Devils 4, Stingrays 2 - Final
It's Saturday night, and we all know what that means! Down at the BBT, the Cardiff Devils host the Hull Stingrays. Coming from mixed results last weekend, the Devils were out to prove something. After a 4-2 win, the Devils banked those precious two points.
Things started out slow in The Tent tonight, with the First going past scoreless. Both teams came close many times. Max Birbraer, fresh from an injury, was hitting the pipes all through the period, with Captain Stuart MacRae not far behind him. The third line, consisting of Sam Smith, Scott Dobben and Ben Davies, were on fire throughout.
After a scoreless twenty minutes, and an additional fifteen for the intermission, the Devils came out ready for anything. Gunning to be the first on the scoreboard, the Devils through everything they had at the Stingrays' goal. Up until 1:39 in the Second, the Stingrays' goaltender, Christian Boucher, had remained solid, but after many attempts, Devils managed to get one through, coming off the stick of Brad Voth, with the help of Phil Hill and Stuart MacRae.
For most of the period following the Devils' first goal, Boucher held the Cardiff forwards back, keeping them from doubling the lead. It wasn't until just under five minutes before the second intermission, that Scott Dobben managed to finally double the lead. Score after two periods, 2-0 Devils.
Now, this is when the game starts to heat up. It's almost like the Hull management gave the Stingrays a real talking to. And the pep-talk seemed to have worked. It wasn't long after coming out of the locker rooms, that the Stingrays managed to pull one back. There were even a few roughing calls made, the penalties going to both sides, making the game a little more interesting.
But that didn't seemed to be enough, as, just five minutes after Hull managed to close the gap on the Devils, Cardiff opened up that gap again. The third Devils' goal came from number 12, Scott Dobben, his second of the night and part of the reason he was awarded the Man of the Match award. Cardiff now on a roll, young Brit Ben Davies, who had been close to scoring all night, added the fourth and final goal for the Welsh side, the assists going to fellow Brit Sam Smith and MOM Scott Dobben.
In a last ditch attempt to level the score, with about four minutes left of the game, Hull shot one at the net and managed to beat Stevie Lyle to get one final goal. Final score Devils 4, Stingrays 2.
Be sure to follow along with tomorrow night's game in Coventry, on http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/mnl/, if you can't get up to the game. Good luck, boys; Let's Go Devils!
