TWICE Sheffield Steeldogs went into overtime against Romford Raiders at the weekend. Twice they came off second-best.
On Saturday, on home ice, overtime was just over three minutes old when Tjay Anderson doubled his tally for the night to secure the extra point for the Raiders.
Just under 24 hours later at Romford’s Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre home, it took just 49 seconds for the extra point on offer to be awarded, Jarrett Baker beating Shane Owen in the Steeldogs with a power play strike made possible by a goaltender interference call on forward Dante Salituro.
It will no doubt have made for a frustrating coach ride home for Steeldogs’ head coach Slava Koulikov and his players but they still had two points to show for their efforts and remain just four points off Romford and second-placed Hull Seahawks, who they visit on Sunday after hosting Peterborough Phantoms the day before.
An early bench minor for too many men put the Steeldogs up against it in Romford and they were made to pay when Barrett Kirwin scored on the subsequent power play just under three minutes in.
That was how it stayed until the Steeldogs struck back to get in front with two goals in 46 seconds.
The first came from Brady Doxey at 22.22 before import Michael Pelech struck to leave the home fans stunned.
But the joy on the home bench didn’t last long when Romford levelled through Andrew Coxhead at 25.23.
There was little to choose between the two sides all weekend, further evidence provided by Sunday’s shot count through three and a bit periods which had them pinned at 27 each.
It was the 27th one of Romford’s that was to prove the most telling though when Baker found the net in overtime.