Steelers take a winning step

The Sheffield Steelers took a giant leap towards winning the Superleague title by beating Nottingham Panthers 4-1 in another passionate affair at the National Ice Centre.

The win moved Sheffield six points clear of Nottingham with five weeks remaining in the regular season.

Anyone attending recent matches between the sides would be surprised to hear of a league in crisis, with falling attendances forcing the loss of two clubs and reducing the league to only five teams.

This game, like the meeting at the Sheffield Arena on Boxing Day, was a sell-out and provided excellent entertainment for the 6,000 crowd. Panthers had the best of the early exchanges but after soaking up their pressure the Steelers went ahead in the 12th minute through Mark Dutiaume and led 3-0 after two periods with further goals from Scott Levins and Warren Norris.

Norris finished a shot which came back off the post for his second after 51 minutes and although Jim Paek's long-range effort spoiled Joel Laing's perfect night, the Sheffield netminder made 24 saves to take man of the match honours.

With the Panthers beaten, the fixture produced its now- customary brawl when Nottingham's Briane Thompson jumped Timo Willman with a minute and 10 seconds remaining. Thompson was ejected and faces a suspension of at least a match while the unlucky Willman, Jason Clarke of Panthers and Steelers' Dion Darling were also sent off for fighting.

Competition for the title seems most likely to come from the defending champions Belfast Giants, who beat London Knights 7-2 on Friday evening to move into third place.

In the NHL, meanwhile, Marc Denis made 23 saves in Ohio for his second shutout of the season while Mike Sillinger and Sean Pronger scored first-period goals as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat Phoenix 2-0 on Saturday to end the Coyotes' four-game winning streak.

Two men sustained minor injuries and were taken to hospital after falling about 15ft from the stands on to a concrete walkway during the second period. The pair were "behaving recklessly", according to a Columbus club spokesman.

In Edmonton, Ryan Smyth scored his second goal of the game with a minute remaining in overtime to take the Oilers to a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The visitors' Richard Zednik had tied it with 33sec to go in the third period.