Cardiff Devils head coach Paul Thompson was fuming after his side threw away a two-goal lead in Manchester to miss out on top spot in Challenge Cup Group A.

Sunday's 4-3 shootout defeat at the AO Arena means Devils finish runners-up to Sheffield Steelers, and now face a road trip in the second leg of the semi-final - most likely at Sheffield.

Cardiff raced into a 2-0 lead against Storm with Jimmy Oligny and Thomas Caron scoring inside the first six minutes.

Stephen Johnson pulled one back for the home side at the start of the second period, with Cardiff netminder Christian Stoever making an incredible stick save before Caron's second restored Devils' two-goal lead going into the third.

However, a Johnson second after a Cardiff mistake, and a Tim McGauley goal with two and a half minutes to play, took the game into an overtime period with no goals, before Kyle Maksimovich scored the shootout winner.

"We don't have enough of our guys turning up on the road right now," said Thompson.

"You know, you're 3-1 up with 11, 12 minutes to go but we passed the puck twice to the Storm players in the slot and even in the second period [Stoever] was keeping us in it and we need more.

"We need more contribution from everybody on the road."

Fife Flyers shootout win over Group B winners Belfast Giants secured an elimination match for the final Challenge Cup semi-final spot against Group A's third side Guildford Flames.

The seedings for the last four will not be confirmed until after that game, however Devils are most likely to face Steelers, with the second leg at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield.

Cardiff have lost just once at home across 16 league, cup, and pre-season matches in 2026-27 - but have only one victory away from their own Vindico Arena in the current campaign.

In light of that record, Thompson was left ruing what might have been had his side completed the job against Storm.

"This was a game today with a depleted - I know we've got players out - but a depleted Manchester team that we had to dig in and find a way to win," he added.

"And we found a way to lose."