Steelers reign over Capitals to go third

Welcome to our match report from the latest Sheffield Steelers game.

Steelers headed into their final home regular season game against with ambitions of a decent finish in their sights. Should they win, as expected, and results go their way then Steelers would go into the final day in third place. Team news saw the return of John Armstrong after a lengthy injury absence, his first appearance since the 27th of December. His addition allowed Steelers to ice a full complement of imports with Mathieu Roy absent on compassionate leave, and Andreas Jämtin still in Sweden following the birth of his daughter. Brad Day was given the start in goal as Ervins Mustukovs was rested ahead of a huge game in Manchester on the Sunday. As for the Capitals, who have had another season from hell it has to be said, could only ice 10 imports and 16 outskaters with the highly-rated Jordan McLaughlin again filling in between the pipes for the injured Tyler Beskorowany who impressed a few of us in the teams previous encounter here on Valentine's Day.

Needing a quick start to settle down, something that didn't happen in the Valentine's Day game, Steelers were two goals to the good before a minute had ticked over on the game clock. The game opener came after 44 seconds, Robert Dowd firing the puck across McLaughlin and into the corner from low in the left circle following a setup by Levi Nelson and Andreas Valdix predictably. It was Robert's 22nd of the season and fourth in his last three games. In the next shift, from the face off, Steelers doubled the lead: Eric Neiley given room on the left wing to pick a spot for his 7th of the season since joining the club in January. We then had a bit of gap, which allowed Capitals to create a few opportunities of their own, before the third goal arrived at 7:12. This time it was Ben O'Connor with a rocket of a slapshot that zoomed into McLaughlin's net from out on the left wing, and for a 18th goal of the season.

Then two quick fire goals in 41 seconds ensured Steelers would go nap at 9:31. At 8:50 it became 4-0 when Valdix got a redirect onto a Scott Aarssen for the Swede's 15th goal of the season and then number five hit the net at 9:31, Neiley with his second of the contest and 8th of the season after good work from linemates Jonas Westerling and Colton Fretter and that's how the opening period ended despite the Capitals outshooting the Steelers by one shot, 15 to 14. A sixth Steelers goal arrived at 22:46, some superb work by the returning Armstrong around the back of McLaughlin's goal before he teed up the arriving Miika Franssila who tucked home his 5th Steelers goal of the campaign. However there was to be no shutout for Day as Capitals got their first marker 26 seconds after Franssila's goal, Sergei Banashkov with a close range finish. It became 6-2 at 26:24, Banashkov this time turning provider for Denis Trakhanov to fire a well taken effort into the net. It was good reward for the battling Capitals.

However those two goals for the visitors seemed to get the Steelers back in the mood for more goals and they added a seventh on the night; skipper Jonathan Phillips and Liam Kirk, who was again being watched by NHL scouts, combining for Cole Shudra to beat McLaughlin for his first home goal but 4th of the season: all of which have come against the same opposition. It was extended to 8-1 on 31:51, O'Connor joining Neiley on two goals for the night with a blueline effort that found a way through to light the lamp, goal number 19 for Benny this season. There was still time for a ninth before the second period expired and it produced a hat-trick goal for Neiley. Fretter and O'Connor with the creation work and Neiley applying the finish for his 9th goal this season. Could the Steelers add more? The answer came with two further goals midway through the early stages of the final period to finish the scoring for the evening. At 46:32, Dowd joined fellow GB internationalist O'Connor on two goals for the night and collecting his 23rd of the season: Neiley getting an assist for his fourth point of the game. Then 28 seconds later, a scramble in front of McLaughlin saw Nelson get to a loose puck and net his 20th of the season.

No further goals followed after that, and it ended up a comprehensive win in the Steelers last home game of the regular season against a plucky Capitals who gave it their all in a game that nobody really gave them much hope in. With Belfast crashing to a 8-1 loss in Cardiff and Fife slipping to a surprising 5-2 loss at 11th placed Milton Keynes, Paul Thompson's climbed two places to third and if they can pick up a win in Manchester on Sunday then they will face the 6th ranked side which could be anyone from Belfast, Fife or Guildford as it stands. But the Storm won't be an easy finish.

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Steelers 11 Capitals 2 

Steelers Scoring: Neiley 3+1, Dowd 2+1, O'Connor 2+1, Valdix 1+1, Nelson 1+1, J.Phillips 0+2, Matheson 0+2, Fretter 0+2, Armstrong 0+2, Westerling 0+2, Franssila 1+0, Shudra 1+0, Aarssen 0+1, Kirk 0+1, Wallace 0+1, Fitzgerald 0+1, Marquardt 0+1.

Capitals Scoring: Banashkov 1+1, Trakhanov 1+0, Lawrence 0+1, Boyd 0+1.

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 42 Capitals 31

Powerplay: Capitals 0 from 2 (0%)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 6 Capitals 2

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Day 29 Saves (101), GAA: 2.00 (2.60), Save Percentage: 93.50% (91.80%).

