By Rebecca Hall
Cardiff Devils head coach Pete Russell praised his team’s ability to bounce back from adversity after their 6-2 win against Sheffield Steelers.
The Devils suffered back-to back defeats against Belfast Giants last weekend, the aggregate score over both encounters being 10-1.
But they cemented their fourth place in the Elite League with their Steelers success, as April’s play-offs loom.
Russell said: “The players were fantastic as the game went on, more confident and playing with more belief.
“I’m just happy for the players, we’ve got a great group.
“It’s been a tough year, but we needed that.
“We took a kicking last weekend, which was tough for everybody.”
“I thought we were a little bit nervous, a little bit down, but I thought the players were fantastic tonight.”
Meanwhile, Steelers boss Aaron Fox was still optimistic, despite what was a chastening defeat by the end.
“I thought we were the better team for the first 50 minutes of that hockey game,” he said.
“I thought we deserved better.
“From a compete and effort point of view, I didn’t mind our game at all.
“Those guys (the Devils) did the greasy and the hard stuff tonight, but we had plenty of chances.
“It was a tough one. It’s a results-based business and we didn’t get the result tonight.”