Stars shot down as Steelers score eight again

Welcome to your match report from last night's game against the Dundee Stars.

After losing 3-2 in Ice Arena Wales on Saturday night, Steelers slipped down to 4th place in the Elite League table. However, on Wednesday night they entertained the Dundee Stars for the third time this season and for the second time in Ice Sheffield. Team news saw the team unchanged from the team that lost in Cardiff bar the additions of Ben O'Connor (paternity issues) and Kieran Brown. That meant that Jonas Westerling was still absent and Colton Fretter was serving game five of his six game suspension. Stars were very short benched, with coach Omar Pacha icing himself and the team also borrowed Bobby Chamberlain from Hull Pirates to add up to their numbers.

Despite their short numbers, Stars had the first shot on goal through Malcolm Gould but Ervins Mustukovs dealt with it. Steelers then killed off a Levi Nelson tripping minor before taking the lead at 4:03, good play by both Mark Matheson and Nelson set up Andreas Valdix and the Swede took full advantage to score his fourth goal of the season. Just like buses, it was 2-0 17 seconds later. Andre Deveaux taking full advantage of a loose bit of play by the visitors before finding the twine for goal number two in a Steelers uniform. Most would have expected Steelers to run riot after this burst but it was the Stars who scored the next goal, ex-Edinburgh and Manchester forward Taylor Dickin taking advantage of a screen to fire past Mustukovs.

Steelers got their heads back on it after this and netted a third just before the 13 minute mark, Liam Kirk and Robert Dowd setting up "Daddy" O'Connor for a well taken finish. It was Ben's fourth goal of the season in all competitions. The home side continued to press and it was becoming a case of Fullerton vs the Steelers as they dominated their opponents. It was 4-1 inside the opening stages of the second period, the second line again at with Nelson continuing his good run of goalscoring form. It was an even second period in terms of shots on goal, but Steelers were the ones who were taking their chances and goal number five arrived just shy of the half hour mark. Swede Andreas Jämtin netting his fourth of the season with a shot that Fullerton never saw. Then late in the period, and with Matheson sitting a tripping minor, skipper Jonathan Philips and Brady Ramsay broke 2 on 0 on Fullerton and Captain Fantastic beat the netminder to make it 6-1 even though referee Tom Pering took to GLT to be assured.

Period three saw Steelers make a goaltending change, giving Brad Day the last twenty minutes of the game and rest Mustukovs. One of the first things he had to do though was to fish the puck out of the cage at 42:12, Gould the scorer for the Stars. As the game wound down, Pacha knew he was going down to a new overall record of 0/23 and picked up a hooking minor with a shade under four minutes left. Thirty seconds after the Stars player-coach had taken his seat, he was up from it as Dowd netted on the powerplay: assisted by his ever dependable line mates. Could Steelers match their scoreline from Ice Sheffield in September? The answer was yes as goal number eight arrived with 50 seconds before the final buzzer, Scott Aarssen with his second goal in as many games.

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Steelers 8 Stars 2

Steelers Scoring: Valdix 1+2, Dowd 1+2, Nelson 1+2, Deveaux 1+1, O'Connor 1+1, Aarssen 1+0, Jämtin 1+0, J.Phillips 1+0, Kirk 0+1, Ramsay 0+1, Matheson 0+1, Shudra 0+1, Marquardt 0+1.

Stars Scoring: Gould 1+0, Dickin 1+0, Stadel 0+1, Cownie 0+1, Andersson 0+1, Hart 0+1.

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 44 Stars 38

Powerplay: Steelers 1 from 3 (33% conversion), Stars 0 from 4 (0% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 8 Stars 6

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 21 Saves (441), GAA: 1.50 (2.24), Save Percentage 95.50% (92.30%). Day 15 Saves (19), GAA: 3.00 (1.83), Save Percentage 93.80% (95.00%)

Man of the Match: Ben O'Connor (Steelers), Brian Hart (Stars)

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