Devils blank Steelers to make cup final

Photo: Dean Woolley

Cardiff Devils shut out the Sheffield Steelers and recorded their second 5-0 of the season win at the Utilita Arena to advance to the 2022 Premier Sports Challenge Cup Final.

The Devils silenced the majority of the 5,571-strong crowd in Yorkshire with a performance that shut the hosts down and put them two up at the end of the opening period. 

A mistake on the Steelers' blue line allowed Brodie Reid to skate clean into the zone and he beat Rok Stojanovič with a smart shot to make it 1-0. Another mix-up in the Steelers' defense led to the Devils' second finished by Josh Batch jumping into the zone at 18:39.

If there was a turning point in the game, it was when the Devils scored their third. The Steelers came close to halving the deficit at one end, but the puck broke kindly to the visitors allowing a nice pass from Cole Sanford to send Trevor Cox through to beat Stojanovič at 26:45.

61 seconds later it was four. The Steelers opted for a badly-timed line change which set up a 2-on-0 where Justin Crandall found Reid to fire home.

Steelers' Head Coach Aaron Fox called a timeout immediately after and replaced Stojanovič in net with Barry Brust, but their period still got no better. His side didn't clear the puck behind their own net which allowed Sam Duggan to feed Josh Waller in front for the Devils' fifth of the night at 32:02.

Period three was a less intense affair as the Devils sought to manage out the game. Sheffield created more scoring opportunities but rarely worried Mac Carruth who ended the game with a 24-shot shutout to backstop the Devils through.