Steelers complement trophy presentation with comfortable win

With a five-goal cushion going into Saturday night’s second leg of the quarter-finals in Scotland, Ben Simon’s players are unlikely to be denied by a team they have now beaten seven times.

The majority of the 3,000-plus strong crowd stayed behind after the match to see the Steelers presented with the Elite League regular season trophy which had been sealed on Sunday night after a 7-2 home victory over the Braehead Clan saw them pip the Cardiff Devils to the title.

Prior to the presentations, the home fans had been treated to the kind of professional performance that had helped the club land a third regular season title in eight years.

Having conceded 34 goals at the hands of their hosts in the six league games prior to last night‘s meeting, Dundee got off to the worst possible start when, after just 46 seconds, Robert Dowd tipped in from three yards out.

The visitors then settled down and actually enjoyed the better chances on goal with Steelers’ reminder Ervins Mustukovs called upon to make several point-blank saves. But the home side rallied and made the Stars pay for their profligacy when they doubled their advantage through Joe Talbot on the powerplay at 19.42.

The match was effectively over as a contest in a second period which saw the Steelers plunder four goals in an eight-minute spell, three of them on the powerplay.

Rob Globke made it 3-0 with a fine strike at 26.02 then, a minute later, Joe Talbot grabbed his second of the night – again on the powerplay – and although Dundee called a timeout, it failed to do them any good as they quickly lost Chris Zarb on a game misconduct after he and Robert Dowd were binned for fighting.

Steelers’ Derek Campbell was ejected for being third man into the Zarb/Dowd fracas.

Dundee’s problems deepened at 32.29 with Jeff Legue profiting from a five-on-three powerplay with a rocket shot. Neil Clark got in on the act just over two minutes later when he tipped in Legue’s shot to make it 6-0.

The third period was largely forgettable, with Dundee concentrating on damage limitation, although Mustukovs was denied a shutout when Steve Makway grabbed a late consolation with just 15 seconds remaining.