“A Big Weekend for Us”
Head coach Aaron Fox was pleased with the way his Sheffield Steelers completed a four-point weekend, following Saturday’s emphatic 5-0 home victory over Glasgow Clan with a hard-fought 4-3 road win against Manchester Stormon Sunday.
The two victories came in very different circumstances.
Against Glasgow, the Steelers controlled the contest on home ice, while Sunday’s game at the AO Arena became a battle of momentum, with Manchester fighting back from 3-1 down before Ryan Tait struck the game-winning goal late in the third period.
Fox felt his side produced an excellent opening before being forced to weather a Manchester response.
“It was obviously an important game tonight. We talked about building some momentum and I really, really liked our start.
“I thought tonight was a little bit of a game of momentum. We found some early and really made them struggle and absorb some pressure.
“Then they got the two power-play goals and found some life from that, so we had to find our way a little bit through that middle stretch.”
With the game tied at 3-3 heading into the final period, Matt Greenfield produced several important stops before the Steelers found another gear during the closing stages.
Fox was particularly pleased with how his team managed the decisive moments.
“It was a big third period, especially the last 12 or 15 minutes.
“Greener makes a couple of big saves early in the third and then it’s a really nice play with Jazzy, Rock and Tater to finish that game off.
“After that, I thought we closed it out really nicely over the final couple of minutes.”
Tait Delivering in the Big Moments
Sunday proved another big night for Ryan Tait, who scored twice, including the late winner that secured both points for Sheffield.
Fox says Tait’s production comes as no surprise after the way the forward finished last season.
“We brought Tater back for a reason.
“We felt the numbers he put up last year were probably the bare minimum of what he could have achieved with the amount of offence he created.
“Sometimes there’s just puck luck that goes into scoring goals and getting points, and I don’t think he had much of that last year.”
Tait became increasingly influential during the closing stages of last season and Fox believes the forward is now carrying that form and belief into the new campaign.
“It’s no surprise to me, especially with the way he finished last year.
“He was one of our best players over the last 10 or 20 games and he was getting on the scoresheet a lot then as well.
“It’s great to see him playing with confidence and scoring some big goals for us.”
After two very different victories in the space of 24 hours, the Steelers leave the weekend with four points, back-to-back wins and, importantly for Fox, some momentum beginning to build.