Nottingham Panthers 0 Sheffield Steelers 5: Rampant Steelers clean up to keep pressure on title rivals

Of course, the current Elite League season has only just passed the halfway point for most teams but, after a stop-start campaign so far, Paul Thompson’s team may finally have found the right formula.

If the 4-0 Boxing Day home win over arch-rivals Nottingham Panthers didn’t spread enough festive cheer in South Yorkshire, the Steelers ensured their fans could truly celebrate the Christmas season in style by beating the same opponents 5-0 in their own rink 24 hours later.

Wednesday night’s triumph at the National Ice Centre ensured a third straight shutout for Ervins Mustukovs, but there will be little danger of him or his team-mates getting carried away over the last five days.

There is still some way to close the gap on title rivals Cardiff Devils and Belfast Giants, but this week has seen the Steelers make a significant start on that, producing performances that will only count for something if they continue in the same vein in their New Year double-header with fifth-placed Manchester Storm and beyond.

Despite out-shooting their hosts 13-3, the first period ended goalless at the NIC, but it wasn’t long before the Steelers’ superiority told, going ahead at 21.29 through Tim Wallace, the lead being doubled just before the halfway mark by John Armstrong. Levi Nelson made it 3-0 on the powerplay at 37.08 before – in a more tempestuous third period – the game was made safe by Robert Dowd’s 46th-minute strike.

In the last 10 minutes, fights and melees broke out with regular abandon, with six players in all – including Steelers’ Armstrong, Matt Marquardt and Cole Shudra – being handed game misconducts.

In among all the mayhem, Ben O’Connor made it 5-0 with a 56th-minute powerplay strike.