After a long road trip, the Bradfield Brewery Sheffield Steeldogs came out of the traps quickly with a Jason Hewitt goal within a minute of the start! And from there the Dogs really set the tone for the opening minutes with the lines getting a skate out and Zimozdra making the connection between the puck and his gloves. But the Bees began to claw back into the game and inform forward Balaz opened the scoring for the Bees. The first period had plenty of pace and intent from both teams but no further scoring. 1-1
The second period had the word ‘Steeldogs’ stamped all over it as this was possibly the most direct and clinical period of the season so far. The top two lines may grab the headlines with the goals scored but the whole roster made a massive contribution at this point of the game. Phillips scored his first of the game at 24:33, Gabaj levelled up within 2 minutes. But the Steeldogs turned on the gas and blew the Bees out of the water for the remainder of the period. Spurr added a third, then Phillips popped up with two more goals to claim his hattrick. 2-5
The third period began with the man of the moment Balaz added his second of the game, this fired the Bees up and they entered a phase of domination where Antonov scored the 4th for the home side. Zimozdra made some valuable saves and stopped the Bees at the final hurdle. The Bees called a late time out and took Preece to the bench. Despite Bees pressure, the play became scrappy and the puck was cleared for Hewitt to take it on and score the empty net goal on 59:23. The game was done and dusted. Bees 4 – 6 Steeldogs
Man of the match awards were presented to Balaz and Phillips.
The Steeldogs will be wanting to build on this result and performance in their home game this weekend v Swindon Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at iceSheffield.
Make sure you are there to support the Steeldogs – tickets available via our new ticket hub or pay on the door on game day.