Steelers extend lead at top

Photo: Dean Woolley

Sheffield Steelers moved 14 points clear at the top of the Elite League table with a five-goal win over Dundee Stars.

For the second home game running, the Steelers raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening period. After the Stars had seen off a Too Many Men bench minor and were doing well to restrict the Steelers to chances from the outside, the visitors collapsed in a three-and-a-half minute spell. Mitchell Balmas throw on net from below the goal line bounced into the net off goalie Kevin Carr to put the home side ahead with 13:14 played. Daniel Ciampini made it 2-0 with a bar-down shot from the slot after the Stars turned the puck over in their own end at 15:06, while Robert Dowd then added the third at 16:43.

Ciampini neatly deflected the puck back past a sliding Carr from the far post to make it 4-0 9:40 into period two as the Steelers were in cruise control. A Marc-Olivier Vallerand powerplay slapshot made it five at 32:22 after Dundee's Sean Allen took a minor for Boarding, and then an additional minor for arguing about it. 

Spencer Naas broke Matt Greenfield's shutout 3:14 into the third in a rare moment of joy for the Stars in an otherwise disappointing night. The goal did, somewhat, quieten the atmosphere although the Steelers continued to carry the majority of the possession in the period.

Just as the Steelers had opened the scoring, so they ended it - Cole Shudra banged a shot in off Carr from below the goal line to round off the game inside the final minute.