'Got to be better' - No-one getting too carried away by Sheffield Steelers' shoot-out win over Coventry Blaze

It wasn't an overly enthusiastic salute to the two points, in fact, the game almost felt like a loss rather than a victory.

"We have got to be better," he said, shortly after watching his side surrender a 4-1 lead with 43 minutes of the game over.

Courageous coached, Blaze had come back by pulling their goalie and scoring two six-on-five goals in just under a minute.

Then it was on to the lottery of overtime and penalty shots, Danny Kristo's finish ultimately earning Sheffield the win.

Fox's body language betrayed a sense of discontent, though.

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Blaze were left on the same points in the EIHL table courtesy of reaching overtime and had proved as difficult to shrug off in the standings as they had been on the ice.

Fox said the evening at Sheffield Arena had led to a few extra grey hairs sprouting - they should have finished the game off when they had the three-goal advantage.

"It was a little bit disappointing how it finished, but it was an entertaining game," he said, saying he'd got a bad taste in his mouth.

The 0-3 third period was down to fine details and hockey smarts which had not been observed - getting the puck sensibly out of their zone when they had the chance.

There had been a lull on the bench when Coventry had forced their way back, he admitted.

But on the plus side, Mason Mitchell had opened his account with two goals for Steelers and Scott Allen had worked his socks off to provide maximum points.

Both sides had created early chances, Brett Neumann's pace and Allen's work ethic opening Blaze up while the visitors managed to outnumber Sheffield in dangerous areas a couple of times.

Kristo's cross-ice pass was intercepted and Sebastien Piche took a tripping penalty as he tried to halt a counter.

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Blaze punished them on that power play to take a 12th-minute lead, Mitch Cook roofing the puck.

But two goals in 38 seconds seemingly steered the game Steelers' way.

A stretch pass from Kevin Schulze found Brandon McNally, and with three skaters closing in on him, he wrist-shot an equaliser.

Sam Jones' shot was then fumbled by Paavo Holsa allowing Mason Mitchell to register his first Steelers goal.

Mitchell doubled his tally at 27:43 when a horribly bouncing puck fell for him to tap home.

And the points were apparently in the bank when Martin Latal sped down the left wing crossed to Kristo, whose shot rebounded out for Robert Dowd to tuck away for 4-1.

SIn an awkward third period Colton Yellow Horn squeezed the puck under Greenfield's arm at 43:09.

A few misplaced passes increased the jitters, and Blaze fed off that negative energy.

They scored through Ross Venus at 57:30 and penned Sheffield in before David Clements levelled to send the game into unresolved overtime and Kristo's late winner.