Match Night Live
 
Cardiff Devils 5 - 4 Sheffield Steelers

Hello everyone!

First MNL i've run for quite a while, so please forgive any spectacular mistakes :)

Forgot to mention, my name is Chris and i'll be your host of awesomeness tonight :D

As always, if you're out there lurking I can be reached on matchnightlive@gmail.com

Jono over on TCW (The Cats Whiskers) will be covering all the games ongoing tonight from his blog/fanzine and that can be found HERE

First prediction of the night is in, Ruth says we're going to manage a 2-2 draw tonight - I really hope that's the case :S

Emma predicting a Devils loss, 2-4 this time :( Unfortunately, I think that's pretty close to what the result could turn out to be :(

Keith from the far west is also going for a 2-4 loss :(

Turns out if the Devils lose tonight, Skippy, one of the sites mods will be forced to buy and wear a Steelers jersey, oh the shame...

10minutes to go, and it's very very quiet coming out of the big blue tent

Still, no one has said the ice is a big puddle, so that's a positive

Tonights loss excuse has been found by Keith - the ice pad is too small :D

Uh oh - Darnell is the man with the whistle tonight, prepare for chaos :(

A Devils win! Stephen predicting a 4-2 win for us, let's hope that one works out :)

Hewitt icing for the Steelers, seems the match penalty for fighting in the last 2mins of a game may have been removed...

And we're off!

Crowd decent for this game, not as big as last week but still a decent turnout

Devils icing at 0:23

And it's gone quiet again, can't be a lot happening yet

Still, if Steelers haven't scored in the opening minute or so, that's an improvement!

Steelers save at 2:14, can't spell his name i'm afraid

FIGHT

Finnerty vs Bollibruck!

Just interrupting the fight to say Sam Smith seems to be getting regular shift on our 3rd line

Fight was straight from the faceoff, not many punches thrown but Finnerty seemed to land more and got the take down

Other texters saying Finnerty had 1 punch that floored Bollibruck :D

Devils penalty at 2:15, Finnerty 5mins for fighting

Steelers penalty at 2:15, Bollibruck 5mins for fighting

Steelers netminder saves with his face at 2:37

Shot came from Davies, who I think is again playing on the 2nd line

Michel comes very close, Steelers manage a save but pick up another penalty

Steelers penalty at 3:16, Munn 2mins for hooking

Sorry it was Pelle clear on goal, but he got taken down

Davies looking better and better on that 2nd line

Devils fans chanting 'you got battered' :)

Play stopped at 4:24 for a man in the crease

I've tried finding out whether it's 4on3, or 5on4 but no replies yet

Another steelers penalty coming...

Steelers penalty at 4:43, Domish 2mins for boarding

Steelers try to dump the puck behind their own net and almost net an own goal :D

it's 5on3 for 34seconds now

Steelers back to 4 men

Game time - 5:50

Michel nails Globke :D

The Domish nails Davies :(

But it's another Steelers penalty, ooooh yeeeeeah

Steelers penalty at 6:29, Domish 2mins for roughing - texter says he nearly took Davies head off

Devils powerplay looking better than previous games

Steelers starting to look a bit rattled

Devils controlling the puck and creating chances, but can't get that final shot off

Devils passing well and playing well, but not testing Steelers netminder all that much :(

Steelers netminder playing well and keeping them in it so far

Finnerty and Bollibruck return to the game!

Another Steelers penalty...

Steelers penalty at 7:47, Tait 2mins for hooking

Another texting reporting the powerplay is still garbage, not getting it set up :(

Another texter saying the DEvils are only being stopped by Steelers netminder

Steelers kill a penalty but...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL

Devils score at 8:47! Amazing!

Finnerty nails the puck straight over the netminders shoulder, he didn't even move!

Devils goal at 8:47, Finnerty from Birbraer and Matzka

Sorry, remove the assist from Matzka, it's only been announced as Birbraer providing the assist

Steelers miss an open net as Lyle goes walkabout

Seems our goal was a powerplay goal, yes that's right, a goal, on the powerplay, there's some dark magic at play there i think :D

Devils penalty at 9:02, Finnerty 2mins for holding the stick

Steelers offside at 10:59

Devils kill the penalty and we're back to full strength, wahay :)

Steelers created a lot of chances on that powerplay and it was only 'will power' that kept them from scoring

Darnell not calling a lot of stuff, not sure if that's both teams or just for the Devils...

Lyle makes his first save at 11:33

Macrae through on goal, the shot goes wide but...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL

One of the Steelers players managed to fall on his own netminder, and the Devils score :D

Devils 2nd goal scored at 12:31, Birbraer from Matzka \o/

Devils gift the puck to Steelers infront of our own net, luckily Lyle makes the save *phew*

Seems to be a little confusion on that second goal, Pelle was involved but not credited an assist, and some people think Matzka scored...

