30 Mar 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | Sheffield Arena |
Sheffield Steelers | 4-0 | Cardiff Devils |
Periods: Shots: | 0-0 (11-6) | 3-0 (15-3) | 1-0 (8-6) | Total: 34-15 |
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Referees: Miller/Sewell  |  Spectators: 9266 |
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Goals and assists
Despite already having the league title in the bag, Sheffield
Steelers extended the lead at the top to 14 points with a comfortable
win against Cardiff Devils in front of 9,266 fans at the Utilita Arena.
Anthony
Morrone got his first start in two months and went on to record his
first shutout for the Steelers, although the Devils' attack offered
little with only 15 shots over 60 minutes.
There were no goals in a
very quick opening period. In fact, the period was the fest recorded
this season, logging in at just 24 minutes and 38 seconds Brett Neumann
had one of the Steelers’ best chances shorthanded, but the period ended
scoreless and without any high-danger scoring chances.
The
Steelers outshot their opponents 15-3 in period two and ended it with a
three-goal lead to show for their efforts. Daniel Ciampini's shot 18
seconds into the period hit the post but bounced over the line after
hitting Bowns, whose back-reaching glove then knocked the floating puck
over the line. Some six minutes later, Bowns thought he'd held a Robert
Dowd shot only for it to have rolled loose where Josh Nicholls pushed it
over the line. The home side's excellent period continued when Patrick
Harper found a passing lane for Dowd to slot home at the far post on the
powerplay at 33:58 as the Devils offered very little going forward.
Mark Simpson finished off Brett Neumann's feed to score shorthanded at 48:10 for the game's final goal.