More goals required after Sheffield Steelers slip up at home

Did the puck cross the line - should Sheffield have been awarded the equaliser and taken the game into overtime?

While Sheffield have a very solid case that the puck did indeed go over the line - Glasgow will claim there was unfair contact with their American goaltender Jake Kielly - it is the other 59 minutes and 56 seconds that must not be overlooked.

Steelers had that length of time to score more than once against Clan's heaven-sent netminder from Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

They had 44 shots on Kielly but only one that evaded his clutches.

It was Sod's Law, considering they had hammered reigning treble-winners Belfast Giants 5-1 the night before on the same Sheffield Arena ice pad.

Sheffield couldn't catch a break, or win one of the three periods, against a side weakened by injury.

At the end of the night, they remained two points clear at the top of the Elite League table, level on games with Cardiff Devils, who spent their Sunday shutting out the host team in Grenoble in a 1-0 win which sees them advance to the Continental Cup Final in January.

Steelers must now regroup before next weekend's single-game trip to Guildford Flames.

And they may well be trying to find a way to unlock more goals, after all, half the EIHL rivals have scored more than them, so far.

Sunday's match, the 10th league game of the season, was only the second defeat of the regular campaign, the other also coming at home, to the Devils.

Clan, rested after their Friday night 3-2 win over Guildford, went behind at 12:29 with a goal score by Mikko Juusola, his second in consecutive nights, with an assist for new boy Dominic Cormier, his second assist in the same 24 hours.

But within 42 seconds Glasgow had wiped away that advantage with homegrown talent Jordan Cownie equalising.

Nate Kallen scored the decisive second just past the midway point, with the Hockey Gods against Sheffield in the frantic closing stages.

Coach Aaron Fox questioned the "controversial decisions" made by referee Andrew Miller and his officials, stating that Cownie's effort should have been ruled out as the play had been "offside by two feet."

As for the mad scramble with four seconds remaining, he said he had "seen clearly" that the puck had crossed the line. He said the referees watched video footage other than the one he had seen.

That was hard for him to understand, he said.

Jason Morgan said his Clan side's team-effort, saying they had defended well and blocked shots when they had to.

He also praised his "unbelievable" goaltender.

On Saturday, Steelers had strolled to an unexpectedly comfortable scoreline over Belfast Giants, despite being outshot 29-24.

Juusola, Patrick Watling and Brett Neumann all got on the scoresheet before Giants' Greg Printz got one back.

Scott Allen and Daniel Ciampini ensured maximum points.