Great Britain forward Robert Dowd scored twice and had a three-point game as Sheffield Steelers beat Manchester Storm 6-4 in the 2021 Elite Series.
Dowd put the Steelers ahead after 35 seconds, before Ciaran Long and Josh Batch combined to set-up Scott Simmons for Manchester’s equaliser.
Two Jeremy Beaudry’s powerplay goals gave Sheffield a 3-1 lead while Jacob Lundell Noer – assisted by Ben Solder for his first EIHL point and Ben Lake – made it a one-goal game at the first intermission.
Lake set-up GB defenceman Dallas Ehrhardt to tie the game at three, before Dowd put Steelers in front once more.
Manchester equalised again at the start of the third period with Lake getting his third assist as he set-up Craig Peacock, before former GB forward Jason Hewitt quickly put Steelers ahead again, assisted by Brendan Connolly.
Adrian Saxrud-Danielsen fired in Sheffield’s sixth – with Josh Waller and Jonathan Phillips getting the assists – as Steelers went two points clear at the top of the table.
Earlier in the day, Coventry Blaze skated to a 3-1 victory over Nottingham Panthers.
Nicolai Bryhnisveen and Tristan Keck put the Blaze into a 2-0 lead, with GB forward Mike Hammond assisting on the second goal.
Christophe Boivin reduced the arrears with just over a minute remaining in the second period, but Ross Venus helped set-up Simen Andre Edvardsen who made the game safe for Coventry.
Four teams – Coventry Blaze, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers – are competing in the 2021 Elite Series at the National Ice Centre.
The event has been organised under the government’s Elite Sport Guidance, with regular testing and a full covid-19 protocol in place.
All games are available to watch on a live stream – click here for more details and to purchase the webcasts.
Photo credit: Mark Ferriss.