Handbags!

Finnerty shoots, Steelers save but we have handbags, no penalties called though

Devils offside at 15:03

Handbags were timed at 13:40

Confirmed that Birbraer scored the 2nd, an assist to Matzka

Afraid it's gone very quiet again...

Scrub that 2nd goal confirmation, all the details have been changed!

Devils 2nd goal should now read... Scored by Pelle with assists to Birbraer and Matzka

Steelers penalty at 16:53, Dowd 2mins for hooking

Devils getting behind the Steelers defense easily, Steelers taking penalties to stop our forwards

Devils powerplay shambles again, Steelers have created more chances and had more shots than the Devils

I wonder how, or rather why, we fall to pieces with the man advantage

game time - 18:30

Steelers obviously back to full strength now, for how long though?

Into the final minute, Steelers have stepped it up a bit and are creating more chances

Steelers offside at 19:43

And that's the end of the first period, Devils lead 2-0 :)

Don't forget, if you're out there lurking you can always email in using matchnightlive@gmail.com

Oops, I appear to have broken MNL, please hit f5 to refresh

Sorry about that, my HTML knowledge is woeful, anyways...

Brirbaer playing very well on the 1st line and Macrae doing well on the 3rd line again, Devils controlling the game but possibly only due to the amount of Steelers penalties

Hopefully this works, if you're out there lurking, give me a shout at matchnightlive@gmail.com

Also, if you're on the lookout for coverage from all the other games ongoing tonight, Jono is running league wide TCW coverage tonight and that can be found HERE

Devils 1st line looking very impressive so far tonight, really clicking and creating a lot of chances, lets hope that continues!

Devils playing as a real unit. D clearing the zone and the lines are clicking.

Puck has been bouncing very funny though, and they are still dry cutting.

Steelers have some of their own coverage running over on http://sshof.co.uk/chat/

Wonder if pimping that will allow me to finally register on SteelTalk? :P

Both teams back out for the 2nd period

And here we go!

What a start...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL

Hill beats the Steelers netminder easily

Devils 3rd goal at 20:48, Hill from Finnerty

Geordie Howe hat-trick for Finnerty in just 20mins :D

Simon gets a breakaway and Adams takes a penalty to stop the goal

Devils penalty at 22:16, Adams 2mins for cross checking

Lyle makes a save at 22:36

Complaints about the ice starting to surface

Penalty killed, Richardson has a good chance and shot but Steelers make the save

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL

4 goals, 4 goals, 4 goals OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS

Pelle grabs a 4th, the little man on the 1st lines grabs a 2nd - AMAZING :D

Pelle scored from the face off circle :D

Devils 4th goal at 26:11, Pelle from Matzka :D

Devils penalty at 26:37, Birbraer 2mins for holding

Penalty killed successfully :)

It's gone very quiet again i'm afraid

Lyle playing very well tonight :D

Steelers offside at 29:43

Every Devils line looking dangerous, especially the first :D

Devils 2on1, Finnerty shot is saved

Steelers score :(

Steelers 1st goal at 30:15, Simon - assists to follow

Steelers got breakaway and Sawyer got caught up in the corner :(

Assist for Steelers goal goes to Thomas

Devils took a penalty at time of goal, Adams 2mins for high sticks

PK working well for the Devils

From the game - "steelers look very fast on the transition, but that was the first time we have been caught."

Puck out of play 31:48

Sawyer drops the gloves and goes for Simon!

Adams penalty has been killed, but Sawyer penalty coming up

Simon nailed Sawyer off the play :(

Fight/handbags, Sawyer and Simon

Both go for it, but no real punches thrown at 32:21

Confusion over what penalties are going to be called

Sawyer gets 6mins in penalties

That's a powerplay for 6minutes then :(

Devils penalty at 32:21, Sawyer 2mins for cross checking, 2mins for elbows, 5mins for fighting, 2+10 for instigator - fantastic...

