Late twist sees Sheffield Steelers finish with no silverware

With 65 seconds remaining, their hopes of silverware were turned on their head as the Stars’ Sebastian Bengtsson struck on the power play to make it 3-3 on the night.

The problem was, the Stars already held a 1-0 advantage over the Steelers from the previous night’s first leg in Sheffield – courtesy of a 58th-minute strike from the same player.

Now the Steelers had to throw caution to the wind to save their season. Goaltender Rok Stojanovic was pulled, allowing that man Bengtsson to fire into the resulting empty net with just 21 seconds remaining.

It was a stark contrast to the opening 20 minutes of a game which the Steelers had turned around by racing into a 3-0 lead through strikes from Marc-Olivier Vallerand (2) and Martin Latal.

But a Stars team who had proved tough to crack during the regular season again made life difficult for Aaron Fox’s team, pulling to within one overall through a power play strike from Kalvis Ozols at 37.51 before – you guessed it – that man Bengtsson levelled the tie at 52.56, setting up the late dramatic finale that will no doubt give all those concerned with the Steelers nightmares for weeks to come.

In NIHL National, Sheffield Steeldogs’ place at the second-tier’s Final Four Weekend in Coventry next week was assured on Saturday without them striking a puck in anger, a 5-4 defeat for Basingstoke Bison at the hands of Swindon Wildcats enough for Greg Wood’s team to qualify.

It meant last night’s outcome at Peterborough Phantoms meant little, with the visitors subsequently losing 4-1, Alex Graham getting on the board.

Leeds Knights ended their dismal play-off campaign without a win in an 8-7 defeat at Bees IHC in Slough, a four-goal haul for Kieran Brown – taking his tally for the season to 75 – still not enough to stave off defeat.