Ice Hockey: Devils feel the pains from delay decision

Mar 10 2008 by Terry Phillips, South Wales Echo

CARDIFF Devils were furious after Sheffield Steelers were handed victory in last night’s Elite League ice hockey clash at the Cardiff Bay rink.

Referee Matt Thompson and his linesmen made an error in the last 30 seconds when Welsh defenceman Jason Stone cleared the puck from his own zone and it hit Sheffield’s Ryan Finnerty before flying over the Plexiglass.

Thompson did not react immediately, but then imposed a two-minute penalty on Stone for delay of game. That would have been the right decision had Stone put the puck straight out, but it clearly struck Finnerty.

Devils captain Brad Voth then landed a 10-minute misconduct for arguing with the officials – and Steelers’ Dan Tessier took advantage to slot the winning goal with 21 seconds left.

“That was cruel, the guys deserved better,” said Voth. “Everybody worked hard and we should have taken something out of the game.

“But we are at home to Edinburgh on Wednesday and that’s our chance to get back on track.”

The Devils, aiming to secure a fifth successive victory, fought back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to draw level, but were denied by that late goal just as overtime looked certain.

It was, though, a huge effort from the Devils, who pushed title-chasing Steelers all the way despite being without injured trio Mat Petricko, Paul Sample and Jason Silverthorn.

All three are due back for the play-offs.

Sylvain Deschatelets, Mike Garrow and Tyson Teplitsky scored for the Devils against Sheffield, while Tessier, Jonathan Phillips, Ryan Finnerty and Joey Talbot were on target for Steelers.

The result means Cardiff could still meet Sheffield in the play-off quarter-finals.

Voth, Teplitsky and Darling scored for Cardiff in their 3-1 victory at Basingstoke Bison on Saturday.

The Devils now play Edinburgh Capitals at home on Wednesday.