26 Dec 2023, 16:00 | Regular season | Sheffield Arena |
Sheffield Steelers | 5-1 | Nottingham Panthers |
Periods: Shots: | 3-1 (11-5) | 1-0 (8-5) | 1-0 (8-4) | Total: 27-14 |
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Referees: Wells/Dalton  |  Spectators: 9368 |
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Goals and assists
Sheffield Steelers stayed four points top of the Elite League with a
5-1 win over Nottingham Panthers in front of 9,368 spectators at the
Utilita Arena.
Two Robert Dowd goals put the Steelers in control
in the opening period. After a short spell of Panthers pressure in the
first couple of minutes, the Steelers broke the other way and Brian
Diffley's patience was too much for Mike Robinson as he found Dowd at
the back post for an easy tap-in with 3:34 played. A little over eight
minutes later, an almost identical play saw Vallerand set up Dowd for a
repeat finish past a helpless Robinson to double the lead at 11:41.
Jordan Kelsall dropped the gloves but Dominic Cormier wasn't interested
at 15:37, leading to the Panther given a minor penalty - however, his
team turned the puck over as the Steelers tired to dump the puck, and
broke 2-on-1 where Otto Nieminen set up Hugo Roy for an excellent finish
past Matt Greenfield on the 16-minute mark for a shorthanded goal.
Vallerand beat Robinson low on the same powerplay to re-establish the home side's two-goal advantage 1:25 later.
In
period two, Jeremy Welsh almost caught the Steelers out again with the
extra man - as he exited the penalty box he took a stretch pass and
almost beat Greenfield after some nice hands to make himself space. On
the very next play, the Steelers broke 3-on-1 and had Robinson to thank
for an excellent push across his crease to deny Cole Shudra the home
side's fourth goal.
The Panthers had some good spells at the start
of the final period, with most of their good things coming from Otto
Nieminen and Hugo Roy. As the game wore on the Steelers extra depth
started to tell and they tilted the ice back the other way. A simple
faceoff play led to the Steelers going 5-1 up - Cole Shudra the scorer
from the blue line as the final ten minutes approached. The Panthers
injury woes got worse when joe Hazeldine limped off in the final five
minutes of the game, while the hosts almost made it 6-1 in the final
minute but went for one pass too many.