Cardiff Devils beat Sheffield Steelers to win Challenge Cup

Cardiff Devils celebrate winning their third Challenge Cup in their history

Cardiff Devils came from behind to beat Sheffield Steelers 3-2 and lift the Challenge Cup trophy for the second time in three years.

Gleason Fournier scored to put the Devils ahead after just four minutes but Robert Dowd levelled soon after.

Mathieu Roy gave the Steelers the lead deep into the first period but Mark Louis restored parity for the Devils.

Layne Ulmer scored at the start of the final period to gift Cardiff Devils a third Challenge Cup win.

For the Devils, who had home advantage for the final, the victory game a year after their 1-0 overtime defeat by Nottingham Panthers in the 2016 final.

The win capped off a fine weekend for Todd Kelman's team, who also went nine points clear at the top of the Elite League with a 4-2 win against Manchester Storm on Friday.

The build-up to the game was highly-charged with coaches of either team exchanging words over a who had the harder run-in to Sunday's final.

The Steelers played Coventry Blaze in the Elite League 24 hours before the final, despite requesting to rearrange the fixture, with coach Paul Thompson claiming Cardiff were given an "advantage" going into the game.

Devils managing director Kelman accused the Steelers of trying to cause a "media frenzy" ahead of the final.