EIHL Game Report: Sheffield Steelers 6 Cardiff Devils 3
A debut hat-trick from the newest Steeler Rob Sirianni helped Sheffield to a much needed 6-3 win over the Cardiff Devils on Sunday night.
Sirianni, who joined the Steelers from Italian side Vallpelice, lined up alongside former team mate Nate DiCasmirro and fellow newcomer Ilpo Salmivirta to prove too much for the Devils defence.
Despite conceding after just twenty-four seconds, the Steelers fought back to score four goals on the trot when Mac Faulkner put Cardiff up 1-0 almost instantly. Sirianni first levelled the scores, before DiCasmirro, Tim Spencer and the on-fire Jeff Legue all found the net to give the Steelers a 4-1 advantage after half an hour. Tyson Marsh gave the Devils hope by making it 4-2 with seven to play in the second, before Sirianni really turned his game up a notch, netting his second goal three minutes later.
Again, the Devils hung on to the slimmest of lifelines, with Phil Hill making it 5-3 early in the final period, before Sirianni added the final touches to his Man of the Match display, completing his hat-trick with just less than five minutes to play to give the Steelers a 6-3 victory.
The Steelers, who lost in Belfast on Saturday, will be pleased with not only the match winning performance from Sirianni, but the overall input on offence the new man brings. Having lost Max Lacroix several weeks ago, Sirianni, who last year won the Italian Elite League MVP award, represents a pure scorer and the Steelers’ best goal threat.
One sour note to take away from the game for Head Coach Doug Christiansen is the five-game suspension of defenceman Gord Baldwin, which may well force a premature return for the injured Dustin Kohn and Danny Meyers. That being said, with a week long break before facing the Fife Flyers next Saturday, the Steelers have plenty of time to condition and integrate the new and returning faces into an already very dangerous side.
