How Sheffield Steelers' Mark Simpson has played crucial role in team's depth-driven charge to top of Elite League

A 5-3 win at Manchester Storm on Saturday night - their fifth win in as many visits to Altrincham this season - ensured that, ahead of Sunday’s visit to the Utilita Arena from Dundee Stars, the Steelers remained 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals.

The only thing that changed immediately beneath them was that Belfast Giants’ 4-2 home win over Nottingham Panthers saw them move into second ahead of Cardiff Devils, who are busy in Continental Cup action this weekend.

The Steelers prevailed at Manchester this time around despite being shorter on bodies than they have been used to for the majority of the season when they have been able to roll four forward lines.

One of the most pleasing things for head coach Aaron Fox is that he has had contributions from all four lines whenever the Steelers have been at full strength.

The ice time allotted to his forwards is pretty close from one to 12 and shows the confidence Fox has in each and every one of them,

A by-product of that is that scoring has come from everywhere, from first line forward and current leading points-scorer Patrick Watling down to the likes of Cole Shudra, Brandon Whistle and Mark Simpson who, until the recent injury bug that has struck the Steelers, formed a highly-effective fourth line.

Canadian Simpson and Shudra are both in double-figures in terms of points. Whistle’s effectiveness has been hampered moreso by a couple of injuries, but he has still scored at over a point every other game in league and cup.

Simpson was brought in by Fox last summer primarily for his two-way game, something which has proved so effective during the first half of this season.

His resume didn’t scream out that he would be among the team’s leading points scorers, nor was he expected to be among them by Fox but, with nine goals and 10 assists in 26 games, his production has proved a welcome bonus in what has been an extremely satisfactory season for the team so far.

After slim pickings in his previous three seasons - two spent in the AHL at Stockton Heat and last year largely in the IceHL at Italian side Asiago - Simpson was keen to boost his effectiveness in the offensive zone.

“I definitely see myself as a big, two-way forward,” said the left-hander, who hails from Rothesay in New Brunswick. “I aim to be good in the dot and responsible defensively and good on the PK, I think those are my biggest assets.

“And I came over wanting to be able to contribute a little bit offensively, too. I wanted to find that part of my game again at the pro level and Aaron has definitely provided me with the opportunity to play in the top nine and contribute offensively as well.

“So all of my expectations have been met so far and I’m hoping to continue that down the stretch.”

It’s fair to say, Fox has been pleased with what he has got from the 28-year-old.

“He is such a good two-way player,” said Fox. “He plays with such pace, he’s reliable, he’s maybe our best defensive forward.

“When you’re that big and you can skate that well, you’re a big asset and he’s created a lot of offensive opportunities for himself as well which is great to see.”

As anyone attached to the Steelers’ camp is quick to tell you, there is ‘still a lot of hockey to be played’. It’s a cliche but true. Sunday’s game against the Stars took the regular season leaders exactly to the halfway point in their campaign.

“We’re incredibly happy with the way things are going right now,” added Simpson. “It was a tough test with all of the travel involved over Christmas and New Year.

“But with the depth that we have and being able to stick together as a group, that shows on the ice, together with the chemistry we have in the room. It has been great and a lot of fun to be part of - hopefully, we can keep that going.

“This is one of the tightest rooms I’ve been in. There’s a lot of unselfishness in the room, everyone is happy for each other when other guys are scoring and everyone feeds off that. You just want to put your best foot forward every shift, feed off each other’s success - that togetherness is one of the biggest keys to our group.

“If we keep going the way we are, it will be a special year. The focus is always just on the next game. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look at the standings but you really do just have to take it day by day, game by game.”

Simpson was in the thick of the action again on Saturday, bagging two assists to help the Steelers maintain their 100 per cent record against the Storm, although they were made to work hard for the two points.

Storm’s Johnny Corniel put a loose puck past Matt Greenfield with only 61 seconds played but a power play strike from Marc-Olivier Vallerand at 15.17 saw the teams go in level at the first intermission.

By the halfway point, it was the Steelers who were in control thanks to two Josh Nicholls strikes. That is how it remained until the third when the home team turned up the pressure, first by making it a one-goal game through a second for Corniel at 44.15, then levelling with a Zach Phillips effort just over four minutes later.

With 7:25 remaining, however, Dominic Cormier shot across Evan Weninger to put the Steelers back ahead, the puck trickling through the Storm netminder and agonisingly over the line.

Storm coach Matt Ginn called a timeout at 17.35 to play and pulled Weninger for the extra skater, but only ten seconds had elapsed after the restart when Mikko Juusola beat Joe Morrow in a footrace to a clearance and slotted into the empty net to settle the game and bank a 12th straight league win for the visitors.