Devils edge past Steelers in shootout after late equaliser

Photo: Dean Woolley

Cardiff Devils equalised late and then beat Sheffield Steelers in a shootout in what was an enthralling game in front of 8,061 fans at the Utilita Arena.

Mac Carruth was the busier of the two goalies in the opening period with the Steelers outshooting the Devils 11-5 through the opening 20 minutes. He pulled off an excellent double save from point-blank range to deny Rob Dowd and then John Armstrong from opening the scoring.

At the other end, Trevor Cox hit the crossbar with 13 minutes played in the closest the Devils came to breaking the deadlock.

Cox was instrumental in the Devils' best chance of period two, arguably the best in the game to finally put a goal on the board - he tried to out-wait Barry Brust and did enough to pass into the slot, but a combination of the goal post and possibly a block from Kevin Schulze kept the puck out of a gaping net. Carruth stopped 18 shots through the frame, while Tanner Eberle couldn't quite get the puck out of his skated in front with the Devils' goalie somewhat stranded.

After two tightly-contested periods, period three was where the drama happened. On their first poweprlay of the night, the Devils went ahead - Jake Coughler taking the feed from Trevor Cox and setting himself for the shot past Brust who had to slide across his crease with 42:34 played. The Steelers were level on a man advantage of their own just over five minutes later though when a Rob Dowd shot bounced around and the puck fell kindly for Matias Sointu to score from his office at top of the crease.

A little under four minutes later the Steelers went ahead in fortunate circumstances. Tommaso Traversa swung at a loose puck, and the puck looped up and over Carruth and dipped just in time to go under the bar and into the net with 8:07 left to play. 

Now it was the Devils' turn to push for an equaliser, and with 2:09 left Head Coach Jarrod Skalde called his time-out to plan the last charge on Brust's net. Carruth left his goal on the opening faceoff, and as the Devils got the puck deep Matt Register excellently worked the puck to the far side of the slot where Trevor Cox fired home to level with 1:50 seconds left.

Register took a late penalty which gave the Steelers an opportunity to win it in regulation, but a last-ditch Carruth save denied Rob Dowd the fairytale ending.

Dowd had another good chance in the extra period but those five minutes failed to produce a goal at either end. In the shootout, Brodie Reid and John Armstrong both scored in the first round, but it was Trevor Cox's goal in the fourth that won it for the Devils. Carruth ended the game with 44 saves for his team, plus four in the shootout.