Tait and Rockwood on the Power Play
Sheffield Steelers head coach Aaron Fox praised his side’s belief and third-period power play after they came from two goals down to beat Nottingham Panthers 4-2 at the Utilita Arena.
The Steelers trailed 2-0 before Brien Diffley pulled one back late in the second period, setting up a decisive final 20 minutes.
Sheffield then struck twice on the power play through Adam Rockwood and Ryan Tait before Sean Collins added an empty-net goal to complete a run of four unanswered goals.
For Fox, the improvement with the extra skater proved crucial.
“A couple of power-play goals were huge tonight,” he said.
“We had a great look from Balmas to Archie to Rock, and then another really good look from Archie to Tater.
“You go two-for-three on the power play and then we had a huge penalty kill with seven minutes to go.
“Greener stood tall and got the job done.”
Fox believes the power play has been showing clear signs of improvement over recent weeks after a difficult start to the season.
“It’s been a lot better over the last three weeks,” he said.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start and sometimes when things aren’t going well you start trying to do too much, breaking out of the concepts, making panic plays, shooting too soon or trying to make an extra play.
“The other night we had a two-minute power play where I don’t think the puck left the zone. We had four, five, six Grade-A chances and got nothing out of it.
“Tonight, the first one maybe didn’t give us the looks we wanted, but the second and third made them pay.”
Despite falling behind, Fox felt Sheffield had started the game well and deserved more from the opening stages.
“I actually thought our first ten minutes were really, really good,” he said.
“We were pretty unlucky not to have anything to show for it.
“Then they got that first goal and got a little bit of life, but I still liked our game.”
Nottingham doubled their advantage in the second period, and Fox admitted there was a short spell where Sheffield became too loose.
“There were maybe seven minutes in the second where we gave up too much in transition,” he said.
“There were some offensive-zone turnovers and some decisions away from the puck that weren’t great, but Greener made some good saves.
“That second goal sucks a little bit of life out of the building, but I still liked the vibes on our bench.
“You could tell the guys felt like they were the better team and that they would come good.”
Diffley’s late second-period goal proved a major turning point.
Sheffield kept Nottingham pinned in their own zone through a long shift before the defenceman fired through traffic to make it 2-1.
“That was a big goal heading into the third,” Fox said.
“We had them hemmed in, there were two or three icings on that same shift, then a good high cycle for Diff and great net presence.
“I don’t think the goalie saw it.”
From there, Fox felt Sheffield took over.
“In the third I really felt like we tilted the ice downhill,” he said.
“We were the better team and you could sense what was coming.”
Rockwood’s equaliser also earned praise from the Steelers coach.
“He’s a pass-first guy when you look at the type of player he is,” Fox said.
“I think Archie can be like that at times too, so we’re going to need some goal production out of those guys as well.
“It was great to see Rock get to the net and finish one.”
The victory returned Sheffield’s focus to their Elite League campaign after securing Challenge Cup semi-final qualification earlier in the week — and, after trailing by two, Fox was particularly pleased with the manner in which his side found a way back.