By Terry Phillips

Sheffield Steelers 2, Cardiff Devils 4

Cardiff Devils earned a third successive victory at Sheffield Steelers this season, storming back from two goals down to come out on top.

Player-coach Andrew Lord’s Devils are now seven points clear of second-placed Steelers at the top.

Sheffield have four games in hand, but that will be of little consolation to head coach Paul Thompson after his team were out battled by a Devils team who stuck to their game plan and earned the victory.

Both Steelers and Devils are without a match on Saturday. They are back in action on Sunday when Belfast Giants visit Sheffield (5pm face-off) and Glasgow-based Braehead Clan are at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay (6pm).
Ticket information for Devils available on 0800 0842 666.

First period
Devils were without big D-man Mark Louis and player-coach Andrew Lord dressed to take his place among the forwards with Chris Culligan dropping back.
During a fast and furious first period there were good moments from Devils, but they were caught out on the break.
They carved out a big chance in front of the Steelers net, but when it didn’t go in Guillaume Desbiens threw himself full length near halfway and managed to poke the puck forward for Colton Fretter, who smashed his shot past goalie Ben Bowns first time.
Fretter was named Elite League player of the week after scoring three goals with two assists last weekend when Sheffield defeated Nottingham Panthers 8-1 and Dundee Stars 5-4.
End of first: Steelers 1, Devils 0.

Second period
Steelers were handed a big chance to score a second goal when they were awarded a penalty shot after 21-57.
Levi Nelson skated clear and Josh Batch threw himself to try and stop the Steelers man. Batch touched the puck away with his stick, but also sent Nelson crashing to the ice.
Netminder Bowns rescued his team with a big save as Nelson tried to slip a shot low into the net. A frustrated Nelson skated straight into the referee and it was Tom Perring who came out on top, sending the Steelers man down again.
Sheffield had three powerplay opportunities in the second, but there was no way past a magnificent Bowns in goal.
Cardiff had a glorious chance when Guillaume Doucet stepped out of the penalty box having served two minutes for slashing and burst clear. Doucet went low with his shot, but home goalie Ervins Mustukovs saved superbly.
Steelers held on to their one goal lead, while Devils had not yet found their best form.
They had, though, outshot their hosts 12-11 in the second and were right in contention with 20 minutes of regular time to go.
End of second: Steelers 1, Devils 0.

Third period
Steelers swept into a 2-0 lead on 42-56 thanks to a brilliant solo goal by Fretter, who produced outstanding stick handling to go past three platers before firing home.
Devils hit back with four goals in less than four minutes thanks to man of the match Patrick Asselin, two, Guillaume Doucet and Sean Bentivoglio.
Sheffield pulled their goalie with more than two minutes left, but could not open up a Devils team who had outworked them in key areas without playing at their best.

Match stats
Scorers, Steelers: Colton Fretter 2+0, Guillaume Desbiens 0+1,
Devils: Patrick Asselin 2+0, Sean Bentivoglio 1+0, Guillaume Doucet 1+0, Andrew Lord 0+1, Layne Ulmer 0+1, Matthew Myers 0+1, Andrew Hotham 0+1, Scott Hotham 0+1.
Period scores (Steelers first): 1-0; 0-0 (1-0); 1-4 (2-4).
Penalties in minutes: Steelers 0+4+0=4; Devils 2+6+2=10.
Referee: Tom Perring.
Shots on goal: Steelers 11+11+6=28; Devils 7+12+11=30.
Power plays: Steelers 0/5; Devils 0/2.

Men of the match: Steelers, Colton Fretter; Devils, Patrick Asselin.