Saucerman leads Steelers to road win

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Sheffield Steelers defenseman Colton Saucerman notched five points in a 6-3 win for his team over Coventry Blaze at the Skydome.

It was former Steeler Danny Kristo who put the Blaze ahead early on when he deflected a Blake Thompson shot past Matt Greenfield for the game's opening goal at 1:23. Mitchell Balmas fired past Taran Kozun on an odd-man rush to tie the game at 6:17, and the Steelers then led at 8:33 thanks to Marc-Olivier Vallerand's tip on a Balmas shot. Kevin Tansey stepped into the circle to beat Kozun high and put the Steelers 3-1 up with 1:43 left in the first period.

Kobe Roth got the Blaze back to one behind 99 seconds into period two, but a late Saucerman throw from the point found its way through and the Steelers were back two in front.

Ian McNulty again cut the deficit back down to one for the hosts, but a Tansey powerplay goal with 5:15 to go effectively settled the game. Coventry pulled Kozun with 3:24 left in an effort to force a way back into things, but it didn't produce a goal for them ,and thye could only look on as Patrick Watling fired into the empty net with five seconds remaining.