A hugely disappointing performance from the Storm has enabled Sheffield to take a huge 5-1 advantage into the second leg.

After a rather sedate first five minutes, a smart shot through traffic from Korol opened the scoring, in the 7th minute, to breathe life into proceedings. A poorly timed penalty would unfortunately bite the hosts – as Dowd tied the game with 15 seconds remaining in the period. The momentum from scoring late in the first was taken into the middle period by the Steelers.

A break of the puck favoured the visitors, as Allen finished with aplomb from the slot. A little under two minutes, Vallerand extended the advantage for Sheffield, again on the powerplay. The Storm were fortunately bailed out on several occasions by some stellar saves by Weninger to prevent the Steelers advantage being extended further.

An almost inevitable fourth Steelers goal came after a barrage of shots finally broke the resolve of Weninger, in the 48th minute. A fifth Sheffield goal – was perhaps the most painful from a Storm supporters perspective, as Whistle found himself completely alone a few inches outside of the blue paint.