British Bulldog Scores Twice In Adams Home Debut v Devils: (EIHL) MatchReport

Sunday 2nd March 2013 - Sheffield Steelers (25-15-4) v Cardiff Devils (21-21-3) @ Motorpoint Arena. Face off: 5pm

Gerad Adams first home game after a successful night in Nottingham against his former club the Cardiff Devils, was it to be a four point weekend for the Steelers

Sheffield still without the injured Mark Thomas and captain Steven Goertzen, Mike Hicks ref for a second night in a row (unfortunate). The game got underway and it was a much faster start by Sheffield than the previous night when after only 59 seconds Danny Meyers assisted by Rob Dowd and Stefan Meyer would fire a slap shot from the right hand side of the blue near the Devils bench which would beat Kosowski for Meyers to finally score his first arena goal. Cardiff wouldn't be helping themselves out as they would find themselves on the penalty kill not long after as Tyson Marsh was called for delay of the game and straight way Sheffield would get back on the attack when Drew Fata would take a shot from the point only for DiCasmirro to tip it into the mask of Kosowski after great work by Fata to keep the puck in the zone, Cardiff would then get a 2 on 1 break only for Kurka to play to Birbraer who shot wide. Sheffield would double their lead on 5:10 after some fantastic skating by Phillips down the left to fake a shot and pass it back to Jason Hewitt who would slot it along the ice and past the pad of Kosowski to make it 2-0. It would be a very dominate start by the Steelers. Cardiff would get a power play when Jeff Legue was deemed two minutes for hooking and Devils would struggle to set up as Sheffield would take away the shooting lanes, with the Steelers back to full strength they got back on the attack through Lacroix who shot into the body of Kosowski before Jason Hewitt had to deny Mac Faulkner from in front of goal to clear the puck as Doyle couldn't get to it. In to some four on four hockey after some pushing and shoving between Hewitt and Rupert Quiney after a coming together at the benches and Doyle would have to deny Plumpton twice after Jeff Legue somehow missed the goal after putting the puck through the legs of Kosowski and then with Svete in the box and Sheffield back on the power play Drew Fata would shot from the blue line only to be denied by the pipes and Kamil Kosowski had to lay down on the ice as he had no idea where the puck was but he had it covered. With the clock running down Phil Hill would lay a big hit on Tyson Marsh which wasn't appreciated by the Devils.
End of the 1st Period: Sheffield Steelers 2-0 Cardiff Devils

Sheffield would start the second period with the same intensity as the first as they would find themselves on an early power play but Lacroix would see his shot denied by Kosowski on the doorstep and then Jeff Legue with one of his famous one timers would fall short as he broke his stick on the play. After some fantastic defensive work by Danny Meyers in his own zone Devils would find a way past Doyle on 26:03 when Max Birbraer assisted by Markus Rama would skate into the Sheffield zone and fake a shot on Langlais before firing a bullet wrist shot past Doyle to bring the Devils within one goal. That goal seemed to lift Cardiff's game as they would have a few half chances as a bit of sloppiness started to creep into Sheffield's game. Then another coming together of players so Spencer and Plumpton collide with gloves off and punches being through both received two minute minors for roughing and with Cardiff on the power play a glorious chance for Faulkner went begging as Doyle was beaten after a deflected shot by Tyson Marsh from the blue line only for Faulkner to be denied in the open goal by some great defending by Chad Langlais. With Spencer and Plumpton out of the box and back on the benches they was still going at each other and then it was on 39:49 after a toe drag shot by Legue was saved, assisted by Jeff Legue and Dustin Kohn; Max Lacroix would place the puck high to make it 3-1 to the Steelers. On the buzzer there was another coming together at the benches after Spencer and Plumpton carried on going at each other on the benches.
End of the 2nd Period: Sheffield Steelers 3-1 Cardiff Devils

With the Steelers dominating the first period and the second period was a fairly even second and what would the third period turn out to be? Well it would be another dominate period by Sheffield and Lacroix, Meyers and Dowd would all see shots go begging before Baldwin hit Chris Jones hard into the boards and then on 45:13 Phil Hill assisted by Fata and Spencer would fire a fierce slap shot from the left to beat Kosowski into the top of the goal and then just 33 seconds later Chris Blight made it 5-1 from the opposite side and would fire a slap shot low into the back of the goal. Cardiff would create some pressure but wouldn't be able to create any scoring chances until 47:47 Max Birbraer would be passed to in front of Doyle by Rama and would place it past Doyle to add a second Devils goal on to the board. On 51:50 Sheffield would turn defence into attack as Fata would skate into the Cardiff zone to make a play in front of goal that Jason Hewitt would tip in for his second of the game for a 6-2 lead for the Steelers. With Danny Meyers in the box for tripping Cardiff would get one final power play attempt with 3:25 remaining in the game, but nothing would come of it and it was be another disappointing trip for Cardiff away from Sheffield this season as Sheffield would take all the points to strengthen their hold on second place.

FINAL SCORE: Sheffield Steelers 6-2 Cardiff Devils

Boxscore (1st-2nd-3rd-OT-[PIM]-{PP}-S)
Sheffield  - 2-1-3-0-[10]-{0/4}-42
Cardiff    - 0-1-1-0-[12]-{0/3}-24

Sheffield Man of the Match: #17 Jason Hewitt
Cardiff Man of the Match: #23 Max Birbraer

Referee: #27 Mike Hicks
Referee:
Linesman: #8 Dave Farren
Linesman: #25 Andy Dalton

Sheffield would improve to 26-15-4 and moving onto 56 points, three points ahead of 3rd place Dundee who they face next on Thursday night in Dundee in which promises to be a tasty affair.

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