Sheffield Steelers shut out Cardiff Devils to up the ante in pursuit of Belfast Giants

All wins are big, and to that end, Saturday’s 5-2 triumph was well-received, but following it up on Sunday with a victory over a direct rival had greater impact as they seek to win the league title for a second successive season.

Steelers inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Cardiff Devils at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, climbing above Cardiff and Nottingham Panthers in the process.

A further boost came an hour or so later from Dundee, where leaders Belfast Giants had lost 3-1, Steelers reducing the deficit to seven points in a productive weekend.

Robert Dowd, Dominic Cormier and Patrick Watling each found the net in the Steelers’ shutout win over the Devils.

On Saturday, Fox admitted his team took a while to get going at Glasgow Clan, falling 2-0 when Liam Finlay struck 28 seconds into the second period, adding to his opening strike on the power play at 11.37.

It took a while for the Steelers to respond, but one they did they proved to be ruthless, scoring five unanswered goals.

The deficit was halved when Dominic Cormier struck at 38.14 then, just 19 seconds later, they were level through fellow defenceman Sacha Guimond, with his six goal of the season. The third period was only 77 seconds old when Brandon Whistle put the visitors ahead, a goal which sucked the life out of the hosts, who fell further behind when Mark Simpson made it 4-2 at 49.37.

Two vital points were sealed when, on the power play, Patrick Watling made it 5-2 at 56.08.

Elsewhere, Belfast survived a late rally from rock-bottom Fife Flyers to run out 7-5 winners.

Adam Keeffe’s team were 5-1 ahead with just over 12 minutes remaining when the hosts hit back to level with four goals in nine minutes.

But their heroics proved in vain when Belfast’s JJ Piccinich got his team ahead again with just 50 seconds left, Scott Conway making the points safe a short while after.

Goals from Sam Herr (2) and Logan Neilson saw Nottingham Panthers edge out hosts Cardiff 3-2.