Sheffield Steeldogs 6 Manchester Phoenix 5 (OT/Penalty Shots)

Yet it was Tony Hand's side who made the better start.

The early pressure led to a goal from ex-NHLer Stanislav Gron and the visitors looked like extending that lead but the Steeldogs found an equaliser courtesy of their own Stanislav, Stanislav Lascek.

Lascek took the game by the scruff of its neck in the middle period, completing his hat-trick inside 31 minutes. However as quickly as Sheffield had taken the lead they lost it again as Satek and Hamer took advantage of defensive lapses. For all the huffing and puffing by both sides, the scores were level as the final period began.

Manchester then took the initiative with Satek and Neil giving them a two goal advantage, which they preserved in to the last three minutes. The Steeldogs win last Sunday had shown they should never be counted out of a game and once again they found the goals required to send the game in to over time – Lascek with his fourth and Tom Squires finally hitting the net after some near misses.

The extra five minutes played three on three was non-stop and the Steeldogs even put 17 year old Cole Shudra and 16 year old Liam Kirk out together – and a better pass from Andy Hirst might have given Kirk the winner.

However neither team could score and in the penalty shootout, Dalibor Sedlar kept the Phoenix out, making Squires’ penalty shot the decider.

Andy Hirst was relieved after the game saying; “I thought we were a little lucky tonight, against Guildford on Sunday we deserved it, but tonight we were lucky. We'll take the result though because no doubt there will be another in the year we don't get.

“Grinding out these results is becoming part of our game. When we get the play offs, it's not going to be a new experience for us – we've done it before and we'll be able do it again. It's something we have in our locker. We changed our style of play tonight against Manchester, it was an open game with both teams really going for it. Our game is becoming more flexible but I feel we are essentially more of a grinding team. Whatever it takes, we can find a way to win!”

The Steeldogs will make the trip to Swindon today before they complete their weekend back at iceSheffield on Sunday (5.30) against the Milton Keynes Lightning.