Glasgow Clan v Sheffield Steelers at Braehead Arena, Renfrew on 2 February 2024. Picture: Al Goold (www.algooldphoto.com) Twitter: @AlGooldPhoto Insta: @Clanphotos
Sheffield picked up two points tonight after defeating the Glasgow Clan five goals to two. The Steelers led the game throughout the first and second halves before dominating the third.
Balmas and Vallerand scored the opening goal, and Watling added another in the second. Simpson’s short-handed goal and Juusola’s empty net goal clinched the victory in the third.
Matt Greenfield was excellent at the back again, helping the Steelers to another two points as they jumped out to a 16-point lead atop the Elite League standings.
The Steelers prevailed in a fairly evenly contested opening round, which may have been made even more enjoyable by Gary Haden’s lackluster performance.
(8.36) before the Steelers were able to put a point on the board, as Balmas was fed by Dowd in the high slot and finished with style above Kielly’s catcher.
The game ended level when the puck was turned over in neutral ice, sending the Clan two goals to one. The Steelers then went hutting for their second after Cody Sol was sent to the box for a tripping call. Although Gary Haden was lagging and made no mistakes, he managed to get his pad down perfectly to Petryk’s initial shot.
The Steelers resumed their game immediately with the intention of regaining the lead, which they did at 17:47. Once more, Mitchell Balmas fed Marco Vallerand around the Clan blue line. He then moved the puck to the left wing face-off circle and finished brilliantly by putting the puck across Kielly’s body in the top corner.Nevertheless, Nevalainen’s own tripping call late in the frame put him in the box, and the Steelers would begin the second period down a player.
Before the Steelers answered later in the frame, the Clan added a powerplay attempt to their first-period shorthanded effort to tie the score.
Diffley’s cross-check on a Clan move behind the play led to Sol and Diffley dropping the gloves, which set up the Clan’s powerplay. Diffley showed no real interest in the fight, even if Sol delivered a few fleeting hits. Luke Lynch smashed Greenfield bar down on his way to the ice, finishing nicely at (30.11) without any help.
Once Patrick Watling of the Steelers got the puck from Nicholls at (38.17), they were able to put themselves back up. Watling maneuvered the ball around his guy and extended his stick just enough to beat Kielly and give the Steelers their one-goal advantage going into the third.
Daniel Ciampini took a stick up high without making a call, and as the whistle went, he had a few words for the officials.
The Steelers’ short-handed goal in the third quarter gave them two points.
Mark Simpson’s short-handed goal in the third quarter, following the Clan’s previous attempt, and Juusola’s empty-net goal late in the frame gave the Steelers two points.
After being punished for grabbing his opponent’s stick, Kevin Tansey put the Steelers on the penalty kill, but Simpson got through the ice and scored a beautiful five-hole goal on Kielly to tilt the game in the Steelers’ favor at (46.18).Pressure was then relieved further for the Steelers later in the period with only four minutes remaining as Ryan Harrison headed to the penalty box for the Clan, this time for cross-checking. The Clan did well to kill off the penalty and give an opportunity for Kielly to leave the ice for the extra attacker, but the relentless grind of the Steelers was enough to win back the puck which fell nicely for Juusola and he finished the puck into the empty net from distance at (58.42) to give the Steelers a three goal lead with no time left for any sort of Clan comeback.Awards & Table Another outstanding 94.44% save percentage from Matt Greenfield, saving 34 of his 36 shots faced was more than enough for him to take the Man of the Match award for the Steelers.
