Report: Cardiff Devils 4-3 Sheffield Steelers

by Robert Jones

CARDIFF Devils came from behind twice to clinch a 4-3 win over fierce rivals Sheffield Steelers.

A hat trick by Gleason Fournier and a goal from Masi Marjamaki sealed it for the Devils, who started fastest of the two sides.

It was Blair Riley who created a great chance for himself after a brilliant solo run before his shot on goal was well saved by Tomas Duba.

In what would soon become a regular theme during the game, the Devils went a man down after Sam Jardine was penalised for cross checking which the league leaders took full advantage of to make it 1-0 through Nikolai Lemtyugov.

Minutes after the goal the home side were back to full strength and instantly created a chance through Joey Martin, as the Canadian barred down on goal but was kept out by Duba.

Riley was next to be stopped by the Czech goalie who made yet another stunning close range save to keep the Steelers ahead.

Pressure on the Sheffield goal intensified as the Devils then repaid the favour using the extra man to their advantage when Fournier hit a first time effort past the Steelers keeper from the left hand side to equal the scores.

Cardiff again had a numbers deficit moments after the goal though when both Mark Louis and Stephen Dixon were in the sin bin, resulting in the Steelers having a 5 on 3 to close out the first period of play.

After prolonged attacking play by the away side to start the second period, they regained the lead through Brendan Connolly’s deflected effort.

Sheffield applied constant pressure on the Cardiff goal and looked in position to grab a third, that was before Marjamaki put the finishing touches to a superb counter attack to make it 2-2.

Seconds after tying up the scores Cardiff completed a stunning turnaround when Fournier capitalised on confusion within the Steelers defence for his second of the evening.

The lead didn’t last long however as the visitors made it three a piece when Marek Troncinsky got his name on the score sheet.

Tensions were running high between the rival teams throughout the night as the Steelers were next to go a player down when Eric Meland was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The penalty had huge consequences as the home side regained the lead much to the crowd’s excitement when Fournier got his hat trick.

In what was a surprisingly quite third and final period, the Devils showed great defensive ability to keep Sheffield’s potent attack scoreless and secure their eighth win of the campaign.

Next up for the Devils is an away trip to Guildford while the Steelers travel to Manchester.