Steelers penalty at 32:21, Simon 5mins for fighting

That's more than an entire period Sawyer will be sitting out :(

Steelers powerplay is 4mins now i think, rather than 6

Darnell trying to think up more penalties for Sawyer to take

Steelers score a 2nd goal, on the powerplay at 33:29 :(

More confusion over the goal, clock says only 1 penalty is ongoing, but everyone is confused

Steelers 2nd goal at 33:29, Legue from Clark and Tait - powerplay goal :(

1min of penalty kill left for Devils

Play stopped for Steelers in crease, 34:36 gone

Devils gain a 2on1, but the shot goes wide :(

Right, seems 1 penalty has finished, but another 2mins has gone up on the clock

Steelers struggling to get into our zone

Michel very very close at 36mins exactly

Steelers score a 3rd, another powerplay goal at 33:16 :(

Adams completely outmatched by Steelers forward, Lyle made the save but rebound hit clark and ended up in the net :(

Steelers 3rd goal at 33:16, Clark from Talbot and Tait - powerplay goal :(

Devils back to full strength, but no idea when this happened

Steelers hit the pipes :(

Texters not hopeful at all that the Devils will hang onto the lead

From someone at the game - "why can't the Devils train dogs? Because they can't hold onto a lead..."

Devils offside at 37:59

Sounds like a dodgy call, Devils through on goal and puck didn't leave Steelers zone

Steelers penalty at 38:22, Legue 2mins for interference

Devils score a 5th, but Darnell washes it out :(

Would have been Pelles hat-trick goal :(

Goal light went on, but then went off immediately so puck may not have crossed the line

Goal was washed out at 39:02

Devils offside at 39:39

And that's the end of the 2nd period, Devils lead 4-3

Both teams emerging for the 3rd period, hopefully DEvils can hold this together :(

And here we go with the 3rd period, lets hope Pelle can get his 3rd *again*

A penalty has been killed, I think maybe it is Sawyers 2nd 2min penalty?

Damnit, a Devils penalty at 40:26, Birbraer 2mins for elbows

That's the 2nd elbowing call of the night for the Devils :(

Birbraers penalty killed, texts slow coming in

Legue celebrated thinking he's scored, but Lyle has the puck in his hand...

Darnell didn't blow the whistle and the light didn't go on, what a chump :D

Birbraer absolutely nails Simon

Not sure of timing for the Legue no goal sorry :(

Plus points, all lines firing. Mcrae and S Smith impressing...

ben looks right on the third.

Both those updates from the game

Puck leaves the ice and ends up in the Sheffield bench at 44:18

Two saves in a row for Steelers, first from Pelle and then from K smith, both from the point and timed at 44:54

Matzka steals the puck in Steelers zone, but shot is straight down the middle and Steelers save again

Finnerty nails Steelers netminder when he's out of the nets

Penalties coming for Hill and Dowd...

Devils penalty at 46:03, Hill 2mins for roughing

Steelers penalty at 46:03, Dowd 2mins for roughing

And Steelers score a 4th :(

Steelers goal on what should have been our powerplay apparently :(

Steelers 4th goal at 46:18, Talbot with the goal, not sure of assists

If it says 4-5 in the score doofer, it's not, refresh the page to get the score right, Talbot skated through the faceoff and beat Lyle :(

Steelers get a 3on2 break, Lyle aves, then Devils get a 2on1 break and it's saved

Penalties over, back to 5on5

"It's like watching Newcastle under Keegan"

From the game - Devils really going for it, and just can't find the net. Some good lyle saves

50minutes gone, hopefully the Devils can find one more goal

Steelers called for icing at 51:30, Sawyer returns from his 21minute penalty...

Well, we're certainly rubbish at defending our lead :(

Play is mainly in the neutral zone at the moment

Devils almost called for delay of game, but lino tells Darnell that the puck hit the plexi on the way out...

Sawyer very lucky to get away with that

Game has died down a bit, neither team seem to be able to get anything going

Nothing happening, lots of missed passes, most play in the neutral zone and lots of loose pucks being covered by each netminder

Simon trying to wind Sawyer up again, lets hope he doesn't snap :(

Steelers penalty at 54:10, Phillips 2mins for hooking

It's gone very quiet again, I suspect that means our powerplay isn't working so great :S

Loose puck in front, Steelers defense stops the Devils from scoring :(

Steelers netminder keeps spilling the puck and Devils are crashing the net trying to get the rebound

Steelers back to full strength :(

Devils keeping the pressure on

Steelers icing at 57:35, but...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL

SAWYER SCORES THE 5TH!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS

Sawyer fired a weak shot from the point and it seemed to take a deflection in :D

Devils 5th goal at 57:38, Sawyer from Macrae :D

Into the final 2minutes!

And now we're into the final min!

Steelers pull their netminder!

30seconds to go!

Come on!

It's magic, the Devils have managed to win!

AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING

Sawyer goes from Villain to Hero, cost us 2 goals after fighting Simon but nails the game winning goal :D

Still slightly concerned that we almost lose after holding a 4-0 lead, but makes a nice change to win :)

Steelers man of the match goes to Legue

Devils man of the match goes to Finnerty :)

Right, that's all from me :)

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the coverage :)

Chris out.