Following a middle period that Fox called “lifeless” from his squad, it appeared as though the Steelers’ aspirations of catching up to their rivals had virtually vanished after losing 2-0 to the leaders, the Belfast Giants, in the Utilita Arena on Sunday night.
After a few line adjustments and a period break, the Steelers’ head coach had the response he was hoping for, as the team scored five goals in a row in the closing 13 minutes to defeat the Giants 5-2.
The previous evening in Guildford, the Steelers overcame a deficit once more, scoring four goals in the third quarter to win by the same score.
With 16 games remaining, the Steelers now trail the Giants by six points, their game in hand coming on Wednesday at home to rank-bottom Fife Flyers, when Fox will be hoping his players can turn up the pressure on Belfast even further ahead of their Friday night clash at home to Cardiff Devils, part of a double-header weekend between the two at the SSE Arena.
We knew we had to play hard if we wanted to have a chance in the closing minutes and hopefully exert some pressure on that team (Belfast) with 16–17 games remaining. “I actually liked our start, to be perfectly honest, I thought both teams were hard and physical and neither team was giving up an inch defensively,” Fox said (inset).
But the second period I didn’t like at all from our group, it felt lifeless and a very uninspiring 20 minutes. We maybe felt a little sorry for ourselves, or felt like maybe we couldn’t claw our way back.
And then in the third period we were a different hockey team. We had a pretty good talk in between periods there and the boys answered the bell and just played relentless, desperate hockey and pushed and pushed and pushed and they couldn’t manage it.”
Fox said he was proud of the way his players fought back against a team that is deservedly out in front of all the others at the moment.
“They are a really good hockey team and there is a reason why they are at the top of the table,” added Fox. “And that is because they are extremely well structured.
You know what they are going to do and they just do it so well, they just do it so hard that they continually make you earn everything you get because of how aggressive they are.
But we found a way to break through that and turn that game, so I’m really proud of our group.”
The Steelers have added a new face to their roster ahead of deadline day on Monday when they acquired British defenceman Reece Kelly from Elite League rivals, Glasgow Clan.
The 23-year-old, from Fife, played a year and a half in Glasgow after joining them in the summer of 2024.
Elsewhere, Finnish goaltender Jere Huhtamma has left the club after joining earlier in the year on injury cover.
