Sheffield Steelers 4-3 Newcastle Vipers

Newcastle rested Peter Aubry, Andre Payette, David Longstaff, Rob Wilson and Pavel Mihalik.

This result sees Sheffield leapfrog over Cardiff into third place with the Devils now one point behind with a game in hand.

2836 welcomed back Ian Fraser to the Sheffield Arena then saw him give depleted Vipers 2 goals (10:21) and (19:06). Sheffield upped their game in the middle period and Vezio Sacratini bagged his first goal for the club (22:32) with Jonathan Phillips deflecting another Sacratini shot beyond Mark Lee (38:22) as Richie Thornton sat a tripping penalty. Sacratini then set up Shawn Maltby for his first goal since his return from injury (46:06). All 3 of those goals scored from close quarters and giving young Lee no chance. Ian Manzano added the game winner shooting from the right wing (48:04). But when Shane Johnson's skate deflected Paul Ferone's shot home (59:00) the home crowd had to endure a nercvy finish.

Vipers were full value for that first period lead. Jody Lehman was fortunate to stop a Jason Robinson shot when already grounded. Nathan Taylor's interference penalty was killed off without Lee making a save. Instead Fraser was lurking at the back door after Rod Hinks went round the back of the goal and Fraser put away a simple tap-in.

The rest of the period was pretty routine stuff until Hinks picked out Fraser 10 feet out in acres of space and he finished in style.

All change in the second when Sacratini was picked out on the doorstep and the old maestro squeezed the puck home. But from then on all the huff and puff created few quality chances.

Vipers were a tad fortunate halfway through the game when the puck was lying free in the crease following a speculative shot from Mark Thomas, but the Vipers defence stepped in to whisk the puck away in the nick of time.

Soon afterwards Ryan Finnerty earned himself a Misconduct penalty as he objected to being penalised for boarding , but only Hinks could test Lehman on the resulting powerplay.

Sheffield added their second powerplay goal in successive matches as Sacratini threaded the puck in from the edge of the zone and Phillips' deflection was enough to level the scores.

Newcastle took the game to Sheffield early in the final session, Ferone leading the way with his never-say-die attitude. But it was the home side adding to the scoreboard. Sacratini at Lee's left post passed across to Maltby who hit the near post but the puck bounced in. Two minutes later a scramble in front of the Vipers net saw the puck eventually find Manzano pushing up on the right and he made the game safe.

Another two minutes and Cory Morgan had loads of time and space 12 feet out but pinged the outside of Lehman's left post.

Vipers kept plugging away, but the game seemed effectively over until Ferone's shot deflected home. Coach Rob Wilson immediately called a timeout but Lehman didn't have another save to make and the points stayed in Sheffield.