Cardiff Devils vs Edinburgh Capitals 29/01/11

Devils 13, Capitals 2 - Final

  Fifteen goals scored in one game; what an amazing achievement.  Wanna know what makes it more incredible?  Thirteen of those goals were scored by the Cardiff Devils!  They came in the form of a powerplay goal, a shorthanded goal, a hat-trick, and a couple of doubles.  All-in-all, a good night for the Red Army.

  It was clear by the end of the first that Cardiff were running away with this one.  With the first few minutes going by uneventfully, Devils' No. 5, Mark Smith, opened the scoring at 5.43, with Jon Pelle and Max Birbraer both earning their first (of many) assist of the night.  Cardiff then went quiet for just over ten minutes, before Brad Voth doubled the lead.  At 18.48, with the help of captain Ryan Finnerty and Tylor Michel, the Canadian giant fired the puck into the back of the net, on the powerplay, earning him his thirteenth of the season.  Not even a minute later, Voth was followed up by Phil Hill, who, at 19.16 with Finnerty getting his second and Voth his first assist of the night, fired one home, to make it 3-0 before the break.

  With everyone, players and fans alike, buzzing from the excitement of the first period, the second period couldn't come soon enough.  These next twenty minutes were going to see seven goals in total, although not all were from a Devils' stick, one being the first of a hat-trick.  At 4.41, Max 'Boom Boom' Birbraer got himself on the score sheet (for a goal this time), with Jon Pelle getting his second assist and Scott Matzka earning his first, to make the score 4-0.  Cardiff kept the momentum going, with Stuart MacRae scoring the first goal of three, at 5.58, Tylor Michel getting his second assist and player/coach Gerad Adams following just one assist behind.  The third goal of the period came of the stick of Ryan Finnerty, with goaltender Joe Myers, who played for the full sixty minutes and saved 14 out of 16 shots, and forward Sam Smith both getting their first assists' of the night.

  It wasn't all plain sailing in the second though.  I guess that the Caps didn't like being walked all over.  And being 6-0 down didn't seem to slow them.  At 9.02 Neil Dolan got one back for the Scottish side, alternate Jeff Hutchins following in his footsteps just a minute later, to knock the defeatist down to eight.  But it was definitely too late for those two goals to do any damage to Cardiff's game.

  At 12.51 in the second, Scott Matzka increased the lead to 7-1, Jon Pelle getting his third assist and Max Birbraer his second.  My guy Sam Smith then followed his lead at 15.22, with assists for Gerad Adams and Tylor Michel, rounding off the period with an 8-1 lead.

  Before I even go into the goals in the third period, I'd like to point out that only three Cardiff players didn't get on the score sheet in one way or another, although it wasn't for lack of trying.  I don't know what Gee has been saying to these guys in practice but whatever it is, it worked.

  But back onto the third; getting his second of the night, No. 15, Scott Matzka, opened the third period scoring at 2.19, with Max Birbraer earning a hat-trick in assists and Jon Pelle getting his fourth!  And it didn't stop there.  Stuart MacRae, also getting his second, fired the puck pasted Jens Van Pouke - on his debut for the Edinburgh Capitals, stopping 55 shots out of 68 - assists going to Sam Smith and Tylor Michel.  The latter, No. 16 Tylor Michel, got himself a goal to go with his selection of assists, at 8.28 - assists going to Sam Smith and Stuart MacRae.  This also earned Tylor his 100th EIHL career competitive point and eleventh goal of the season. 

  With over half the period gone, and an incredbile lead of 11-2, the Devils didn't slow.  Brad Voth continued on with his great night, earning himself another goal, at 11.14 in the third - Ryan Finnerty and Phil Hill both getting assists.  To round off the night, Stuart MacRae got himself a hat-trick, scoring a short-handed goal at 18.02, with the help coming from Sam Smith - getting his fourth of the night - and Craig Weller.

  Cardiff are now five points clear at the top of the Elite League and it is obvious that they aren't going anywhere; what a time to be Devils' fan! Good luck tonight boys, against the Blaze!