SHEFFIELD, UK – A shorthanded goal from Tim Wallace opened the scoring at 5:23 for the homeside, followed quickly by a Scott Aarssen goal just over a minute later to make it 2-0 at 6:26. The Devils pulled a goal back when Matt Pope scored on the powerplay at 7:31, but Ben O’Connor rounded out the first period with a strike at 15:54 to give the Steelers a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The middle period saw two more goals for the Steelers, first an early powerplay goal at 21:25 from Mathieu Roy then at 35:40 Matt Marquardt made it 5-1. The period ended that way, with the Devils getting their fair share of chances, but Ervins Mustukovs turning away everything the Devils threw at him.
The Steelers extended their lead at 47:58 when Levi Nelson crashed the net and got the final touch on the puck past Bowns. The goal was reviewed but the referees concluded that it was a good goal, which meant the Steelers were up 6-1 with just over 12 minutes to play.
A bad change from the Steelers led to Joey Haddad getting all sorts of time with the puck in front of the Steelers goal and he fired a shot past Mustukovs to pull a goal back for the Devils with a shorthanded tally at 54:47. That goal made it 6-2, which is how the game finished, meaning the Steelers will take a 4-goal advantage into the second leg in Cardiff next Wednesday night.
With Cardiff match report
Photo’s by Sam Scott
@samscott2271
sam.scott@prohockeynews.com
@prohockeynews
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