EIHL Game Report: Cardiff Devils 2 Sheffield Steelers 4

Saturday night saw the Sheffield Steelers make the trip down to Cardiff Bay to take on the Devils in Challenge Cup action. The game started in the visitors favour, as they scored four consecutive goals before the Devils could get onto the board.

The Steelers, who were without three key players due to injury, were icing their new Finnish forward Salmivirta, who picked up two assists in the game.

Dan LaCosta was back between the pipes for the Devils after being out of action due to concussion. During the second, the netminder settled down to make great saves for his team.

The first period saw a relatively even period between the two sides, however, it was the steelers who took their chances as the period ended 2-0 in their favour. Jeff League scored the opening goal to get the visitors on the board, as he broke down the right wing to shoot a ripper into the back of the net. Just before the end of the session, Drew Fata from the blueline fired the puck into the goal, that would put the Steelers two ahead of the Devils.

Into the second, and the Devils luck didn’t turn, as the Steelers extended the score to 4-0. Robert Dowd was the man of the period as he scored twice, including a powerplay goal at 29:21.

The Devils effort could not be questioned, however, as they battled hard to get onto the score board. They were rewarded as Max Birbraer passed the puck to Mark Richardson, who tapped it into the net late in the period. This was Richardson’s 200th point in the EIHL, a fantastic accomplishment which deservedly earned him Man of the Match.

Andrew Lord scored his fifth goal of the season just 55 seconds into the third period. The Canadian forward was one of the Devils stand out players, working tirelessly to try and ignite his teams offence. However, it was too little too late for the Devils, as the Steelers hung on to their lead to take home the two points with the overall score of 4-2.