02 Nov 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | Sheffield Arena |
Sheffield Steelers | 5-3 | Manchester Storm |
Periods: Shots: | 2-1 (14-8) | 2-2 (20-8) | 1-0 (8-5) | Total: 42-21 |
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Referees: Neenan/Pering  |  Spectators: 7221 |
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Goals and assists
Sheffield Steelers logged their eighth straight Challenge Cup win to
stay perfect at the top of Group A, beating Manchester Storm 5-3 in
front of 7,221 fans at the Utilita Arena.
The Steelers open
scoring with a nice interchange of passing between Mark Simpson and
Mikko Juusola, finished by the Steelers' centre past Evan Weninger at
3:30. A defensive miscue, however, led to an equaliser for Storm at
13:57 with Ryan Hughes the scorer.
The game's first incident saw
Storm's Grant Herbert ejected for Cross-Checking less than three minutes
later, and the Steelers took the lead on the resulting powerplay though
Daniel Leavens following a scramble in front of Weninger's net inside
the final two minutes of the opening period.
An aggressive net
drive from Marc-Olivier Vallerand and back door feed saw the Steelers
take a 3-1 lead with Brandon Whistle finishing 3:50 into period two.
However, Manchester weren't going away and got themselves back into
things on a 5-on-3 powerplay goal scored by Joe Morrow at 31:02. Finlay
Ulrick put the hosts back two ahead just over three and a half minutes
later with a tap in, but the game was brought back to 4-3 at 35:05 when
Loren Ulett got on a rebound to a Tyler Hinam shot. Alexis D'Aoust was
ejected before the period was over on a Boarding major.
After a
busy middle period, the third was a little more straightforward,
although the sides split four minor penalties inside the opening eight
minutes of the period. Vallerand's goal with 9:31 to play put the
Steelers 5-3 ahead and somewhat took the sting out of the game, and they
saw out the remainder of the period to secure a 5-3 win.