The penalty killing heroes of Shefifeld Steelers

Steelers stacked up two neatly-packed lines of two penalty killers for the five power plays awarded to the Surrey side.

They kept so compact that shots on the redoubtable Jackon Whistle were mainly from the outside - and he dealt with all but one of the 38 fired in during penalty kills and normal play.

That gave Sheffield the chance to build on that strong defensive platform and win with goals from Eric Neiley and Anthony DeLuca.

Coach Barrasso said: "Jackson kept us in the game in the first. It is the type of break you need to take advantage of, and we did.

"I thought our game was much improved in the second and third period.

"Our defensive zone coverage was good. Most shots were from the perimeter.

"We spent some time in the offensive zone as well. I liked the attack we had around their net.

"Our penalty killing was very good. It had fallen off in the previous three games.

"The players responded well to being challenged to improve it."

The win raised Sheffield from 20th spot into eighth, an important distinction in terms of the Play Offs to come - although they will be hoping the greatly improve on that placing.

Guildford will have an opportunity to slow that process down on Saturday, when they return to Sheffield Arena, where they have won, lost and tied so far this year.

Flames coach Paul Dixon said: "It is kind of nice to be visiting them right away again on Saturday, and hopefully on that occasion we can make a little more of the offensive success and come out of there with a win.”

Dixon said he was "disappointed in the outcome of the game, but in terms of performance we played the kind of game that could have won the night."