Hull Seahawks take search for elusive first win to fiercest rivals Sheffield Steeldogs

MISSING IN ACTION: Defenceman Bobby Streetly is out for a number of weeks after suffering a shoulder injury 10 days ago. Picture courtesy of Tony King/Hull Seahawks

On what promises to be an emotional night - the Steeldogs are retiring the No 7 shirt of former player-coach Andre Payette who tragically died last month - the visitors will hope it is lucky 13 in their attempt to register an historic first win.

Their latest efforts to do so failed in a weekend double-header against joint-top Peterborough Phantoms, who followed up a 9-3 win at home with an 8-0 win in Hull on Sunday night, stretching Hull’s winless start to the season to 12 games.

Missing imports, injuries – the weekend seeing both goalies leave the ice early to add to Davies’s selection woes – continue to hamper the Seahawks, with the player-coach, himself having just recently undergone keyhole procedure on his is injured knee, doing everything he can to plug the gaps in a severely-depleted roster.

“It’s crazy, the bad luck we’ve had this year so far, just insane,” said Davies. “I know everybody says that a lot of times throughout the year, but I’ve really never known anything like it.

“We had one of our goalies go down on Saturday night and then our other goalie, he went down on Sunday and you’re left thinking - ‘when does that ever happen?! It’s just crazy.

“Every week there is something. Ross (Connolly) goes and breaks his hand, Bobby (Streetly) dislocates his shoulder last week, it’s just endless.”

Tonight will bring the teams together for the second meeting of their head-to-head series, the Steeldogs having won 5-2 in Hull less than two weeks ago.

LOSING STREAK: Hull Seahawks coach Matty Davies hopes his team can end their search for a first-ever win at Sheffield Steeldogs on Tuesday night. Picture: Tony King/Hull Seahawks Media

There will be little sympathy for Davies and his players in Sheffield, with the intense rivalry built up during the days of the Hull Pirates carried over to the new Seahawks franchise.

The Steeldogs are on a promising run of form, extending their winning streak to four matches with one-goal wins over Basingstoke Bison and Bees IHC at the weekend.

A win tonight would take Greg Wood’s team to within two points of joint-leaders Peterborough and Leeds Knights.

With defenceman Ross Connolly and Bobby Streetly still expected to be out for some time, Davies will try and add some bodies before tonight’s face-off (7pm).

LEADING MAN: Head coach Greg Wood has overseen four-game winning run for Sheffield Steeldogs, leaving them in fourth place in the NIHL National table. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

A game-day decision will be made on goalltender Jordan McLaughlin, says Davies. If he fails, 18-year-old Dominic Smith will continue to deputise.

Davies is hoping his players can show the kind of confidence he saw in glimpses over the weekend for longer spells against hosts who will show little mercy.

“It’s obviously a tough game for us,” said Davies. “We have to go there and try and regain some of our confidence that we had at times against Peterborough on both nights.

“We played really good in spells and we are really good in spells and we can be a good team and then we lose it slightly.

“But then hat’s because we’re a young team, that’s because we’re so short but - at the same time – we still have to be better.

“And we know that when we go into Sheffield we will have to be really good, But we can beat them – we’ve got the team to do that. We just have to go in there and make it happen.”