26 Oct 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | Sheffield Arena |
Sheffield Steelers | 4-2 | Cardiff Devils |
Periods: Shots: | 1-0 (15-5) | 2-0 (10-3) | 1-2 (9-5) | Total: 34-13 |
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Referees: Pering/Truswell  |  Spectators: 7176 |
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Goals and assists
Sheffield Steelers moved top of Challenge Cup Group A with two-goal
win over Cardiff Devils in front of over 7,000 fans at the Utilita
Arena.
Early penalties put the Steelers on the front-foot and saw
them eventually take the lead. On their third powerplay of the game,
following a penalty to Tyler Busch for Kneeing, Marc-Olivier Vallerand
came in at the back post to put the Steelers ahead with Bowns pulled out
of position and 9:33 played. The period ended with the hosts just one
ahead, althoguh it could have been more as they heavily outshot their
Welsh visitors.
Three minutes into period two, a Kevin Tansey shot was
re-directed past Bowns by Angelo Miceli in front for his first Steelers
goal and their second on the night. At 30:58 the Devils’ breakout didn’t
work as planned with Josh MacDonald mishandling the puck in the neutral
zone, allowing Daniel Ciampini to turn the puck over. His intended feed
to Brandon Whistle was blocked, but the puck bounced perfectly to Mark
Simpson to finish into a gaping net and make it 3-0. The Steelers were
good value for their lead through 40 minutes, restricting the Devils to
just eight shots.
Cardiff needed something, and whatever Pete Russell said in the
locker room got the response he wanted. 23 seconds into the final period
a Koen Olischefski shot from the point was tipped in front by Tyler
Busch past Matt Greenfield to put the visitors on the board. Some seven
minutes later, Cole Sanford's excellent wrist shot beat Greenfield top
shelf on the powerplay to make it a one-goal game with just over 12
minutes still left to play.
When Mikko Juusola was called for High-Sticking with 7:53 to play
the visitors again went to work, but they almost conceded on the
delayed penalty with a mis-placed racing towards the empty net but just
wide. Having failed to score with the extra skater and time ticking
away, Bowns was pulled with 30 seconds to play. The Steelers turned the
puck over immediately though and saw Mark Simpson slot into the empty
net just nine seconds later to wrap things up for the Steelers.