Sheffield Steelers turn up the heat on Elite League title rivals Belfast Giants

Playing host to Manchester Storm yesterday, the Steelers came away with a slender 2-1 victory, helped in large part by great netminding from Rok Stojanovic.

It was the South Yorkshire side who got off to a strong start with chances for Matias Sointu and Marco Vallerand.

Manchester netminder Jason Bacashihua held firm, though, thwarting the Steelers’ efforts in the opening five minutes.

The Steelers’ pressure paid off eventually, however, when Robert Dowd intercepted a Storm pass in the Steelers defensive zone, breaking clear before firing a sublime shot low past Bacashihua to give his team a 1-0 lead at 12.59.

Manchester regained their composure in the second, levelling up at 38.00 through Frankie Melton, who beat Stojanovic with a superb top-shelf finish.

What proved the be the game winner came from the stick of Brandon Whistle, who read the play superbly, quickly reacting to a rebound from a Sointu shot and firing a blistering wrist shot over the blocker of Bacashihua with just over 11-minutes left.

It was a much different story for Aaron Fox’s team when they visited third-placed Cardiff Devils the previous evening.

The Steelers were ruthless and clinical, killing off five penalties against the league’s most potent powerplay, coming away with a fully deserved 6-2 victory.

Two goals in the opening four minutes from Martin Látal and John Armstrong got things underway, further strikes coming from Robert Dowd, Evan Mosey and Tanner Eberle (2).