Sheffield Steelers 6-1 Edinburgh Capitals - and Tyer on the way back

First-choice goaltender Tyler Plante could be back in Sheffield Steelers net on Saturday after missing a dozen games through injury.

The tall, import keeper has made marked progress back on training ice this week and will play at Fife Flyers if he passes a final fitness examination.

Coach Paul Thompson, whose side recorded a resounding 6-1 midweek win over Edinburgh Capitals says Plante had looked well in practice.

“You never know with goalies how rusty they will be - and that is more important to them than it is to the other skaters” he said.

“But he looks good, feels good and we’ll have a meeting on Saturday to decide whether we can play him.”

If that happens Thompson could retain Czech netminder Marek Pinc as a back-up, but that would mean Steelers will have to rest another import, which would not be ideal.. unless Levi Nelson remains on the sidelines with flu.

Last night, third-placed Steelers put a huge amount of rubber on Edinburgh’s goalie Carsen Chubak as they sought to get off to a good start, with Fredrick Vestberg guiding a lot of traffic in a busy offensive zone.

Chubak did well to catch a Jeff Legue shot, and his defencemen were trying their best to protect him, too, with Kyle Flemington taking the full force of one effort from Rob Dowd. Flemington recovered and returned to the ice only to be on the end of a crunching Rod Sarich check.

Steelers went ahead through a delayed penalty goal, an accurate shot from Zack Fitzgerald flashing high into the corner of the net at 14;57 - his first of the season.

The iceSheffield side hit the post before making it 2-0, with Mathieu Roy displaying some delightful offensive skills before burying the puck.

The crossbar stopped any further damage done to the Capitals, ahead of the second interval.

It was 3-0 though at 25:05, and it was a power play effort - previously not the team’s strong suit - Colton Fretter scoring from Tyler Mosienko and Rob Dowd. That was replicated at 31:28 when Fretter did it again.

While winger Trevor Gerling reduced Sheffield’s advantage, it wasn’t long until Fretter banged in his hat-trick - with goalie Pinc getting an assist.

Guillaume Desbiens dropped the gloves to give the crowd a spot more entertainment - clashing with Flemington after he’d crosschecked Roy.

Seventh-placed Capitals conceded a short-handed Roy goal with 80 seconds left.