No love lost as Sheffield Steelers blank Guildford Flames

And their heart-breaker goalie Matt Greenfield? Well, he just doesn't give anything away, Valentine's Day or not.

Matt made his 10th shutout of the season, leading another chillingly efficient team performance in Valentine pink jerseys and clashing orange helmets.

It was Steelers' second-straight 3-0 shut-out. A pattern is forming.

On Wednesday, some had seen the game as a dress rehearsal for the Challenge Cup Final, which is set in the fixture list for Wednesday 13 March.

But Wednesday night was a lot more significant than a trial performance for the Cup.

Steelers' priority remains the regular league title, and they were in no mood to allow Flames to nibble away at the 20 points that separated the two before the puck was dropped.

After a delayed start, Flames efficiently killed three penalties in a goalless first period, with Brett Ferguson, Ben O'Connor all sampling the inside of the Arena penalty box.

But four minutes after the first interval, on-form home forward Mitchell Balmas scored his seventh goal in eight games, followed by Brandon Whistle's first strike of 2024.

Marc-Olivier Vallerand is deadly on the power play right now and he killed the game off with 10 minutes left.

At the end of the night, Greenfield had defied 31 shots and Sheffield had remained 14 points clear of Cardiff Devils at the top of the table; their 32nd win out of 36 league games.

There were some positives for the fourth-placed Flames, but they know they are going to have to do much better in the Cup Final on the same ice.

It is worth remembering that Guildford had won their last four trips to South Yorkshire, including a 3-2 shoot-out victory at the Arena in December.

Their coach Paul Dixon was "hugely disappointed" by the midweek reverse, however.

"In the form Sheffield are in at the minute...you have to come in here and give an almost complete 60 minute peformance without any mistakes.

"Sheffield have put themselves in that position. We have got to do things a lot better to compete with this team" he said.

Home coach Aaron coach Aaron Fox respects Flames' neutral zone speed and paid tribute to some "very heavy" defensive performances and the responsibility shown throughout the line-up.

Dixon has some work to do before the two teams meet again, on Sunday in the league in Surrey, and then the Final.