Sheffield Steelers edged out by Cardiff Devils but still hold pole position in Elite League

Elite League leaders the Steelers were leading 2-1 with just under two minutes to play in front of another impressive 8,000-plus crowd when Cardiff's Trevor Cox equalised to take the game into overtime, the game eventually being decided by the same player on the subsequent shoot-out.

The hosts outshot the Devils 46-21 overall but a measure of how keenly fought the encounter was came by the fact that neither side could find a breakthrough in the first two periods.

The deadlock was eventually broken by the Devils on the powerplay at 42.34 when Jake Coughler found room for himself in the lower end of the left circle from where he was able to fire past Barry Brust.

It was another powerplay - this time for the Steelers - that produced the next goal. Robert Dowd - fresh from equalling Jeff Legue's club record of 266 goals in the previous night's 7-2 win at Manchester Storm - fired a shot towards the crowd in front of Mac Carruth's net, before seeing the puck fall kindly for Matias Sointu who moved his feet quickly to backhand home.

A spot of good fortune then saw the home team go ahead just under four minutes later when Tommaso Traversa's swing at the puck saw it cannon off a Cardiff player over Carruth and into the net.

The Devils threw all they had at the Steelers in the last two minutes or so and quickly got their reward with the extra skater out. Matt Register played a pinpoint pass from the left boards through a crowd to where Cox was waiting at the bottom of the right circle to fire past Brust.

After Dowd came close to winning it both in regulation and overtime, the shootout saw Brodie Reid and John Armstrong both score in the first round, but it was Cox's goal in the fourth that won it for the Devils.

"It was a good hockey game and arguably one of the best 60 minutes we've played all year," said Fox. "We didn't find a way to win it which is disappointing but, at the end of the day, I think we can all look ourselves in the mirror and know we played a heck of a game.

"We missed a couple of empty nets, hit a post, put a couple over the bar and I thought their goalie played a heck of a game, especially early on - I think we ended up with 50 shots to 22 or 23 or something, So from that side of things I'm very pleased with the effort, the energy and the way we dictated the tempo and the pace - but they found a way to get the extra point."

On Saturday, the Steelers were awarded the points at Manchester when the game had to be abandoned with a little over 11 minutes remaining with them already 7-2 ahead. A medical emergency relating to one of the spectators prompted the decision, although thankfully it later emerged they did not require hospital treatment.

The visitors were 2-1 ahead at the end of the first through strikes from Kevin Schulze and Evan Mosey, but it was the middle period where the game was effectively decided, Martin Latal scoring shorthanded to make it 3-1 at 24.19 before further goals arrived from Sointu and Tanner Eberle. Dowd then struck his record-equalling goal at 36.42 to make it 6-1.

Manchester pulled one back early in the third on the power play through Dallas Ehrhardt but Vojtech Polak restored the five-goal cushion at 47.19 before the game was called to a halt shortly after.

Belfast Giants pulled back a point on the Steelers after a four-point weekend, following up their 7-1 hammering of Fife Flyers at home on Saturday with a hard-fought 3-2 win on a shootout at Nottingham Panthers 24 hours later.

It leaves them two points off the Steelers having played a game more. Both sides are in Challenge Cup semi-final action this Wednesday, with the Steelers doing it all over again at home to Cardiff, while Belfast host Nottingham.