Sad News As Sheffield Steelers have injury..
Sheffield Steelers have injury concerns ahead of Cup semi final
Steelers’ taskmaster Aaron Fox says his top-of-the-league side must still do better after an up-and-down weekend, which featured a rare loss and injuries to key forwards.
It was a mini-series where Sheffield lost 2-1 at Fife Flyers, then put the same team away 6-4 at home the following night.
Steelers were uncharacterically generous defensively in the Arena game, which was an absorbing watch for the 6,647 fans, but doubtless far too open for the coaches on either side. At the end of the double-header, Sheffield’s lead had been reduced to a still massive 13-pt lead at the top of the EIHL table, with second-place Belfast Giants helpfully losing a shoot-out at Coventry Blaze.
his Sunday line up lost a 1-0 lead, and then had a 4-1 advantage reduced to 4-3, as the momentum temporarily switched.
More concerning will be injuries to Marco Vallerand and Brett Neumann ahead of Wednesday’s Challenge Cup semi final first leg at Coventry, the team that helped them out with their late win over Giants.
Steelers came off best, though, in Sunday’s 10-goal thriller, to put their championship challenge back on track.
the Scots reduced Sheffield’s lead to 4-3, through Troy Lajeunesse (penalty shot) and Brady Pouteau.
They may have fancied themselves to equalise when Mitchell Balmas was called for boarding.
But then came the turning point of the match as Ciampini scored short-handed for the league leaders.