Steelers remain unbeaten so far

SHEFFIELD, UK – Sheffield first played host to the Dundee Stars on Saturday evening, resulting in a 4-1 victory in front of 4,375 spectators who all left the Motorpoint Arena with a smile on their face.

Some of the spectators were still finding their way to their seats when Colt King fired Sheffield ahead after just 69 seconds for a quick-fire 1-0 lead.  King’s goal was the only one of the first period, with Dundee being limited to two shots thanks to a resilient effort from the Steelers, orchestrated by Player/Coach Ryan Finnerty.                  
The second period was less than five minutes old when Neil Clark netted on the powerplay to give the South Yorkshire side a two-goal lead. Ontario native Mike Ramsey solidified Sheffield’s lead when he netted the third goal of the game at 27:17, after some good work from Steelers veteran Jeff Legue to make it 3-0.
Sheffield poured further scorn on their Scottish counterparts when Neil Clark fired home his second of the night at 33:59, with Jeff Legue playing provider once again. With the assist Legue recorded his 300^th Elite League point. Clark’s marker was to be the last of the period and the last time Sheffield would score that night.
Dundee seemed to shake off the ‘bus legs’ in the third period as they came out much stronger, and out shot the hosts 15-8. The game turned nasty in the 53^rd minute when Dundee’s towering defenceman Chris Zarb made a knee-on-knee hit on Steelers Captain Jonathan Phillips. Phillips responded with a powerful slash on Zarb resulting in both players taking early showers. Steeler’s defenceman Matt Stephenson jumped to the aid of his Captain by dropping the gloves with Zarb earning him a win and instant adoration from the fans for his display of courage and defending Phillips’ honour.
The Stars’ pressed and their pressure paid of at 54:22 with their Player/Coach and former Steeler Dan Ceman netting a consolation effort denying Sheffield goaltender John DeCaro a deserved shutout. The game was ticking down and their were only 22 seconds remaining when Chad Huttel and Jeff Hutchins dropped the gloves after a check from behind with Hutchins jumping to the aid of a teammate, thus earning him an additional instigator penalty.
The buzzer sounded concluding an impressive 4-1 home win opener for Sheffield in their quest to defend their Elite League title.
Sheffield then made the short trip to fellow South Yorkshire rivals the Hull Stingrays 24 hours later, coming away with a 6-2 victory. Sheffield were the first on the scoresheet with a goal from the in-form Neil Clark at 2:52 after some good work from silky smooth defenceman Steven Birnstill.
Sheffield pressed but couldn’t convert the other 14 shots that they fired on Stingrays goaltender Christian Boucher that period. Sheffield piled on the pressure in the second, and got their just deserves with a goal from Jason Hewitt at 28:19 making it 2-0 for the visitors.
Hull ran into penalty trouble and were made to pay for their indiscipline as Ryan Finnerty hammered home a powerplay marker at 30:15 with Jason Hewitt and Colt King awarded assists.
Elite League veteran and Stingrays alternate captain Jason Silverthorn ensured a tense middle stanza as he netted two goals before the second period concluded to bring the game to within one goal.
A nervy final period ensued with both teams looking like scoring at any time, keeping the sell out crowd on the edge of their seats. Fatigue set in on the home side and Sheffield took advantage of this by firing home 3 unanswered goals in the final ten minutes from Jeff Legue, Colt King and Neil Clark.
The buzzer sounded, with Sheffield claiming an emphatic and entertaining 6-2 victory, which they were made to work hard for at times from a much improved Hull Stingrays team in recent years.
Sheffield Steelers Player/coach Ryan Finnerty expressed his delight at the weekends performances, ” it’s been a great weekend on the ice. Two good games, two good performances and 4 points. It has come at a cost though with a couple of the guys picking up knocks. We will take a few days off and rest these bodies. A couple of the guys will get scans so we can diagnose where we are at,” Finnerty explained.
Sheffield next face fellow rivals the Cardiff Devils, who are still searching for their first victory in the 2011/12 campaign. Sheffield travel down to Cardiff on the Saturday (17^th September) before the return leg at the Motorpoint Arena 24 hours later.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com