Sheffield Steelers 8 Fife Flyers 2: Fox's men thrash Scottish side after slow start

Steelers had been sloppy and conceded two goals in the opening 20 minutes.

But once they'd scored there was only one team in it - their offensive might far too much for the Scots.

One of the Steeler heroes of the night was defenceman Aaron Johnson who scored one goal and two assists - mirroring the amount he'd amassed in his 19 other games this season.

The result puts them in good stead for tomorrow's trip to Guildford Flames.

And the fact Cardiff Devils lost 7-3 at Nottingham Panthers was a huge bonus too.

Sheffield had rediscovered their form recently - but inconveniently lost it in that below-par first period.

They conceded two power play goals and were short of quality shots on goal at the other end.

Tanner Eberle and Anthony DeLuca briefly threatened around goalie Adam Morrison's crease but Sheffield carried little of the authority we'd seen in recent wins over Nottingham Panthers and Belfast Giants.

Ben O'Connor lost control of the puck and had to trip James Livingston to stop a breakaway.

But on the PP Paul Crowder could afford to miss one tap-in and then bury the next opportunity on the same shift, at 10:19.

When Michael Davies was called for slashing, Danick Gauthier further punished Sheffield for 0-2 at 12:40.

Flyers' ex-Steeler Scott Aarssen, who went into the match with a -19 season figure, took a cross-checking penalty, but Sheffield were no where as lethal as their opponents.

Normal Steeler service resumed in an overpowering 5-0 middle period.

Davey Phillips shot wide, Michael Davies hit the outside of the post, but the dam finally burst when Johnson's blue line shot hit the back of the net.

Johnson looked relieved - and the team never looked back.

Twenty five seconds later Johnson turned provider with Janne Kolehmainen equalising.

And at 29:03, Nikolai Lemtyugov wriggled around goalie Morrison to put Steelers ahead for the first time.

Brendan Connolly suffered a facial injury but there was no holding his team back, Tanner Eberle tipping in Johnson's shot followed by a solo goal on the left wing from DeLuca.

Fife were all at sea, with Aarssen thrown out of the game for a committing a slash on a previous shift.

In fairness, they mounted some early pressure on Steelers in the last period but Tomas Duba in net and a diving poke check from Johnson kept them at bay until DeLuca wrist shot homn the sixth of the evening, at 48:48.

Connolly forgot his war-wound to back-hand in the seventh three minutes later.

And 17-year-old Alex Graham crowned a memorable night with his first goal in the EIHL.

The celebration with his team-mates shone a light on the team-spirit at this title-chasing club.