League leaders still riding high
Sheffield Steelers 7 - 3 Glasgow Clan
It was another night of frustration as Glasgow Clan gave up a 3-1 lead to lose 7-3 to league leaders Sheffield Steelers at the Fly DSA Arena.
With both teams coming together on Wednesday for the first leg of the Challenge Cup semi final, this game served as something of a dress rehearsal to decide who goes in with the higher morale boost.
The team currently at the top got the opening goal inside the opening five minutes when Steelers broke in a five-on-three breakaway, expertly finished by captain Jonathan Phillips.
Clan fought back within a couple of minutes as Scott Tanski reacted first to a rebound that landed his way and the visitors were back on level terms.
Zack Fitzgerald's side took the lead four minutes from the end of the period as Mathieu Roy redirected past Tomas Duba, the Steelers goalie from a Matt Beca assist.
The lead was increased further when Jordan Heywood fired in from the slot and for the second time in the space of seven days, Clan were 3-1 ahead of Sheffield.
But like the week before, Steelers started to claw their way back as Tanner Eberle finished a backhand shot to close the gap to one almost halfway through the second period.
Then Lucas Sandstrom got the relatively easy task of finishing into an empty net after Patrick Killeen was committed to stopping Phillips in the initial play.
But Sheffield were ahead by the end of the middle session through an Aaron Brocklehurst wrist shot on the powerplay, from which Brendan Connolly got the final touch and Aaron Fox's team had the momentum swing again in their favour.
It didn't take Steelers long to make it 5-3 after the restart as Michael Davies finished one off at the back post, a minute after Travis Ehrhardt saw a chance cleared off the line.
Marc-Olivier Vallerand then added a sixth with a shot into the top corner and effectively killing off any lingering hope that Clan could turn the game around.
Connolly got his second in the last couple of minutes to put the icing on the cake, finishing off a Vallerand pass on the break and completing the job.