SHEFFIELD, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers ended a two-game losing streak after a hard fought 3-2 win over table toppers the Cardiff Devils.
Cardiff were without Leigh Salters, Tyson Marsh, and Brent Walton due to injuries, whilst the Steelers were without the injured trio of Gui Desbiens, Colton Fretter and Robert Dowd.
Both teams shared early chances with Devils defenceman Carl Hudson forcing a good save from Marek Pinc and Jace Coyle testing Devils netminder Ben Bowns with a low slapshot inside the opening two minutes.
“Steelers netminder Marek Pinc had to be replaced due to injury (Image courtesy of Dean Woolley).”
The Steelers went close at 02:45 when Mathieu Roy struck the post after he re-directed a Jace Coyle shot from the point.
Great Britain international netminder Ben Bowns showed his prowess early on when saving a ricocheted shot which took two deflections, but Bowns was on hand to make an incredible reaction save at 06:54.
Just over a minute later and Bowns was called into action once again, this time saving a breakaway effort from Mathieu Roy to keep the hosts at bay.
At 10:54 the visitors had a breakaway of their own after Joey Haddad forced a turnover on the Devils blueline only to be denied by Marek Pinc with a great leg pad save.
Tempers were frayed at 15:43 when Steelers enforcer Zack Fitzgerald dropped the gloves with Devils blueliner Andrew Hotham. The Devils D-man didn’t follow suit by dropping the gloves, and only picked up a two-minute minor, ensuring Zack Fitzgerald picked up the extra two-minutes for roughing,
On the ensuing powerplay the visitors turned the puck over to a relentless Jason Hewitt who found his backhand saved on the breakaway by the impressive Bowns.
Just 17 seconds remained in the opening period when the Devils broke the deadlock courtesy of recent addition Ryan Russell who took advantage of a turnover in the Steelers zone, he fired high over Pinc’s glove to give his side a 1-0 lead.
“Brad Day replaces Pinc and turns away 15 out of 16 shots (Image courtesy of Dean Woolley).”
Despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline the Steelers outshot the Devils by 13-3 in the first period.
The middle stanza was just 33 seconds old when Steelers netminder Marek Pinc had to be replaced by backup Brad Day after an accidental collision with Devils forward Chris Culligan, and being tripped by Steelers D-man Jace Coyle’s stick.
Huddersfield-born Brad Day came onto the ice with a rapturous ovation from the 5,671 fans in attendance as he took to his position relieving Pinc after a suspected shoulder injury.
Day was being tested a minute later when goalscorer Ryan Russell went close once again, only to be denied by a low leg pad save.
At 25:57 the Steelers almost drew level after Ryan Hayes set Mathieu Roy on a breakaway with a great stretch pass, only for Roy to fire agonisingly wide.
The Steelers upped their intensity and had the Devils on the back foot in the second period after a sustained spell of pressure with Hayes and Mosienko forcing good saves from Bowns once again.
The visitors countered and almost doubled their lead at 37:54 when Elite League top scorer Joey Martin fired a blistering wristshot from the slot, only to see it turned aside by Brad Day.
The buzzer sounded, signalling the end of the second period. One in which the hosts outshot the Devils once again.
The Devils came out of the gates strongly in the third period and offered chances early on courtesy of Jake Morissette and Joey Martin.
The hosts restored parity at 45:15 when Altrincham-born Jason Hewitt redirected a Ben O’Connor shot from the point low past Ben Bowns to make it 1-1.
With Momentum in the Steelers favour, the hosts pressed looking to edge ahead and offered chances of their own with O’Connor, Luke Ferrara and Tyler Mosienko all seeing their efforts turned away by Cardiff shot-stopper Ben Bowns.
The pressure paid off at 57:55 when Swede Fredrik Vestberg tipped a Conny Strömberg wristshot from the blueline past Bowns to give his side a 2-1 lead.
With just 95 seconds of the game remaining and desperate to draw level the Devils opted to pull Bowns for an extra skater. The move soon back fired when Ryan Hayes was on hand to fire into the empty net from his own defensive zone 27 seconds later to make it 3-1.
“Steelers forward Jason Hewitt scores the first for his team and picks up the Man of The Match award (Image courtesy of Dean Woolley).”
With just 16 seconds of the game remaining, the Devils were handed a late powerplay with Jason Hewitt sitting out a roughing minor. Four seconds into the man advantage and the visitors capitalised with a shot from the point from Carl Hudson who reduced the arrears to one.
Despite a nervy climax the Steelers killed the game off ensuring that they took the valuable two points at the final buzzer after an outstanding performance.
Steelers Head Coach Paul Thompson was full of praise at the final whistle, “The boys were outstanding from the first minute until the sixtieth minute. It took us until the third period to grind them down but I’m a very proud coach tonight. We battled, got our systems right and outworked the Cardiff Devils who are a very good club.
The Steelers head to Dundee 24-hours later before facing the Coventry Blaze in back to back games next weekend.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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