Steelers hold their nerve to delight of coach Finnerty

Although Finnerty would have much preferred to have done without the tension brought about by a shoot-out win against reigning champions Belfast Giants at home on Sunday, the fact those two points came on the back of a gritty 3-2 win at arch-rivals Nottingham Panthers 24 hours earlier will have given him an overall feeling of immense satisfaction.

It’s still far too early in the season to even begin trying to work out if there is a clear title favourite in the Elite League, but it would be a safe bet if you were to choose from one of the three teams already mentioned.

The Steelers remain the early front-runners, their four-point weekend providing them with a two-point cushion at the top of the overall league standings over second-placed Coventry Blaze, who they beat twice the previous weekend.

Having suffered at the hands of the Panthers last year, Finnerty was delighted to get his first win as a coach at the NIC on Saturday - a result which also saw Steelers’ defenceman Danny Meyers secure victory on his first return to the venue where he was a fans’ favourite for six years.

The game was effectively won by the end of the second, with Jason Hewitt (10.50), Jeff Legue (24.54) and record-breaking Ashley Tait - on the powerplay at 34.34 - creating a deserved three-goal cushion.

The Panthers, spurred on by solid home support, stormed back in the third period, reducing the deficit first through Matthew Myers on the powerplay at 44.26. But it wasn’t until the final two minutes that the Panthers were able to increase the pressure on the visitors, Eric Werner’s short-handed effort making it 3-2.

But that was as close as the home side got on a tempestuous night which saw Colin Shields and Steve Goertzen handed major penalties for fighting as tempers understandably flared during a typically fiery 60 minutes.

The Steelers secured another two points the hard way at home on Sunday, throwing away a 4-1 lead which they had built up before the halfway stage.

Rod Sarich put the home side ahead in the third minute, only for Gregory Stewart to equalise a minute later. Tait - who had set a new all-time Elite League scoring record the night before in Nottingham - got his fourth of the season on the powerplay at 8.24 with Legue making it 3-1 less than three minutes into the second period.

Goertzen then grabbed his first goal of the season on the powerplay at 27.30 and all seemed well with the world.

That was until Belfast capitalised on a mistake by Sarich to make it 4-2 through Scott Champagne in the 36th minute. It became a one-goal game less than a minute into the third period when Noah Clarke pounced and the comeback was complete with 10 minutes remaining when Gareth Roberts levelled.

Despite chances at both ends neither side could find the breakthrough - even with overtime. That heralded a shoot-out which saw Steelers’ goaltender John DeCaro save from Craig Peacock and Champagne, while Shields and Legue did what they had to do at the other end.

It leaves the Steelers with only one defeat in their opening six games and sets them up nicely for the start of their Challenge Cup campaign on Wednesday night as they travel to Hull Stingrays.

It will be the first meeting between the two sides since the Stingrays dumped the Steelers out of the play-offs in the first round last season.

SHEFFIELD Steeldogs suffered a second defeat in three games as their English Premier League campaign struggles to get going.

Andre Payette’s team – who finished the regular season in third place last season – went down 4-2 at home to Bracknell Bees on Saturday night.

For the third successive game they found themselves 3-0 down, this time before the first period break. But, unlike the previous home game against Swindon Wildcats, the Steeldogs were unable to overcome the deficit this time.

Matt Foord, Lukas Smital and Rob Lamey all scored before the break, but the second period belonged to the home side when they came back to make it a one-goal game. Defenceman Dmitry Rodin struck on the powerplay at 25.27 before captain Greg Wood made it 3-2 at 33.26.

But as they chased the game deep into the third period, Shaun Thompson popped up for the visitors to score an empty net goal at 59.48 to secure both points in an unexpected win.