Cardiff Devils 3, Sheffield Steelers 4
Cardiff Devils remain top of Elite League, by one point ahead of Belfast Giants, despite suffering a fourth home defeat in their last six matches at Ice Arena Wales.
The last five of those have been sell-out attendances, but Devils have been struggling to produce their best in front of home fans.
Captain Jake Morissette and his Devils team had beaten third-placed Steelers in five consecutive League matches this season – three at home and two away – but their title rivals from Yorkshire earned a big win in this latest clash.
Now Devils turn to their home fixture against Nottingham Panthers in Cardiff Bay next Saturday (7pm) when they must return to winning ways at the IAW if they are to stay top of the table.
First period
Devils started brightly and went ahead after four minutes and 49 seconds when Scott Hotham skated in late and fired home from an Ulmer pass.
Steelers hit back strongly, though, and after the first 20 minutes were in front.
Cardiff-born Sheffield captain Jonathan Phillips levelled the scores on 10-07 when he was left alone in front of the net, collected a Luke Ferrara pass and spun to shoot home.
John Armstrong gave the visitors a 2-1 lead after 13-01 and Steelers were good value for that advantage.
End of first: Devils 1, Steelers 2.
Second period
Colton Fretter extended Sheffield’s advantage only 16 seconds into the middle period and at that stage Devils looked in trouble.
They were being out-skated and outworked by the impressive Steelers, who were at full strength and running four lines throughout.
Cardiff were without David Brine and Chris Culligan with player-coach Andrew Lord on the ice again after playing at Coventry the previous evening.
Devils needed a big moment to throw Steelers out of their stride and it came from Patrick Bordeleau, who was skating at speed when he caught defenceman Anders Franzon with a fierce, but clean hit which left the Steelers man down.
For a big man Bordeleau throws those big hits to massive effect and, while Steelers protested, referee Tom Darnell was in no doubt it was a legal challenge.
Joey Haddad came out for the next shift and followed Bordeleau’s lead with a big hit in the corner and, for the first time, Steelers looked rattled.
They were still reeling from Devils physical approach when Patrick Asselin slipped a pass for Ulmer to fire home on 26-39.
End of second: Devils 2, Steelers 3.
Third period
Fretter scored his second goal of the game to give Steelers a 4-2 lead after 46-16 and they were able to manage that advantage with some style.
But Devils kept battling and gave themselves hope when Andrew Hotham forced the puck home after good work by Sean Bentivoglio and Ulmer.
The home team had less than two minutes to score and force overtime, but once again Sheffield stayed composed and maintained puck possession to earn the victory they needed.
Match stats:
Scorers, Devils: Scott Hotham 1+0, Layne Ulmer 1+1, Andrew Hotham 1+0, Sean Bentivoglio 0+1, Layne Ulmer 0+1, Patrick Asselin 0+1.
Steelers: Jonathan Phillips 1+0, John Armstrong 1+0, Colton Fretter 2+0, Mathieu Roy 0+1, Ben O’Connor 0+1, Luke Ferrara 0+1, Mike Ratchuk 0+1, Davey Phillips 0+1.
Period scores (Devils first): 1-2; 1-1 (2-3); 1-1 (3-4).
Shots on goal: Devils 8+5+8=21; Steelers 15+13+8=36.
Penalties in minutes: Devils 2+4+8=14; Steelers 0+2+8=10.
Attendance: 3,088.
Referee: Tom Darnell.