Clark in the goals as Steelers enjoy early lead

Player-coach Ryan Finnerty’s side followed up Saturday night’s 4-1 victory over the visiting Dundee Stars with a 6-2 win on the road on Sunday against Yorkshire rivals Hull Stingrays.

It adds to the impressive 2-1 shoot-out victory they enjoyed on last weekend’s opening night against the Belfast Giants.

As expected, the Steelers were pushed hard at Hull Arena and only pulled clear of their determined hosts with a three-goal burst in the last 10 minutes.

Up until that point, it was an even battle with Sylvain Cloutier’s side looking to bounce back from their 5-3 reverse in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Friday night.

Neil Clark – in his second year with the Steelers – put his side ahead in the third minute for what was the only goal of a first period in which the visitors outshot their hosts by 15-9.

At 28.19, Jason Hewitt popped up to double the Steelers’ lead and Finnerty then pounced to net his first of the season less than two minutes later to leave the Stingrays on the rack.

But the hosts dug deep and gave themselves a lifeline before the end of the second when Jason Silverthorn scored a quick double, first finding the net at 34.17 on the powerplay and again at 38.49.

Both sides had clear chances to increase their tally but it was Jeff Legue’s strike midway through the third which proved crucial.

Colt King added a fifth less than a minute later and Clark grabbed his second of the night – and fourth of the weekend – at 53.38 to ensure the points headed back to Sheffield.

Clark, who posted 71 points in his first season with the Steelers, including 38 goals, had led the way 24 hours earlier at the Motorpoint Arena in the Steelers’ first home game of the season.

King struck with only 69 seconds on the clock before Clark found a way past Chris Whitley at 24.31. A little under three minutes later, Mike Ramsay found the net at 27.17 for a 3-0 lead.

Clark then got his second goal of the game at 33.59 to put the home side out of sight, although the visitors got a consolation goal from player-coach Dan Ceman at 54.22.

Afterwards a delighted Finnerty heaped praise on his players, although he admitted there were injury concerns over a number of them after a physically tough weekend.

“It’s been a great weekend - two good games, two good performances and four points” said Finnerty. “It has come at a cost though with a couple of the guys picking up knocks - they’ll get scans so we can diagnose where we are at.

“Hull played a strong game. They played very well and they took it to us for a time in the final period. I was delighted how we came through and the character that we showed. Our powerplay was outstanding and we again killed very well. Our whole D-core tonight was incredible. Thommo, Huttle, Birnstill, Stephenson and even Legue, who dropped back to double shift, all bought in and deserve huge credit

“Clarkie again found the net a couple of times. He is on fire right now and long may it continue. It’s not just his goals, he is playing so well. He is on the big line and he likes it. If he keeps scoring and playing like he is then he will stay on it as well.”

Coventry Blaze enjoyed a perfect start to their campaign, following up Saturday’s 4-0 win at league newcomers Fife Flyers with a 9-0 win over the same opponents on home ice on Sunday.