01 Jan 2025, 17:30 | Regular season | Altrincham Ice Dome |
Manchester Storm | 2-4 | Sheffield Steelers |
Periods: Shots: | 0-3 (20-13) | 2-0 (9-11) | 0-1 (12-8) | Total: 41-32 |
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Referees: #2 David Good, Brown  |  Spectators: 2350 |
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Goals and assists
A three-goal first period did the damage for Sheffield Steelers on
the road in Altrincham, beating Manchester Storm at a sold-out Steel
Shelter.
An ill-advised drop pass as Storm broke into the
Steelers' zone sent the visitors on an odd-man rush the other way, with
Max Golod opting to shoot and beating Evan Weninger glove-side to open
the scoring at 10:43. Less than three minutes later, a Mitchell Balmas
shot from the wing squirmed its way through Weninger and trickled over
the line to double the lead. Mark Simpson fired home a Cole Shudra feed
to make it 3-0 at 14:39 as Mike Morin called his timeout to steady the
Storm who had conceded three goals in under as many minutes.
Whatever
was said by the Storm interim coach then, and during the break, worked.
Cam Critchlow capitalised on a neutral zone turnover to snipe past Matt
Greenfield 3:58 into period two, and a little under five minutes later
Storm were back to within one - a puck fell kindly for Grant Hebert to
set up Alexis D'Aoust all alone in the slot and make it 2-3.
3:26
into period three, the Steelers ended up on a two-man powerplay which
prompted Aaron Fox to call his timeout in an effort to make it count.
Storm held out, and then had a Robert Dowd interference minor to try and
level things with 11 minutes to go. For all the home side's possession
in the final 10 minutes, they didn't work Greenfield into any serious
saves and instead were left chasing. Weninger was pulled in the final 90
seconds although coach Morin had no time-out to call, and as Storm
dumped the puck for one final attack Kevin Tansey scooped the puck down
the ice from below his own goal line to settle the game with an
empty-netter with 10 seconds remaining.