Steelers go four points clear at top

Photo: Dean Woolley

Sheffield Steelers went four points clear at the top of the Elite League standings, with two games in hand, thanks to a shutout win over Cardiff Devils.

Matt Greenfield stopped all 16 shots he faced on a night where the Steelers put in four at the other end.

Cardiff had the better of the possession and chances in the early part of period one, but fell behind to Brian Diffley's first goal of the season for the Steelers. Brett Neumann made it 2-0 with a perfect shot between Tyler Wall's blocker and pad 2:04 into period three after the hosts had survived two penalty kills in the second.

If that goal hadn't wrapped up the game, Dominic Cormier's at 48:55 did, after which the Devils began taking some unnecessary penalties. They were punished for their indiscipline at 51:30 when Mitchell Balmas beat Wall with a fly-by screen in front of him to finish the game's scoring.