and Brett Neumann saw the Steelers comeback from 1-3 down to take the points as the Belfast Giants lifted the league trophy with their own victory over second placed Guildford Flames.
Pre-Game & Build Up
The last weekend of league action saw the Steelers battling for third place in the table and a play-off quarter final draw against either the Nottingham Panthers or Manchester Storm depending on their own result. In town tonight were our visitors the Glasgow Clan who sat in the last play-off spot in 8th place.
Brandon Whistle was deemed fit enough to return to the line up and slotted in on the fourth line whilst Sam Jones and Brendan McNally are still missing due to suspension.
A poignant moment was held before puckdrop as we remembered those family members who we have lost throughout the year. Thank you for all your support and you will forever be family here at the House of Steel.
First Period
It was so close to being the perfect start for the Steelers as the two GB youngsters were so close to combining in the 3rd minute as Alex Graham looked to find Brandon Whistle at the back post of Ty Taylor’s goal, only for a Clan’s defencemen’s stick to take the puck off path right at the last second.
Neumann then went close in the 9th minute lifting a backhand over Taylor’s net before Connolly and Waltz were sent to the box after handbags at the Clan’s bench. Waltz was shortly joined by Haden after holding back Petgrave as we went four on three but the Steelers were unable to capitalise with Kevin Massey making a huge block with his ankle infront of Taylor and was slow to reach his bench.
It was down to the Golden Child and Testimonial man, Robert Dowd to get the go-head goal for the Steelers (the first of two on the night) late in the period at (19.36) as he found himself in all alone behind the Clan defence. Taylor doing well to save the first effort from Dowd, but he was quick to react and put away the rebound on his backhand. Assists to Connolly and Neumann.
Second Period
Chaos ensued for the Steelers at the start of the second period as the Clan saw the puck in the back of Greenfield’s net on three separate occasions in less than 4 minutes.
Gary Haden with the first of those goals at (23.05) as he beat his man at the blue line and his shot from the left wing hashmarks was enough to beat Greenfield.
Next up was John Dunbar at (26.04) on the powerplay as Davey Phillips was placed in the sin-bin for holding and after close efforts from both Massey and Whistle at either end, Dunbar picked up on a Greenfield rebound from a Tikkinen shot and finished well top shelf.
35 seconds later at (26.39) and the Steelers were down by two as Chabot got his name on the scoresheet thanks to a giveaway by the Steelers in their own zone and he gave Greenfield no chance, picking his spot perfectly.
However, it was true Steelers character shown by the squad from the restart to get themselves back in the tie as full pressure was put on the Clan from the get-go. The Steelers went to work in the corner, pinning the Clan into their own zone and despite Neumann being denied by Taylor, he got a second chance and poked it under.
The crowd had started to get behind the boys and make the difference as Taylor stopped Connolly from levelling the game up, but he couldn’t repeat that effort later in the period at (38.50) as Kristo sounded the horn. Goal scored by Danny Kristo but made by Brendan Connolly at the half wall has he rushed the net to set up a rebound effort for Kristo.
A crazy second period was finished 19 seconds later at (39.09) when Neumann grabbed his second of the night and period with a great snipe to take a one goal lead into the third period.
Third Period
A goal of the season contender to kick off the third period as Robert Dowd went coast to coast starting at his own blue line, circling his own net and made his way 200 feet down the ice to finish on Taylor unassisted. A real “wow” moment to watch to give the Steelers a two goal buffer.
Three penalties were then killed off by the Steelers, intermingled with a Clan penalty of their own as the Clan took advantage on the final Steelers penalty taken by Ackered for hooking.
Goal scored at (58.12) to make the Steelers nervous for the final few minutes. Another nice finish top corner, this time from Mitch Jones, assisted Dixon and Tikkinen.
Allen worked well in the Clan zone to keep the puck down the right end of the ice as the buzzer sounded for confirm the Steelers third place in the league.
Post-Game
We love our Conns, and that will never change, but it was time to pass on the mantel tonight, and he did just that in his Eddy and he passed the batton onto the young Alex Graham.
Next Action
We will of course have the pleasure of seeing Connolly on home ice again next Saturday as the Manchester Storm will be town for second leg quarter final action after first leg action the night before. 7pm face off – see you there!
With Sheffield match report
You must be logged in to post a comment.