After last week’s dramatic win over the title contending Giants, Storm were looking to chase down the Sheffield Steelers who sit one place above in fourth spot. Another sellout crowd awaited Critchlow’s ambitious squad on Saturday night at the Shelter.

The opening exchanges of the game were evenly contested with the Storm having perhaps a slight advantage with looks on net. With twelve minutes elapsed Dudek was judged to have been tripped by the last defenceman as he broke away unchallenged. The resulting penalty shot was taken well as Dudek backhanded the puck above Greenfield’s leg pad to put the home team up by one. The play intensified from that point with both sides coming close on several occasions. Hannoun doubled the lead just two minutes before the first break, finishing cooly and assisted by Welsh and Gilmour on the build up.

The middle period was a livelier affair, seeing some heavy hits on both sides. It took a while for any scoring action in the second – but the Steelers halved the deficit with seven remaining when Heard finished from close range after a nice pass by Ritchie. The visitors seemed vitalised by the goal and put a lot of pressure on the Storms defence. Particularly Weninger who made several impressive saves on a following penalty kill. The relentless forechecking paid off with only moments left in the period as Heard doubled his tally from a tight angle.

It took less than a minute for the Storm to regain their lead, on the powerplay, when a bar down shot by Cutler rattled past a helpless Greenfield – with helpers going to Hinam and Gilmour. With four minutes to play in the game the Steelers equalised through a low shot by Ritchie which somehow trickled under Weninger and in to the net. The late goal was enough to send the game in to overtime as both sides contested for the extra point. Penalty shots were needed after the three v three overtime period proved fruitless for both teams. With only Cutler scoring in the shoot out the Storm secured a vital extra point in the league standings.