Storm and Steelers all square heading into second leg

Photo: Mark Ferris

Manchester Storm scored two goals inside the final ten minutes of play on Friday night to leave things all square after the first leg of their 2023 Viaplay Playoffs Quarter-Final tie against Sheffield Steelers.

The opening period was pretty evenly matched with two Storm penalty kills the only real points of note. Sheffield created the better scoring opportunities as Storm struggled for any extended offensive zone pressure.

22 seconds into period two, a well-worked passing play involving and Scott Allen and Daniel Ciampini found Brett Neumann alone in front of Jeremy Brodeur's net to open the scoring. Storm had two powerplay opportunities to level the game but were not clicking with the extra man. The first advantage ended without a shot on Matt Greenfield's net after some excellent penalty killing by the Steelers, while a Cam Critchlow shot off decent set up play was the closest the home side came to scoring on the next powerplay. That failure to take the chances afforded to them came back to bite the hosts who then saw Brendan Connolly score on the follow up to a Kevin Schulze shot for a powerplay goal at 36:19.

Early in period three, Jake Bricknell was ejected for a poorly-timed, high hit on Tomáš Pitule which gave the visitors a five-minute advantage. Matt Petgrave hit the post early on, although Cole Carter and Tyson Fawcett almost combined for a shorthanded marker with 3:30 left on the penalty. The Storm had Jeremy Brodeur to thank for a couple of excellent saves as the major ticked down, included off a Robert Dowd one-timer, as the home side escaped without conceding.

Storm needed a goal from somewhere, and it was captain Critchlow who got them on the board with an innocuous looking shot from the wing that trickled through Greenfield's five-hole to bring the Shelter to life at 52:30. 83 seconds later, Tyler Barrow raced through on Greenfield but couldn't convert on the 1-on-0, however Scott Simmonds followed up on the loose puck to tie things up. Steelers Head Coach Aaron Fox called his timeout after the goal to steady the visitors' bench. Calle Ackered had the last chance of note inside the final minute which produced a fine glove save from Brodeur.

If Storm are to reach the Viaplay Playoff Finals Weekend, they'll have to do something on Saturday night that they've not managed since 2018: beat the Steelers in Sheffield.