Sheffield Steelers stroll to a ruthless 6-0 massacre of Nottingham Panthers

Heading for his first full shut out of the EIHL season (following a pre-season clean sheet against Cardiff Devils) he stonewalled the home side for 56 minutes.

At that point, Greenfield accepted an invitation to forgo a full nil-goal performance, allowing Angus Laing three and a half valuable minutes in the away crease.

“He is a team-first guy – he has been outstanding,” said coach Aaron Fox.

The Challenge Cup group opener had all the hallmarks of a similar hiding in 2006 in the Play Offs, when Sheffield won there 7-0.

Greenfield, 28, shut out the first and second periods (both 3-0) before going on to hand over the reins to the Brit four years his junior.

There were six different scorers – Daniel Ciampini, Robert Dowd, Mark Simpson, Scott Allen, Mitchell Balmas and Marco Vallerand.

The visitors were ahead after just 78 seconds.

Defensively, Sheffield ‘suffocated’ Panthers on the penalty kill, to frustrate the majority of the 5,279 fans at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham.

Fox said it was an impressive 60-minute performance from his “in-concept” side, as they chalked up their third straight win of the season.

Saturday night’s contest featured the Challenge Cup’s best teams, historically speaking.

Nottingham are the most successful side since it came into being in 1997, winning it eight times, with Sheffield and Belfast Giants coming behind them with five wins.

But that is history – and Panthers are very much in need of some help in the here and now.