Belfast Giants 1-2 Sheffield Steelers (final score)

So that was the feeling in the camp, when Sheffield Steelers played at Belfast Giants this evening, without the axed import forward Ryan Hayes.

And the cutting edge of the management was represented on the ice, as Steelers ruthlessly won in overtime, the sixth point they have taken in succession there.

Steelers had Marek Pinc back in goal, having recovered from shoulder injury and the Czech minder was called on to make his first save in the first 30 seconds and looked composed, comfortably stopping nine first-period shots.

Defenceman Russ Moyer was clearly in pain after sustaining an injury, one which saw him struggle back to the dressing room for treatment before returning.

Levi Nelson, who has been off-colour recently with a virus, almost broke the deadlock on 25 minutes, but Stephen Murphy did enough to extinguish the danger.

Giants have, like Sheffield, stumbled in form recently, they lost at the SSE Arena to Nottingham Panthers in a penalty shoot out last Sunday.

And they had a let off when Moyer hit the post. But they took the lead when Mike Wilson converted at the back stick at 31;17.

Murphy kept Steelers out with two smart saves but he couldn’t stop Zack Fitzgerald who drove the net hard before equalising at 34:42 - only his third goal of the campaign.

By the end of the session, the shot count was 17-17.

Pinc kept the visitors on an even keel, when he blocked Daryll Lloyd on a breakaway through the middle.

It was edge of the seat stuff for the 3,265 fans, as Roy failed to convert then lost his rag with the officials and the game went into overtime.

Pinc stopped Brandon Benedict on the four-on-four while Murphy denied Cullen Eddy at the other end.

But Jonathan Phillips cashed in on a goalie mistake to score the winner to give Steelers their third straight victories there and put them back in second place in the division.