19 Feb 2025, 19:30 | Regular season | Sheffield Arena |
Sheffield Steelers | 8-1 | Fife Flyers |
Periods: Shots: | 1-0 (20-5) | 3-0 (24-5) | 4-1 (16-8) | Total: 60-18 |
|
Referees: #42 Hollie Neenan (UK) #23 Andrew Miller (UK)  |  Spectators: 5882 |
  |
Goals and assists
Sheffield Steelers cup the gap on league leaders Belfast Giants to
just four points with a ruthless display against basement side Fife
Flyers.
Outshooting their visitors 20-5 in the opening 20 minutes,
the hosts led by just one goal thanks to Mark Simpson's drive to the
net setting up Mikko Juusola at Shane Owen's far post for the tap-in.
Mitchell
Balmas cut in from the wing and got Owen to bite for the Steelers'
second goal, but it was scored by Sam Tremblay after Balmas' shot was
blocked en route to the empty net and fell kindly for a simple finish
for Tremblay's to log his first for the Steelers. Patrick Watling's neat
dangle into the slot set himself up to make it 3-0 at 32:04, with the
Simpson scoring some two minutes late to put the home side in total
control.
Juusola made it 5-0 3:45 into the third period as the
visitors' bench of 13 skaters began to get tired. The Flyers did break
Matt Greenfield's shutout just shy of the 49-minute mark through Kieran
Craig, but Daniel Leavens struck at 51:11 to put the home side back five
ahead. Curtis Warburton entered the home side's net for the remaining
7:49, and saw two goals go in at the other end.
Robert Dowd set a
new Steelers all-time goal-scoring record with his 357th goal in orange
to make it 7-1 with 56:27 played, while Marc-Olivier Vallerand finished
off the scoring with 31 seconds to play.