Sheffield Steelers 9 Dundee Stars 4: Steelers shoot down Stars with goals from everywhere

GAME TIME: Brandon Whistle fires home Sheffield Steelers' fifth goal in their 9-4 win over Elite League rivals Dundee Stars at the Utilita Arena on Wednesday night. Picture: Dean Woolley

As they swept Dundee Stars aside 9-4 at the Utilita Arena in their final game before Christmas, the Steelers were able to send a strong message to all of their Elite League title rivals that they are in for the long haul in the race for honours.

The win not only stretched the Steelers' regular season winning streak to five games, it also saw them close the gap on leaders Guildford Flames to five points.

The back-to-back double headers that come on Boxing Day and December 27 are likely to have a big impact on the title race.

After falling behind to an early power play strike by Benjamin Sokay, the Steelers took control, going 4-1 ahead inside 25 minutes through goals from Evan Mosey, Brett Neumann, Tomáš Pitule and Jonathan Phillips.

Dundee responded through Ryan Verrier at 30.14 only for Brandon Whistle to quickly restore the four-goal lead.

Dundee pulled it back to 5-3 through Romans Semjonovs before the break, but the third period belonged to the Steelers, further goals coming from Robert Dowd, Mason Mitchell, Niklas Nevalainen abd Scott Allen, the Stars solitary response coming from Ian Parker.