Steelers dent Flames' title hopes

Photo: John Uwins

A night after their own hopes of the Viaplay Elite League title slipped further away, Sheffield Steelers put a big dent in Guildford Flames' dreams of lifting the same trophy with a well-deserved 4-1 victory at the Spectrum.

The visitors threw 18 shots at Eamon McAdam in the opening period which ended goalless thanks to the efforts of him and Matt Greenfield at the other end.

In period two, the Steelers continued to have extended offensive zone time and eventually found the breakthrough through Marc-Olivier Vallerand at 34:36 with a shot that was bundled over the line.

Just shy of four minutes later, Breutt Neumann ensured the visitors would go into the second break with a two-goal lead.

Brett Ferguson threw a stick at a rebound from a Bradley Lalonde shot to get the Flames back to within one 4:40 into period three, after which the Flames piled the pressure on Greenfield's net. The hosts, however, were undone by a slick Steelers odd-man rush which saw Brendan Connolly set up Evan Mosey in the slot to fire home and put Sheffield 3-1 ahead at 53:02.

Connolly hit the empty net with 62 seconds remaining to finish the job for Aaron Fox's team.