03 Nov 2024, 18:00 | Regular season | Ice Arena Wales |
Cardiff Devils | 5-3 | Sheffield Steelers |
Periods: Shots: | 1-1 (15-9) | 1-1 (25-3) | 3-1 (15-7) | Total: 55-19 |
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Referees: Rose/Wells  |  Spectators: 3100 |
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Goals and assists
Cardiff Devils secured the two points they needed to stay alive in
the Challenge Cup, beating defending Champions Sheffield Steelers 5-3 at
the Vindico Arena.
A back-and-forth first period saw Reid Duke
take an early high-sticking call, allowing Steeler’s Vallerand to score
an impressive goal during the powerplay. Not long after, the Devils
received a powerplay of their own but were unable to convert - something
that would become a theme over the evening.
The home side did
level before the end of the period, however. A 2-on-1 involving Reid
Duke and Tyler Busch was converted by the former at 13:34 to keep things
level through 20 minutes.
An eventful start to the second period
saw Cole Shudra ejected for Cross-Checking, but again the home side's
powerplay came up short, the Steelers successfully killing off the
entire five minutes. And the visitors went on to punish the Devils when
Vallerand netted his second of the night while Josh MacDonald sat a
Slashing minor.
The period would end level, though. Reid Duke
stole the puck on his own blue line, got past Mark Simpson, and beat
Greenfield as he was being tripped to level the scores at 35:14.
Cardiff
ended the second period strong an carried that momentum over into the
third. They took the lead through Cole Sanford period, finding
themselves a goal through the forward of Cole Sanford, beating
Greenfield five-hole from a bad angle at 49:46, before Riley Brant made
it 4-2 off a pass from Ben Davies a little under three minutes later.
Duke's badly-timed Interference minor allowed the Steelers to score
their third powerplay goal of the night when a wonderful Mitchell Balmas
pass found Mukko Juusola for the back-post tap-in at 54:05. 46 seconds
later, however, MacDonald fed Joey Martin to beat Greenfield and put the
Devils back two ahead.
That was where the scoring ended and kept
the Devils alive in the Cup, while the Steelers went down to their first
defeat in the Challenge Cup this season.