Man of the Match: Eric Neiley (Steelers), Jordan McLaughlin (Capitals)

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Big Match Preview: Edinburgh and Manchester

Welcome to our latest preview of the latest Steelers games.

It's the final weekend of the regular season and although the top two places have been confirmed, there's still plenty of hockey to be played to see whom finishes where in the top eight. Steelers could finish anywhere between third and seventh, that's how intriguingly poised everything is.

The final weekend begins on Saturday with a home game when we face a team that has struggled all season long, on and off the ice.

The poor old Edinburgh Capitals roll into the House Of Steel; with many people predicting another pummelling for the visitors. It's been another traumatic campaign for those long suffering Capitals fans which before the season started; promised so much with the capture of former NHLer Dmitri Khristich as their new head coach. But as become the norm, it didn't work out and soon the Capitals were being cast adrift at the bottom of the table. Hopes are again high for next season with a new management structure announced this week but one can only feel for the supporters who have witnessed a further year of underachievement.

After playing the Capitals on the Saturday, Steelers conclude their regular season games with a short trip. It's a visit to the following:

We go to the Shelter to face another testing encounter against Ryan Finnerty and his second placed Storm who have exceeded all expectations this season, and are a few people's dark horses to take the play-off crown. The Storm have toughness and skill in abundance which has helped them achieve so much this season, and Steelers will be in for a game when they arrive in Altrincham on Sunday. It won't be an easy way to finish, and Paul Thompson will be hoping his team comes out of it injury-free ahead of play-off action which follows the week after.

My predictions? It will be a routine home win on Saturday, Steelers to win that one 8-1 against those hapless Caps. Sunday will definitely be tougher, Storm to take that one 3-2 after overtime or in a penalty shootout. What about you?

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Brown's first crowns Steelers win over the Capitals

Welcome to our match report from Wednesday night's game against the Edinburgh Capitals.

On Valentine's night, Steelers looked to show some love to their fans as they hosted the EIHL's basement club: Edinburgh. It was marketed as another £5.00 game by the Steelers and despite the inclement weather outside, there was a decent crowd of just under 5000 in the House of Steel including about 13 fans from Edinburgh. Team news saw good news for the Steelers as two of their injured returned to the team, that being defencemen Miika Franssila and more surprisingly than most: Zack Fitzgerald. Fitzy was to play wing on the fourth line. Capitals depleted roster arrived with just two netminders and 13 skaters.

As expected Steelers were in the ascendancy from the first puck drop. However, the Capitals were defending stoically and netminder Tyler Beskorowany was facing a lot of rubber. Any offence the visitors created was rare as they were forced constantly onto the back foot. Yet after twenty minutes play, the teams headed back to their locker rooms goalless which was certainly not in the script.

The deadlock was broken just over five minutes into the middle period though, Mathieu Roy showing some good stick handling before wristing an effort beyond Beskorowany although it appeared to take a slight deflection off a Capitals defenceman en route. It was Mathieu's 22nd of the season. Two and half minutes later, Steelers added a second. Tim Wallace drove at the heart of the visiting defence and the puck eventually popped out to Levi Nelson who made no mistake to score his 18th of the season. After Roy had seen an effort gloved by the Capitals goaltender, the visitors called a time out and this kinda almost had instant dividends when they forced Ervins Mustukovs into a double save.

The pipework denied Roy a second but the third Steelers goal came just under four minutes before the end of the period, Eric Neiley netting his third of the season as he was given time to pick his spot. The biggest cheer so far that night came at 36:51 when Dylan Anderson stole the puck on the blue line and then skated forward on a breakaway before squeezing it under Mustukovs.

As the game entered its last two minutes, we were still locked at 3-1 despite the shot count getting larger. Then it all went a bit crazy. Beskorowany was sacrificed for an extra attacker and Roy fired home his 23rd of the season from out on the half boards, left wing side, into the empty cage. Yet we weren't done then. Anderson and Valeyev combined for Podzins to reduce it to 4-2. Beskorowany was pulled again and once more Steelers combined to hit the empty net for a second time in the evening. Davey Phillips finding fellow GB internationalist Ben O'Connor at halfway and his aim was true for a 14th goal of the season.

There was still 57 seconds left. 28 seconds later and Steelers added a sixth, Philips rifling home his 3rd of the season with all the finishing prowess of a forward. Then with four seconds later, Capitals Tyler Plews was whistled for an interference call which obviously upset him enough to get a ten minute misconduct in addition. Then with one second left to play, the crowd that were still in the building roared their approval for goal seven: O'Connor setting up Kieran Brown and the youngster rocketed an effort past Beskorowany for his maiden Steelers strike: and it was one that wouldn't have looked out of place in the NHL. It was that good. Game over!

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Steelers 7 Capitals 2 

Steelers Scoring: Roy 2+1, D.Phillips 1+2, O'Connor 1+2, Neiley 1+0, Brown 1+0, Nelson 1+0, Wallace 0+1, Fitzgerald 0+1, Westerling 0+1.

Capitals Scoring: Anderson 1+1, Podzins 1+0, Valeyev 0+1. 

