IT was a record-breaking night for goaltender Matt Greenfield as Sheffield Steelers thrashed Manchester Storm 6-0 to book an EIHL Play-off final showdown against Cardiff Devils.

With his 25th shutout as a Steeler, Greenfield passed club legend Jody Lehman for the record number of shutouts.

Elsewhere, Steelers stalwart Kevin Tansey loved the fact that every line grabbed a goal -Ryan Tait and Mitchell Heard leading the way with two piece.

He said: “It’s nice when you get guys going. Sometimes you get streaky in a year a then you get your confidence rattled, but we’re hot right now. So, we’re going to carry that confidence into tomorrow.”

The towering defenceman knows that beating Cardiff will be no easy feat but he thinks the team has what it takes, adding: “They’re a good team, we battled against them all year long. So, it’ll be a battle, but we’ve just got to play the same way we did tonight.

“This weekend’s about the team. I love playing in Sheffield. I love playing with the guys on this team. We’re going to try and win another trophy for the city.”

The Storm came close to breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute with a pass from behind the net. The pass found a storm stick just outside of Greenfield’s crease, but the outstretched pad of the Steelers goaltender was enough.

Shortly after, the Steelers opened the scoring at 12.42 through Ryan Tait on the powerplay. With Brady Gilmour in the box for a hooking call, a powerful shot from the left point by Dominic Cormier was tipped by Tait through the five-hole of Storm goaltender, Drew DeRidder.

ON OUR WAY: Evan Jasper celebrates his goal in the 6-0 win over Manchester Storm. Picture: Hayley Roberts

placeholder image — ON OUR WAY: Evan Jasper celebrates his goal in the 6-0 win over Manchester Storm. Picture: Hayley Roberts

The Steelers almost doubled their lead with two minutes remaining in the first period, leading points scorer Mitchell Balmas releasing a snapshot, which was stopped by Deridder. A rebound out in front found Joona Huttula, who tried to shovel the puck in only for the outstretched DeRidder to deny him. Nick Welsh took exception to the Finnish defenceman and the two players tangled behind the net briefly before being separated by the officials.

Six minutes into the second, Steelers’ captain Robert Dowd nearly made it 2-0 when a pass from the boards made it’s way on to his stick but he couldn’t find a gap in DeRidder’s equipment.

It was Mitchell Heard who increased the Steelers’ lead with a redirection in front of the Storm net just after the halfway mark.

Tyler Hinam took a shot on Greenfield four minutes into the third, which was frozen by the Steelers’ goaltender. Hinam took a poke at the glove of Greenfield, which Huttula was not happy about. The big Fin grabbed the Storm forward, but few words were exchanged before the gloves came off. A good tilt saw some good punches landed, but Huttula came out on top with a take down.

DOUBLE DELIGHT: Ryan Tait scored twice for Sheffield Steelers in the EIHL Play-off semi-final. Picture: Hayley Roberts.

As Brien Diffley left the penalty box following a strong penalty kill by the Steelers, Evan Jasper stole the puck off Dennis Busby’s stick at the top of the defensive zone, with just the goaltender between him and the net. Jasper drove towards the Manchester net on a breakaway and picked his spot, top corner at 48.19.

Tait doubled his tally for the night on the powerplay with just over six minutes remaining with Dennis Busby in the box for tripping. A one-timer from Stephen Harper missed the goal narrowly to the right and rebounded off the end boards. A muffed shot from Balmas meant the puck trickled to Tait, who produced a simple chip over DeRidder.

With 96 seconds left to play, Heard matched Tait’s exploits by grabbing his second, with just 96 seconds remaining.

Things went from bad to worse for the Storm 30 seconds later when Harper scored the fourth powerplay goal of the night for the Steelers. A feed from Tansey gave Harper another one-timer chance which he made no mistake with.