Nottingham Panthers return to Sheffield for first time since Adam Johnson tragedy

The EIHL team returned to the venue on Boxing Day for the first time, losing 5-1 to Steelers.

Assistant Coach Rick Strachan said it had been an emotional trip but paid tribute to the warmth of Sheffield fans.

He said: "It will be a long process for this team to heal.

"Day by day we are healing but next day we are not so healed. It is a process but we are going to back these guys until we can get out of this."

Panthers are now in a four-game losing streak after the defeat which kept Sheffield four points clear in the table.

It was a good night for Steeler Marco Vallerand.

He celebrated for ending what for him was a comparatively goal-shy series to put Steelers ahead 3-1.

Then came the celebration of wrenching the imaginary monkey off his back and right-footed it into the seats. Vallerand had scored just two goals in 16 games, and none in his last five.

By the end of the night, he had three points in the win.

Steelers were all guns blazing on the Boxing Day clash which attracted the same sell-out crowd of last year, some 9,368.

Robert Dowd got the Arena crowd going in three minutes, before adding his second.

Conceding a short-handed goal to Hugo Roy was't in the script, but Nottingham inched back until Vallerand's finish on the power play.

Steelers power play has been efficient lately and Brett Neumann flattened Panthers with a fourth 54 seconds before the seconed interlude.

Cole Shudra, himself riding high in this Sheffield side, scored the insurance goal from the blueline for 5-1 to see the game out.

Steelers, who top the league in all the most important statistics, added to their goals-for column and their points to ensure a late Christmas present for the orange army.

Last year's identical fixture on the same day, with exactly the same crowd size had seen a 3-2 win.

At the time Sheffield were three points behind the then-leaders Guidlford Flames who were then beginning to crumble.

Nobody can see that happening to Sheffield, right now.