AN ill-tempered and heated Elite League clash at the SSE Arena saw the Sheffield Steelers emerge 3-2 victors over the Belfast Giants.
A brace from Andreas Jämtin and an opener from Matt Marquardt saw the visitors home in front of a large travelling support, while Steve Saviano and David Rutherford replied for the hosts.
It was Jackson Whistle who was between the pipes for Belfast, while Sheffield had everyday man Ervins Mustukovs at the other end, but the big story was a first reunion between Spiro Goulakos and Colton Fretter,
And any hopes that the Goulakos-Fretter history had been forgotten was ended within the first minute as the Belfast defenceman dropped gloves with the Sheffield man, leaving them both on the floor.
It was a largely wasteful first period, both sides having chances but neither significantly testing the netminders at each end until the visitors finally broke the deadlock at the end of the period.
New man Eric Neiley set the tone, taking it into the offensive zone and feeding Matt Marquardt in the slot, and the forward finished at the second attempt at 17:01 after Whistle could only bat the puck back into his path.
The expected Giants reaction at the start of the second period never came, and instead it looked like Sheffield might double their advantage however Levi Nelson spurned their best chance, unable to flick it past Whistle on the angle.
Instead, Belfast levelled, a Kevin Raine slapshot taking a massive deflection at the doorstep to take it away from Mustukovs and allow Steve Saviano to steal in and finish at 31:29.
Within a minute the Steelers retook the lead shorthanded, a breakaway from their own defensive zone drawing a good save from Whistle, however Andreas Jämtin was on hand to capitalise on a poor attempted clearance at 32:05.
Then came a moment of great controversy - Steelers enforcer Zack Fitzgerald landing a massive hit to Goulakos’ head, resulting in the defenceman being left stricken on the ice for a while.
Fitzgerald was given a five minute major for the check to the head, however Belfast couldn’t take advantage of their extra man, and Robert Dowd nearly made them pay only to fire over when one on one with Whistle.
But they got that crucial third goal seconds before the end of the period, Whistle unable to hold a shot from the blueline, and Jämtin was again on hand to sweep the loose puck in at 39:38.
Five minutes into the final period the hosts struck back, a Blair Riley shot slamming off the back boards and falling to David Rutherford lurking at the back post, who flipped it into the cage over an unsighted Mustukovs at 45:19.
Dowd had another great chance to get a goal of his own, while Andreas Valdix also tested Whistle, while at the other end Darcy Murphy found space into the slot but fanned on his shot at goal.
Tensions boiled over again as Ryan Martinelli and Neiley dropped the gloves, while Sheffield took a late penalty to put Belfast on the powerplay to seemingly finish the game.
It wouldn’t end that way, Goulakos illegally checking an opponent to end his game and Sébastien Sylvestre snapping at the officials to get him ejected too, as the Giants’ frustrations ultimately manifested in a loss.
Man of the Match: Andreas Jämtin (Sheffield Steelers)
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