Steelers edge out battling Stars

Photo: Dean Woolley

Sheffield Steelers extended their home record to 11 straight wins with a 5-4 win against Dundee on Saturday night in an exciting game at the Utilita Arena.

Sheffield had by far the better of the chances in the opening period but were unable to break down a resilient Dundee team through 20 minutes. While the Steelers outshot their Scottish opponents 15-3, arguably the best chance of the period fell to Drydn Dow on the breakaway but he only found Barry Brust's pad. At the other end, Martin Látal's backhanded effort going wide on a half-open cage was one of a number of good looks for the home side.

While the opening period was tight, the second was action-packed with four goals split between the teams. Toms Rutkis tied the game game after the Steelers coughed the puck up in their own zone, nicely slotting past Brust from the slot at 28:22. 81 seconds later, Charlie Combs pulled a lovely move on the blueline to get himself into the Steelers' zone alone and he beat Brust with a laser to put the Stars ahead. 

Evan Mosey tied things up again under two minutes later, and then at 37:53 the Steelers were awarded a penalty shot after Tanner Eberle was hindered through 1-on-0 - the Steelers forward stepped up to beat Adam Morrison himself and ensure his side were back a goal up after 40 minutes.

Another wonderful individual effort from Combs was this time deflected through by Philippe Sanche to tie the game 

Toms Rutkis 2:11 into period three, but that lasted for just over 90 seconds before Adrian Saxrud Danielsen fired through a crowd to make it 4-3. Toms Rutkis put home a simple tap in for his second of the night to brings the score back level again with just over 13 minutes to play.

The Steelers won it with 9:26 to go - Keaton Ellerby's shot took some deflections and eventually bounced in off the skate of Matias Sointu. Dundee's final 40 minutes perhaps should have seen them earn at least a point, but it was Sheffield who took the two for the regulation win.