Steelers and Storm try to end week on a high

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Game 16 of the 2021 Elite Series on Sunday afternoon sees the Sheffield Steelers take on the Manchester Storm. As it is the only game being played today, faceoff is at the earlier time of 4pm.

The teams clash with both looking to end the week with a win - Sheffield were beaten on Friday night by Nottingham to end their winning run at five games, while Manchester have lost three in a row with only one point picked up in those games.

The Steelers continue to be the team that has dominated offensively this series. Averaging 5.29 goals per game, their total of 37 goals is 11 higher than the next closest team; at the other end, with only 3.57 against per game, they have the second-best record. A 25% powerplay and 80% kill efficiency places them second in each category.

Storm's last win came against Coventry in Game 7, and Ryan Finnerty's men are without a regulation victory since beating Sheffield on opening weekend. They are the tournament's second-highest per game scorers (3.43), but 3.86 against is the highest among the four teams. Where the team do need to improve is on the penalty kill - 62.5% is the series' worst by far, however a 22.2% powerplay is cause for more positivity.

Team news
Aaron Fox has a decision to make in goal after Curtis Warburton's impressive performance on Friday night. Ben Churchfield has started every game since John Muse left Game 1 injured.

Stephen Murphy skated on Saturday but may not be back to being game-ready for today's fixture. Sean Bonar is the likely starter after being rested midweek with Sam Gospel between the pipes against Coventry. Ryan Finnerty is likely to name an otherwise unchanged team.