Steelers fight back from two down, Giants miss out on top spot

Photo: William Cherry

Sheffield Steelers fought back from two down in Belfast to beat the Giants 5-3 at a sold-out SSE Arena in Belfast, denying the Giants the chance to go top of the Elite League in the process.

It was the perfect start for the Giants who were ahead inside the first minute of the game. A faceoff win by Scott Conway set up Mike Lee for a wrist shot that beat Matt Greenfield blocker side with just 39 seconds played. The Steelers steadied themselves and had arguably the best chance of the period to score the next goal – the puck worked to Patrick Watling at the far post but an excellent pad save from Tom McCollum kept the game level. Belfast had some decent looks around Greenfield’s net to go further ahead, but the period ended with just the one goal separating the teams.

Having scored 39 seconds into the first period, the Giants struck again in exactly the same, quick time in the second. Make Cooper's pass from the corner found Ben Lake in space, and he put the puck on a plate for Grant mismash to slide into the empty net and double the home side's advantage.

After killing off a Mark Simpson tripping minor where the Giants came close to a third, the Steelers came to life. Max Golod got them on the board on an odd-man rush after Gabe Bast's pass across the offensive zone was intercepted at 30:39, while on a powerplay at 31:29 Patrick Watling one-timed Mitchell Balmas' perfect feed to tie the game. McCollum made another excellent pad save in the period as the Giants found themselves on the back foot for the final seven minutes.

The Steelers' comeback was completed by a Joona Huttula shot that snuck through McCollum at 44:50 on a play he would have wanted back. Some 90 seconds later, Golod one-timed a Daniel Ciampini feed to put the Steelers two ahead. The Giants were all at sea, prompting Adam Keefe to call a timeout - and replace McCollum in net with Jackson Whistle. 

Josh Roach banked a shot in from behind the goal line off Greenfield to cut the deficit in half with 11:19 to play, but after that the Steelers goalie was a wall for anything the Giants through at him. Whistle was pulled with 1:14 to play, but as the lcock wound down Mikko Juusola found the empty net to secure a vital 5-3 win for the Steelers.