Juusola scores all four in Steelers win

Photo: Dean Woolley

Mikko Juusola scored all four Sheffield Steelers goals in a 4-1 win over Manchester Storm, played in front of a crowd of 9,164 fans at the Utilita Arena.

Manchester had the lead after the opening period in Sheffield thanks to an excellent spin pass from Ryan Hughes setting up Grant Hebert in front to fire back past Matt Greenfield at 8:56. Mark Simpson drew Evan Wenninger into his bed save of the period with a low pad stop from close range, while Alexis D’Aoust should have put Storm further ahead but couldn’t beat Greenfield when through alone.

The Steelers started period two the stronger and it didn’t take them long to level - Mikko Juusola skated in front and wrapped around Weninger to tie the game just 17 seconds into the period. Just under nine minutes later, Juusola tipped Joona Huttula's shot in front of Weninger to put the home side ahead.

Storm had a good pushback in the final five or so minutes of the second, but drew Greenfield into two excellent stops to keep the Steelers ahead. That said, Sacha Guimond saw a shot come back off the underside of the bar before the period was out which could have extended the Steelers’ lead further.

Sheffield again started the period quickly and caught Storm out early. This time it took 32 seconds for Juusola to put the Steelers 3-1 up and complete his hat trick. A late powerplay for the visitors failed to yield a goal to get them back into things, and with Weninger pulled with 93 seconds to go it seemed like only one person would score next: Juusola latching on to a short Jake Durflinger pass to race away and fire into the empty net.