Belfast Giants 1 Sheffield Steelers 2 (OT): Captain Phillips the hero as Steelers stay in the hunt

CAPTAIN MARVEL: Sheffield Steelers' skipper Jonathan Phillipsfht.ired an overtime winner against Belfast Giants on Tuesday night.

Already missing three key forwards in Guillaume Desbiens, Colton Fretter and Robert Dowd, head coach Paul Thompson opted to go into the SSE Arena without another player when he released American-born winger, Ryan Hayes - less than three weeks after he joined the club.

Despite being short on numbers, Thompson’s players were still able to bounce back from two weekend defeats to Coventry Blaze in dramatic fashion - captain Jonathan Phillips proving the hero when securing the extra point on offer with just 54 seconds remaining.

Earlier, Belfast had taken the lead just after the halfway mark through Mike Wilson, only for Steelers’ defenceman to Zack Fitzgerald to pick the perfect moment for his third goal of the season at 34.42.

That was how it stayed until the extra 4-on-4 session when, after several chances for both teams, Phillips’s seventh of the campaign avoided the need for a shoot-out to move Steelers back up to second place in the standings, five points behind leaders Cardiff Devils with a game in hand.

Afterwards, Thompson couldn’t praise his injury-hit team highly enough, labelling them “warriors” with a number of key performances.

“Those guys gave us everything they had and now they are being patched up by the physios and doctors,” said Thompson.

“They are warriors. We came in here tonight with a game-plan – yes to frustrate when we had to – and the players, every one of them, bought in. They were fantastic.

“You want to know why Jason Hewitt and Jonathan Phillips have played so long in Sheffield? Just watch them tonight.

“Short of bodies and up against it those two were magnificent. Hewitt makes the play of all plays to Fitzy for the 1-1 goal.

“Fitzy shouldn’t have played tonight – was told not to play tonight – but played anyway. He not only scored but broke plays up and got our transition going.

“He was behind everything we did well this evening. He is one tough man – physically and mentally.”

Thompson had revealed that Hayes was leaving just an hour before face-off, the 26-year-old American having played just seven games for the Steelers, scoring three goals and four points following his switch from the Edinburgh Capitals.

“I sat down with Ryan yesterday,” said Thompson. “We mutually decided that things weren’t working out and that it would be better if we parted company.”