Haddad stars in weekend double
JOEY Haddad opened the scoring and tipped in the game winner on Sunday as Cardiff Devils defeated Sheffield Steelers 3-2 in the Elite League in Yorkshire.
The opening period saw the Devils take three minor penalties, giving the Steelers powerplay the chance to open up the game, but the Devils penaltykilling was on point.
Ben Bowns was called upon early to make some big saves but he managed to stave off the man advantage for the Steelers and keep a blank sheet after 20 minutes of play.
Haddad got the Devils on the scoresheet with some great forechecking from his linemates setting him up to tap the puck through the legs of Steelers’ netminder Tomas Duba at 28:36.
A mishandled puck let Marc-Olivier Vallerand in on a short-handed breakaway to beat Bowns and tie the game up at 35:29.
The Devils started the third period with a man advantage but Stephen Dixon was called for a check to the head penalty, which meant the teams would play four on four.
Moments later Sam Jardine tipped in a shot from Bryce Reddick to put the Devils 2-1 in front with Haddad picking up the other assist.
But less than three minutes later the Steelers tied the game again after John Armstrong found Nikolai Lemtyugov at the side of the net at 43:15 to make it 2-2.
With just over eight minutes remaining, the Devils got another powerplay and they took full advantage.
Gleason Fournier slid a pass to Charles Linglet who stepped in and fired the puck at the net and Haddad tipped it past Duba at 53:39 just as the powerplay ran out to put the Devils up 3-2.
The Steelers pressed for the tying goal, but the Devils defence had been solid all night and they shut it down in the final minutes to hold on for an impressive road win.
Haddad finished with two goals and an assist, factoring in on all three Devils goals. Ben Bowns made 31 saves for the win.
On Saturday night three goals in just over a minute for the Devils stole the momentum from Coventry Blaze as the Devils cruised to a 5-1 victory.
The visitors opened the scoring with a blast from David Broll that beat Ben Bowns at 11:02 of the opening period.
Joey Martin, in his first competitive match of the season, scored on the powerplay to tie the game at 14:38, although the refs took some time to award the goal after a lengthy video review.
The middle period belonged to Cardiff and the pressure eventually paid off with three goals in 62 seconds to take over the game.
First Gleason Fournier scored to put the Devils in front 2-1 at 36:14. Then Masi Marjamaki slid a pass to Bryce Reddick who swept the puck past Jamie Phillips to give the Devils a 3-1 lead just 29 seconds after Fournier’s go-ahead goal.
Matt Pope put the Devils up 4-1 with a powerplay goal to round out the scoring after 40 minutes of play.
The lone goal of the final period was another powerplay goal, this time from Stephen Dixon to put the Devils up 5-1 with just under 15 minutes to play.
The on-ice performance was matched by a near sell-out crowd at Viola Arena and a standing block that sang, chanted and drummed all night long.
Ben Bowns finished with 20 saves for the win and Joey Martin picked up the man of the match, scoring a goal and grabbing an assist in his return to action for the Devils.