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 52 Capitals 11

Powerplay: Steelers 1 from 1 (100% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 0 Capitals 12

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 9 Saves (1086), GAA: 2.00 (2.33), Save Percentage: 81.80% (91.80%).

Man of the Match: Kieran Brown (Steelers), Dylan Anderson (Capitals)

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Big Match Preview: Edinburgh (Home)

Welcome to our preview of the next Sheffield Steelers game.

After a mixed weekend where the Steelers shutout the Panthers then slipped to defeat at Guildford; Steelers are back on home ice on Wednesday when they entertain the following side:

Yes it's the Edinburgh Capitals, the Elite League's basement dwellers. The Caps issues are plain to see for all and this should be a routine home win for the Steelers. Caps don't travel well as a rule of thumb and their depleted squad should struggle to contain the Steelers offence providing the home team unleash hell as they say. Former Dallas Stars NHL draft pick Tyler Beskorowany could be facing a great deal of rubber on Wednesday.

Caps will be further weakened by the fact that Pavel Voroybev is no longer at the Club; so bar Mike Cazzola it's hard to see where their goals will come from. Steelers on the other hand, have goals everywhere. Steelers will be also hoping that Miika Franssila is able to return after a spell out injured which would take them back to six defencemen unless Paul Thompson decides to play five defenceman and push Mark Matheson into a centre's role like he has done already this season. It'll be interesting to see how he juggles his resources.

My prediction? Of course this will be a home win, it will be a major surprise if the Caps take something from this midweek game. Score? I'm going for a 7-1 home win. What about you?

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Shudra's hat trick helps Steelers crush Capitals

Here's our match report from Sunday's game at Edinburgh against the Capitals.

Having scored seven at home on the Saturday night against Guildford, Steelers were on the road again on Sunday and north of the border to face basement club Edinburgh Capitals at Murrayfield. It was a potential banana skin as Capitals could take any side down if their opponents are off their game plan, but Steelers were hoping this would not be the case. Steelers team news read as you were from the Guildford match which meant Cole Shudra continued in a forward role. Capitals were understrength, as they have been for the majority, but had a new face in goal for the Steelers fans to see for the first time: former DEL goalie of the year Tyler Beskorowany who was also a second round NHL draft pick in 2008.

The game didn't start the way that Paul Thompson and the Steelers wanted as the home side opened the scoring at 2:18, former Chicago Blackhawk Pavel Vorobyev scoring through the five hole of Ervins Mustukovs. It was one of just five shots on the Steelers goal in the opening twenty minutes. On the other hand, Steelers were dominant in offence with Beskorowany being the busier of the two goaltenders for sure. However, by the conclusion of the opening period Steelers had racked up 20 shots on the home goal but astonishingly enough the Capitals still led by that single goal. Was a surprise on the cards?

Five minutes into the second period, the dam broke and as a result the floodgates as well. Andreas Valdix with the feed and Shudra fired home his first ever Steelers goal. Yet the wait for a second goal took six and half minutes, this time Matt Marquardt with the supply and the impressive Eric Neiley scored his third Steelers goal past the Capitals netminder. A minute and half later it became 3-1, Mathieu Roy continuing his good run of goals with the final finish after Miika Franssila and Colton Fretter had set him up: it was Mathieu's 17th of the season and 5th in as many games. Then with just 1:25 left in the period, Steelers scored their fourth of the night. Beskorowany denied Liam Kirk but the youngster showed great intelligence and set up his mate Shudra to tap home and double his goal tally.

The final period was a bit more closer as Edinburgh battled away for a bit more reward but their short bench was still prone to creaking more goals and sure enough, the Steelers scored a fifth: this time at 48:36. Marquardt had been working hard all night and he got on the scoresheet eventually with an angled finish for his 16th of the season. Yet we had a bit of a wait for goal number six, Marquardt scoring his second goal and third point of the evening with a top shelf finish beyond Beskorowany at 58:07: goal number 17 of the season for the Canadian power forward. A minute later, Steelers went seven up for the second night running. Shudra picking up a loose puck and then dancing his way through the Capitals defence before sweetly finishing for a well deserved hat-trick goal and setting a new Steelers record for the youngest player to score an EIHL treble.

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Capitals 1 Steelers 7 

Steelers Scoring: Shudra 3+0, Marquardt 2+1, Matheson 0+3, Aarssen 0+2, Wallace 0+2, Roy 1+0, Neiley 1+0, Valdix 0+1, Kirk 0+1, Franssila 0+1, J.Phillips 0+1, Fretter 0+1, Westerling 0+1.

Capitals Scoring: Vorobyev 1+0, Cazzola 0+1, Plews 0+1. 

Shots On Goal:  Capitals 21 Steelers 54

Powerplay: Steelers 0 from 2 (0% conversion), Capitals 0 from 2 (0% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 4 Capitals 4

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 20 Saves (917), GAA: 1.00 (2.23), Save Percentage: 95.20% (92.30%).

Man of the Match: Cole Shudra (Steelers), Mike Cazzola (Capitals)

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