Sheffield Steelers face in-form Guildford Flames in midweek action
Sheffield Steelers hit the road on Wednesday night to take on Guildford Flames
Sheffield Steelers will look to continue their excellent start to the season when they travel to Guildford Flames on Wednesday night for their second Elite League fixture of the campaign.
Aaron Fox’s side head south in confident mood after opening their league season with an emphatic 6-1 road victory over Glasgow Clan on Sunday.
That result followed another successful weekend in the Challenge Cup, where Sheffield remain unbeaten and sit top of their group.
The Steelers already know plenty about Wednesday’s opponents.
Just ten days ago, the two sides met in Challenge Cup action at the Spectrum, with Sheffield recovering from three goals down before eventually winning 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
Mitchell Balmas scored the decisive shootout goal that night and has continued his outstanding start to the season since, including five goals across last weekend’s victories over Nottingham Panthers and Glasgow.
Guildford, though, have responded impressively since that defeat.
The Flames produced one of the standout results of last weekend when they beat Cardiff Devils 5-1 at home, before following that with an equally impressive 4-1 road victory against Nottingham Panthers.
Former Steeler Brett Neumann was among the key performers against Cardiff, scoring twice in the victory.
Neumann is well known to Sheffield supporters after being part of the Steelers’ 2024 Grand Slam-winning side, and captain Robert Dowd knows exactly the threat the forward can pose.
“We know all about Brett’s attributes and what he brings to a team,” said Dowd. “You can’t switch off when he is on the ice. His speed can kill you and he has great offensive ability.
“Guildford, like we did, had a great weekend and they have the ability to score a lot of goals. We will need to be at our best if we are going to continue our excellent winning start to the season.”
Guildford are coached by another familiar face in former Steeler Paul Dixon, who has once again put together a side capable of playing fast, attacking hockey.