Faryna fires Steelers to another Conference loss

Welcome to the match report from Saturday's game at Ice Arena Wales where Steelers faced the Cardiff Devils.

After their midweek Challenge Cup win in Dundee, Steelers headed back to league action on Saturday as they took on the Cardiff Devils in another Erhardt Conference game. Conference games have been a bit of an Achilles heel for the Steelers so far this season with only one win recorded. With Cardiff strong on home ice, few expected Steelers to improve on this record. The team news saw the return of Zack Fitzgerald to the blue line after a spell out injured and Steelers able to ice a full complement of imports after the Andre Deveaux suspension was complete. Devils were without promising Brit Craig Moore (injured) but also iced a full complement of imports which meant player-coach Andrew Lord was suited and booted behind the bench.

Just like the game a few weeks, Steelers made an horrendous start as Devils scored before two minutes play on the clock. A rebound was seized upon by former Dundee Stars captain Justin Faryna, and he marked his return to the team with a crisp finish past Ervins Mustukovs. Steelers then had a couple of chances of their own to level matters but couldn't convert and the teams started to test each other further. However, at 13:10 Cardiff added a second goal to their tally and Steelers only had themselves to blame for it. A loose turnover gave the Devils had an opportunity which Musutkovs initially stopped but Paul Crowder made no mistake with the second bit of the cherry. 

No further scoring happened in the rest of the period, and after Ben Bowns had denied Tim Wallace early in the second - Devils were three goals to the good at the symmetrical time of 21:21. A shot from out on the left by Faryna ended up in the top corner of Mustukovs' goal, and it got worse less than five minutes later when another loose puck was gobbled up and this time it was Joey Haddad who lit the lamp. Faryna assisted on it, and having had a helper on the Crowder goal, meant he was had a 2+2 night before the halfway stage. Not a bad way to announce yourself back into the starting line-up. Steelers looked a team lost already, but gave their fans in IAW something to cheer about at 33:48 when Andreas Jämtin took ownership of the puck and fired home his 5th of the season to ruin any Bowns shutout plan.

Both teams then had chances to build on their scores in the remainder of the game but both netminders stood up and kept the scoreline down to 4-1, Mustukovs pulling off a diving save on one attack when he looked beaten and out of position. So the game finished with Devils recording another win and with Belfast in Challenge Cup quarter-final action, the current EIHL champions ascended to the summit for the first time this season. Steelers on the other hand now extend their sorry Conference record to an appalling 1-7-2 and are nervously looking over the shoulders at the teams behind them who are closing them down. 

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Steelers 1 Devils 4 

Steelers Scoring: Jämtin 1+0, Marquardt 0+1.

Devils Scoring: Faryna 2+2, Haddad 1+2, Crowder 1+1, Hotham 0+1, Martin 0+1, Reddick 0+1.

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 21 Devils 22

Powerplay: Steelers 0 from 2 (0% conversion), Devils 0 from 1 (0% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 6 Devils 8

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 18 Saves (623), GAA: 4.00 (2.41), Save Percentage 81.80% (91.30%)

Man of the Match: Davey Phillips (Steelers), Justin Faryna (Devils)

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