Welcome to our match report from the Challenge Cup Semi-Final Second Leg.
After an unexpected home reverse at the hands of the Manchester Storm, Steelers were back in action last night (Wednesday) as they faced current Challenge Cup holders Cardiff Devils in Ice Arena Wales for the second leg of their semi-final. The Steelers held an impressive 6-2 lead after the first leg in Ice Sheffield last Wednesday night, would that be enough? The team news saw Steelers without injured quarter Miika Franssila, Colton Fretter, Robert Dowd and John Armstrong whilst Swedish forward Andreas Jรคmtin was serving the first of a two game suspension. Cardiff had not as many problems as they were without Mark Louis and Craig Moore.
The pattern for the game was set early as Steelers netminder Ervins Mustukovs was forced into his first save of the game after just 27 seconds. Devils kept the pressure high and just shy of the five minute mark, had their first of six powerplay opportunities on the night as Steelers winger Eric Neiley sat a tripping minor. The advantage did prove fruitful with 25 seconds left as Matthew Myers banged home the opening goal and reduce the overall deficit to three. Yet within a minute, Steelers levelled and restored the four goal margin with a powerplay strike of their own, Neiley scoring his 2nd Steelers goal since joining the club in early January. But that was about as good as it got as Steelers then ran into a combination of an incessant Cardiff juggernaut and penalty problems. Devils regained the lead with another powerplay goal just after the ten minute mark, Mathieu Roy harshly sitting a hooking minor: the scorer being one-game New York Ranger Layne Ulmer. The period ended 2-1 but Steelers were to start period two on another penalty kill.
Paul Thompson had a few choice words to the officials as the first period ended, but any hopes that the Steelers had started to unravel in the first minute of the middle twenty. Davey Phillips was in the box for a cross-checking minor and there was just nine seconds left on that powerplay when Matt Pope fired home Cardiff's third of the night and third powerplay strike. Just before the halfway stage of the contest, the overall deficit was reduced to just one when Steelers coughed up possession and former Dundee Stars captain Justin Faryna took advantage. There was no further scoring in the period after that, and it left the final period evenly poised.
That single goal advantage was washed away in just 20 seconds of that final period, as Devils made it 6-1 on the night and 8-7 overall when Paul Crowder and Patrick Asselin lit the lamp. This caused Thompson to call a time out in an attempt to stop the bleeding but at 42:36 the home side scored a seventh on the night. Zack Fitzgerald was sitting a hooking minor, and Devils took advantage to score a fourth powerplay strike thanks to Sean Bentivoglio. Steelers were unlucky not to reduce the overall deficit to one when Neiley hit the post but whenever they got close in, Ben Bowns was there to shut the door on the team whom he supported as a boy. Roy hit the crossbar late on but there was to be no additional scoring and Devils had completed a comeback that few thought was possible; they now face Adam Keefe's Belfast Giants in the Final on the first Sunday in March at Ice Arena Wales after the Northern Irish side saw off the Panthers 7-6 on the night (12-7 overall) in their second leg over in the "O".
Time for the statistics:
Goals: Devils 7 Steelers 1
Steelers Scoring: Neiley 1+0, Roy 0+1, Westerling 0+1.
Devils Scoring: Ulmer 1+2, Bentivoglio 1+2, Morissette 0+3, Myers 1+1, Asselin 1+1, Pope 1+1, Faryna 1+1, Fournier 0+2, Crowder 1+0, Batch 0+1.
Shots On Goal: Devils 39 Steelers 28
Powerplay: Steelers 1 from 4 (25% conversion), Devils 4 from 6 (66% conversion)
Penalty Minutes called: Devils 8 Steelers 12
Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 32 Saves (256), GAA: 7.24 (2.78), Save Percentage: 82.10% (91.40%).
Man of the Match: Mathieu Roy (Steelers), Ben Bowns (Devils)
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