Steelers stay two points clear at top

Photo: Flyers Images

Sheffield Steelers stayed two points clear at the top of the Elite League standings with a road win in Fife, but were made to work hard for it by the Flyers who did pull the game back to 2-2.

Scott Allen scored on a shorthanded breakaway with 16:22 played for the only goal of the opening period as the Flyers failed to keep the puck in the offensive zone. 

Patrick Walting doubled the lead 5:15 into period two, but the home side were level exactly six minutes later. Troy Lajeunesse made it 1-2 with 26:17 played with the final touch off an Anton Eriksson pass after good work by Kyle Osterberg; while just under five minutes later, Max Humitz tied things up. 

Mikko Juusola put the Steelers back in front of a Patrick Watling rebound - Fife protested that Shane Owen had been pushed over, but would likely have lost a Coach's Challenge as their own defenseman had pushed the Flyers forward onto their goalie. 

It got worse for the home size 3:38 before the break when Josh Nicholls took a Rob Dowd pass and beat Owen five-hole to put the Steelers back two ahead. 

Vitalijis Pavlovs made things interesting when he pulled one back with just under seven minutes to go, but despite the Flyers pulling Owen with 25 seconds left they couldn't force any good chances in front of Matt Greenfield and the Steelers took the points.