After opening day losses for both sides, the Steelers and Panthers headed to IceSheffield for a win and nothing less. Danny Stewart has built a strong squad with help from Omar Pacha ahead of the upcoming season as they look to end their treacherous losing streak against the Steelers this season. For the home side, the return of Patrick Watling, Colton Saucerman and Matt Greenfield saw a much-improved performance from Saturday night’s loss to Manchester. With a dominant display and a final score line of 5-1, Sheffield really was serious on a return to home games.
After a lightning start to the first period, Steelers great Marco Vallerand netted inside the opening two minutes to give his side a 1-0 advantage. An impressive snapshot beat new Panthers Nettie Ryan Bednard from close range. Starting fast is something that last season Grand Slam Champions prided themselves on. With early goals in crucial games often coming inside the opening two minutes. This set the tone for the first period where sustained Steelers pressure led to both Daniel Leavens and Mark Simpson scoring to make a 3-0 lead going into the period break.
The second period was a more balanced game with the Steelers allowing the Panthers more pressure on Elite League Netminder of The Year Matt Greenfield. Eventually, the second period deadlock was broken by Daniel Leavens who spotted the puck top shelf to extend the Steelers advantage to four goals to nothing. Ten minutes later and it was the Panthers turn to send the water bottle popping. With captain Sam Herr firing one past Matt Greenfield to get on the board for the Panthers. This advantage did not last long though as 11 seconds later, another bit of Daniel Leavens magic saw Patrick Watling tap home into an empty net to restore a four-goal advantage.
With an uneventful third period, the man of the match awards fell to star players Daniel Leavens and Cooper Zech. Leavens was a standout for the Steelers with two goals and an assist. The hard skating and silky hands are a combination that coaches dream of when building their rosters and Aaron Fox has made those dreams a reality with the signing of Leavens. Coming off the back of a strong year in Hungary, fans were unsure where they would see Leavens play on the roster but with the success of him alongside Mitchell Balmas and Patrick Watling, it would be silly to split the trio up so soon. At just 25, Zech is one of the Panthers most experienced defencemen with his CV looking very impressive for such a young player. However, today was a mature performance from Zech with his two-way game helping him register an assist on the Panthers only goal of the night. Whilst playing alongside Matt Spencer, Zech’s movement around the ice helped to create offence for the Panthers with his carrying of the puck being beyond any of the other Panthers D-men.
As expected, netminding played a key role in the outcome of the game with Matt Greenfield between the pipes for the Steelers and Ryan Bednard for Nottingham. As expected, the returning Steeler made a string of impressive saves to deny the likes of Sam Herr from scoring multiple more chances in the game. This is a good sign of things to come for the Steelers as they often rely on the form of Matt Grenefield to steady the ship over the course of a long season. Bednard, who was signed as the 1A, also had an impressive game with his efforts keeping the scoreline down significantly. Although he may want the Steelers third goal back, none of the other finishes would have been saved by any goalie as the accuracy and precision form the Steelers forwards was immense. With the injury of Hunter Vorva, this could be a perfect time for Bednard to nail down a spot in the starting role. This is a similar situation that happened to Matt Greenfield in 22/23 after an injury to Oskar Ostlund in preseason led to Greenfield’s run of domination in the Steelers net.
Overall, both teams will be able to take a lot out of this preseason friendly. Steelers Associate Coach Carter Beston-Will spoke about continuing the form of last season into 24/25 after the game with SteelersTV. This is something that will be discussed throughout the whole roster, with the heavy fixture congestion in the opening two months of the season means the Steelers will need to be flawless. However, Danny Stewart will be looking to move around the lines to see what works and what doesn't. Much like the Steelers, Stewart seems to have found his first line with Herr, Kontos and Henbrandt creating plenty of offence throughout the game.
Author: Will Harris
Editor: Calan Yule
Photos: David Ingham
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