The Sheffield Steeldogs were unable to take advantage of a celebratory atmosphere at Ice Sheffield on Friday night as they lost 3-1 to the Hull Seahawks.
The Steeldogs had been victorious two nights earlier in the National Cup Final, beating Leeds Knights in dramatic fashion, and claiming a 7-6 aggregate win in overtime.
Pre-match there was much fanfare for the champions, with a lights show and a ceremonial puck drop contributing to a lively, excitable crowd. Both sides were sitting level on 62 points, in 3rd and 4th with Hull only ahead on wins in regular play.
However, that failed to translate into much exciting on-pitch action in the first period. Although the Steeldogs had the better of the chances, it was a goalless first third of the game and defences were on top.
The Steeldogs picked up the pace at the start of the second period, and had several good chances.
It looked like this might be compromised when Michael Danecko received a two-minute penalty on 30:26 for tripping, but instead the Seahawks’ powerplay period brought the first goal of the night from the Steeldogs.
Nathan Ripley was found in space on the left-hand side, and from a few yards out a shorthanded effort beat the goalie and saw the side with five men 1-0 up.
Despite the Steeldogs looking in control for most of the game, the final period saw the game turn decisively in an unexpected direction. Hull bundled in three goals in five minutes as the game fell out of the Steeldogs’ grasp.
One minute into the final period an even-handed finish from Johnny Corneil levelled the scoring. The Steeldogs’ Jounas Larinmaa then received a two-minute penalty for hooking on 42:01.
This was to prove decisive as a great strike from distance by Johnny Chamberlain which powered into the near post saw the Seahawks use their powerplay period to take a 2-1 lead.
Matters were then compounded as the Steeldogs missed a good chance to level the score after a prolonged scramble, and then conceded from a swift Seahawks counter-attack. Johnny Corneil got his second of the night to make it 3-1 to the away side on 45:14.
The Steeldogs tried everything to get back into the game in the last 15 minutes, with Hull goalie Aleksanteri Heiskanen making two acrobatic saves which saw his helmet removed on both occasions with 10 minutes to go.
A fruitless powerplay period after Hull’s Thomas Stubley was penalised for hooking meant the game was put beyond the Steeldogs. But they still threw everything at it, removing their goalie for an extra outfield player in pursuit of a magical turnaround.
This afforded Hull the opportunity to make it 4-1, which would have been a flattering scoreline, as they hit the post from distance with no goalie there to stop it from going in.
It was a disappointing loss for the Steeldogs after the euphoria of Wednesday night, but there are plenty of reasons to remain positive as the regular season concludes next weekend.
The Sheffield side have secured their place in the top eight of the league, and can go into the play-offs with the belief that they can follow up their cup triumph with further silverware.
