21 Dec 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | Ice Arena Wales |
Cardiff Devils | 5-1 | Sheffield Steelers |
Periods: Shots: | 2-0 (16-12) | 3-0 (15-11) | 0-1 (5-19) | Total: 36-42 |
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Referees: #25 Andy Dalton, #14 Chris Wells  |  Spectators: 3100 |
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Goals and assists
Cardiff Devils logged their third straight home win over Sheffield
Steelers this season, and second in the league, with a 5-1 win over last
season's grand slam champions.
"I think our line was hard on the
forecheck and created a lot of turnovers, creating some good
opportunities tonight," said Ben Davies who had a goal and an assist in
the game for the Devils. "It was a solid performance up and down the
line-up tonight.
"The crowd were in the game in a big way, we got a
couple of quick goals and they were really loud. It helped us to build
momentum through the game and we appreciate them being there for us."
A
fierce first period saw both teams have their fair share of
goal-scoring opportunities in the early stages, but with neither side
breaking the deadlock. However, the Devils were able to put themselves
in the lead at 9:11 into the period after Josh MacDonald broke through
and beat Matt Greenfield with a neat finish after drawing the goalie
with a deke. Less than a minute later, a mix-up behind the Steelers net
saw Greenfield lose the puck to Riley Brandt who then fed Tyler Busch in
front to double the lead.
The Devils were unlucky not to be three
ahead with some other excellent chances in the period, but were equally
lucky to escape two ahead as the Steelers draw Ben Bowns into two big
saves before the buzzer.
17 seconds into period two, Joey Martin
found himself in all kinds of space in the slot to put home a Reid Duke
feed. Some great teamwork from Ben Davies, Sam Duggan and Riley Brandt
set up the Devils fourth at 34:20, before Kohen Olischefski tipped a
Cole Sanford feed past Greenfield 18 seconds later to make it 5-0 and
end Greenfield's night in net.
Sheffiled broke Ben Bowns' shutout
with 8:41 to play through Max Golod, but that was as good as it got for
the visitors who fell to their third straight league defeat.