In a disappointing performance against the Cardiff Devils, the Sheffield Steelers lost their place in the final of the Challenge Cup last night.
The team had faced the Devils on Sunday when a penalty shoot-out resulted in defeat. This follow-up match would have been a chance to rectify the mistakes made in their last game, but it wasn’t meant to be.
With Marco Vallerand missing from the Steelers’ line-up, the starting six included: Davey Phillips, Kevin Schulze, Robert Dowd, John Armstrong, Evan Mosey, and Rok Stonjanovic was Netminder.
In the first period, they started strong and seemed to match the Devils’ quick pace. But the Devils’ first goal from Brodie Reid at 14.03 appeared to set the tone for the rest of the match.
There was hope that the Steelers could crawl back on the Power play as Matt Register received a two-minute penalty for Cross-checking, but still, they were no match for the Devils and Josh Batch gave them their second goal of the game at 18:39.
The Steelers desperately tried to bring themselves back into the game, but the score remained 0-2 at the end of the first period.
Two shots from Martin Latal in the first few minutes of the second period gave fans hope that the team could pull back, and a chance from Evan Mosey soon after was deflected high. Despite these misses, Sheffield continued to struggle while the Devils dominated the game.
Trevor Cox beat Stojanovic at 26.45 to make it 3 for Cardiff, and Brodie Reid scored his second goal of the game at 27.46.
The Sheffield Steelers responded by bringing on fan favourite Barry Brust as Netminder to stop Cardiff’s seemingly never-ending run of goals.
This change didn’t seem to make a difference, and Joshua Waller scored Cardiff’s final goal of the match, bringing the scoreboard to 0-5 at the end of the second period.
As the third period began, Steelers fans hoped that the Devils wouldn’t be able to add to their tally.
Thankfully their prayers were answered, but the Steelers still couldn’t improve their own score.
There was one more chance for the Steelers to at least make it onto the scoresheet, as the referee gave Devils’ Ben Davis two-minute a penalty for Hooking at 48.20.
But ultimately, the Steelers weren’t good enough, and by the end of the final period, the Cardiff Devils had sealed their victory.
This loss means that the Steelers are now out of the Challenge Cup and will not pick up the trophy for a second time.
The teams gave their Man of the Match awards to Brodie Reid and Jonathan Phillips for their performances.
The Cardiff Devils will now face the Belfast Giants in the final round of the Challenge Cup to decide who will bring home the silverware.
The Steelers travel to Nottingham on Saturday night to face their close rivals, the Panthers, before heading back home on Sunday night for their game against Coventry Blaze.