Steelers power past Flyers in final period
Photo: Dean Woolley
Three third-period goals helped the Sheffield Steelers past the Fife Flyers on Sunday afternoon in what was an otherwise tight game in front of 5,626 fans.
Sheffield heavily outshot Fife in the opening period but the scores were level after 20 minutes of action at the Utilita arena. Shane Owen pulled off a series of good saves but could do nothing about the Steelers' opening goal with 17:59 played, Brendan Connolly passing out behind the net to the waiting Robert Dowd who found the net.
Fife weren't behind for long, however, and silenced the home crowd when Matt Carter passed out front, and Craig Peacock was left in too much space for Barry Brust to be able to do anything about the finish with 42 seconds left in the period.
The visitors had the better of the chances through the first half of period two, but two powerplay chances went begging as Brust's outstretched leg helped the Steelers kill off the second of two minor penalties in the period. Those missed opportunities came back to haunt them with three minutes left in the period - Adrian Saxrud-Danielsen's shot from the blueline was tipped in front through a screen by Anthony DeLuca to put the Steelers back ahead with the only goal of the period.
Despite the Flyers' fight to stay in things, a major on Emmerdahl for checking from behind would ultimately change the course of the game for them. 68 seconds after the call, Evan Mosey batted the puck home after it bounced off the top of the net and fell towards the crease. Martin Látal and Tanner Eberle then scored 26 seconds apart to bring the score up to 5-1 and put the hosts in a comfortable position.
Marc-Olivier Vallerand added a third on the advantage at 49:12, with Matt carter scoring a powerplay goal for the Flyers with 4:31 to play, notable for the assist to Owen.