13 Jan 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | Altrincham Ice Dome |
Manchester Storm | 3-5 | Sheffield Steelers |
Periods: Shots: | 1-1 (20-15) | 0-2 (7-14) | 2-2 (17-14) | Total: 44-43 |
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Referees: Pering/Wells  |  Spectators: 2236 |
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Goals and assists
Sheffield Steelers continued their unbeaten road streak this season
but were given a scare by Manchester Storm on Saturday night in
Altrincham. The 2,236-strong crowd saw the hosts come back from two down
before the visitors won it late.
As it had done on 1 January,
things started well for the Storm but didn't last. Johnny Corniel put a
loose puck past Matt Greenfield with only 61 seconds played at the Storm
Shelter, but the scores were level by the break off a Marc-Olivier
Vallerand powerplay goal with 4:43 left in the opening period.
Two
Josh Nicholls goals in the second swung the game in favour of the
Steelers. He put his side ahead 68 seconds into the period, before an
excellent spin-and-shoot move in the slot saw him extend the lead out to
3-1 at 28:10.
Corneil picked up a loose puck off a Chase
Harrison shot to round Greenfield and finish high 4:15 into period three
to bring Manchester back to within one. Some three and a half minutes
later, Zack Phillips scored for the second consecutive game with a nice
backhanded finish to tie bring Manchester level. The forward almost put
his side ahead on the very next play, only for a last-ditch Greenfield
save to keep the puck out.
With 7:25 to play, Dominic Cormier shot
across a sliding Weninger to put the Steelers back ahead, with the puck
trickling through the Storm goalie and agonisingly over the line. Matt
Ginn called a timeout with 2:25 to play and pulled his goalie for the
extra skater, but only ten seconds later Mikko Juusola beat Joe Morrow
in a footrace to a clearance, and slotted into the empty net to settle
the game.