No room for error in Belfast for Steelers

The Steelers go into the first of two games in two nights at the Odyssey Arena on Friday knowing they need to win both games in order to have any serious hope of retaining their regular season title.

Home ice and a 14-game winning streak stack the odds in Belfast’s favour, but Finnerty said: “The guys are excited and we are very much in the right mindset for what we have to do – we have to play ‘do-or-die’ hockey.

“We’ve won there before so we’ll go in there full of confidence.”

Apart from a 4-2 defeat for the Steelers at home to Belfast in February, all previous games have required either overtime or a shoot-out to determine the result, meaning there is little to choose between the two sides.

For Belfast to relinquish top spot at all before the end of the season would represent a remarkable turnaround, given that they have occupied the No 1 position in the table since the second game of the season. After overtaking Nottingham Panthers on February 12, the Steelers have remained in second place.

Anything less than two regulation wins for the Steelers and it begins to get complicated, with the likelihood that they would then need Nottingham to beat Belfast on the final weekend of the season - as long as Steelers win their last three games - in order to stand any chance of overtaking the Giants.

With little or no help likely or indeed expected to come from the East Midlands, it leaves a clear scenario lingering in the Steelers’ players minds with Finnerty convinced they are capable of upsetting the odds.

“It’s a big challenge for us all, but these are the kind of games we play the game for,” added Finnerty. “We suit the underdog role better than being the top team like Belfast.

“With so many new players coming you’re never sure how things are going to work out. But I think we have built a really good team and brought some good, solid players in last summer. We’ve made some mistakes along the way, but then so has everybody else. It’s been a great learning curve for me.”

Finnerty will make a final decision on his line-up on Friday morning, with defencemen Nick Duff, Chad Huttel and forward Neil Clark hoping to get the nod for the final import slot allowed under league rules.

But, whoever he decides on, Finnerty knows opposite number Doug Christiansen has plenty of talent at his disposal to counter anything the Steelers can throw at them.

“We’ve played them four times already, they’ve all been close games and three have gone to overtime or a shoot-out - that tells you everything about how close we are to them,” said Finnerty.

“But they are a good team, with plenty of depth and three solid lines that are all capable of contributing scoring.

“There aren’t many weaknesses and that’s why they are where they are.”

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Twitter: @philarra