Cliff Pu hit a hat trick as Sheffield Steelers logged a 5-1 Challenge Cup win in Coventry, moving them to within a point of top spot in Group A behind the Blaze.
The visitors took control midway through the opening frame when Cliff Pu broke clear shorthanded and beat Mat Robson to open the scoring at 9:19. Eight minutes later, Pu struck again on another breakaway, finishing off a pass from Mikko Juusola to double the lead. He completed his hat-trick at 12:35 with a pinpoint shot into the top corner, sending Sheffield into the intermission 3–0 ahead.
“I thought it was a good team performance form us,” began Pu. “Our special teams did well, 6/6 on the kill and 2/3 on the powerplay so all parts of our game we re strong and it was nice to get the win.”
The Steelers extended their advantage at 28:27 when Evan Jasper scored on the powerplay to make it 4–0. Grant Mismash pulled one back for the Blaze late in the second period, finishing off a feed from Alessio Luciani and Sam Ruffin with 13 seconds left.
“I thought we came out pretty good for the first 10 minutes, and then a shorthanded goal against and their second deflated ua a bit,” admitted Blaze’s David Clements. “It was a long way back from there against a team that’s got a lot of quality everywhere and a goalie playing well. It was a tough uphill climb, but the effort was there from the guys.”
Matchell Balmas added a fifth with 13 seconds to play in the final period.
“It’s good hockey here in the EIHL,” concluded Pu. “The secret of British hockey is getting more and more known. There are a lot of good players here and it’s been fun so far.”
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