By Kris Smith
The Stars had a full line-up available for their second away game of the weekend and the Steelers had the luxury off carrying a spare import and made the late decision to scratch Kameron Kielly.
The first period was action packed and inside the opening 30 seconds there was chances at either end as Sheffield forced a turnover in front of the Dundee net but Spencer Naas was quick to dive across the goal line and cover for his goalie, as he kept the puck out.
Then just seconds later, Naas would find himself through on the Steelers goal but his low effort could not slip between the legs of Matthew Greenfield.
With almost 10 minutes played, some tensions had been flaring and they came to a head when James Phelan and Sheffield’s Robert Dowd would drop the gloves for a scrap, earning each a five-minute seat in the sin bin.
Penalties would then be the common theme for the remainder of the period as both clubs got an opportunity to use their powerplay units but only one team would find success whilst on the man advantage.
In the 13th minute, the home side would open the scoring through Mitchell Balmas as he fired home from out on the right to give Aaron Fox’s men the lead, as Johnny Walker was in the box for holding his opponent stick.
Then five minutes later, the Steelers would punish the Stars again on the powerplay as defenseman, Chris McKay was sitting in the penalty box for a hooking foul that prevented a dangerous chance for the Steelers and Josh Nicholls would slapshot the puck past Kevin Carr from close range to double the lead.
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All images: Dean Wooley.
