The long wait for a spot at the play-off finals weekend is over as the Storm take on the Sheffield Steelers in the semi final of what promises to be a blockbuster encounter. With 3 wins over the Yorkshire outfit this season Critchlow’s squad will be full of confidence and ready to put on a show for the travelling Storm faithful who have managed to secure tickets for this prestigious event.

Sheffield came out strong in the opening five minutes creating problems for the Storm’s defensive ranks. And it was this dominance in possession that paid off for the team in orange – as Gilmour sat 2 minutes on a hooking call, Cormier took a shot from the blue line that was tipped in by Tait to put Sheffield up by one after 12 minutes. The Storm did have a couple of opportunities in the opener but unfortunately nothing that troubled Greenfield too much.

Storm came close to equalising within five minutes when Johnson’s low shot forced a good leg pad save from Greenfield in net. Again, the Steelers sheer volume of shots paid dividends as a smart pass from Balmas in deep found Heard out in front who placed the puck past DeRidder unchallenged. DeRidder showed why he was voted the Elite League’s goalie of the year with a big double save in the last seconds of the middle period to keep the Storm alive heading in to a do or die final third for Manchester.

Storm came out hard in the final period creating some good looks on net but couldn’t quite produce a goal. Some heavy hitting led to Hinam and Huttula going toe to toe with the former looking to spark his teammates up. Steelers made it 3-0 at the midpoint when Jasper broke away, straight out of the penalty box, and put the puck top shelf. Both teams traded powerplays late in the game with only the Steelers capitalising on theirs. It was Tait who scored on the rebound with assists from Balmas and Juusola to make it 4-0. A fifth and sixth followed in the final moments of the game, both on the powerplay, scored by Heard and Harper. Perhaps a step too far on this occasion, but the Storm will return bigger and better!

By: Kristian Stokwisz