Steelers take commanding first-leg lead

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Sheffield Steelers put one foot in the 2024 Challenge Cup Final with a dominating 6-0 win over Coventry Blaze in their Semi-Final First Leg. Matt Greenfield logged a 32-shot shutout.

The Steelers make the Blaze pay with their explosive start. Mark Simpson beat Taran Kozun low after just 12 seconds to set the visitors on the way, and before the 10-minute mark they'd added two more. Robert Dowd finished off a well-worked Niklas Nevalainen pass after 126 seconds, while Daniel Ciampini finished off Scott Allen's feed with 9:40 played. 

Ciampini then turned provider for Allen to make it 4-0 with 12:42 gone, before Patrick Watling got in on the act to put the Steelers five ahead with 3:43 left in the first period.

The Blaze came out better in period two and began building some half chances of their own, but had Kozun to thank for an excellent glove save to stop the Steelers going further ahead. It became 6-0 9:51 into the middle period when Allen deflected Dominic Cormier's point shot past Kozun.

The Blaze's night was summed up when they thought they'd scored at 52:23, but the goal was washed out for an Interference minor on John Curran as he shot the puck.