So, coming into the end of a brilliant week of hockey, the
Devils’ faced one last match-up before the week ended. With an amazing tally of three wins in five
days, the Devils’ were set to face the Hull Stingrays, giving themselves the
chance to push further ahead of rivals Coventry Blaze into fourth place.
From the get go, Cardiff demonstrated their edge. With the only goal of the first period going
to Captain Stuart MacRae, who would later go on to win the Man of the Match
award, after a fantastic blast on the powerplay, the Devils’ were away.
Cardiff continued to dominate the game well into the second,
with American forward Jeff Pierce claiming the second Devils’ goal, and skipper
MacRae following up with his second powerplay goal of the night. Hull followed suit, taking control of the
one-man advantage, as Devils’ defensemen Chris Frank got comfortable in the penalty
box, with Head Coach Sylvain Coutier shooting the puck passed Welshman Stevie
Lyle, in one of only eighteen shots made towards the welsh wall.
Into the third and the Devils’ were definitely not backing
down… and neither were the Rays. Cardiff
were on fire, making an incredible 52 shots on Canadian goaltender Christian
Boucher. Head Coach Gerad Adams managed
to convert one of those shots into Cardiff’s fourth goal. Hull were not going to take it lying down
though; former Devil Jason Silverthorn, who spent two seasons with the Welsh
side, was perfectly at ease, shooting the puck passed former teammate
Lyle. With it too late for a Hull
comeback, Devils’ forward Ben Davies cemented the win of the Bay side, with his
own powerplay goal. In a last ditch
attempt, and with a fire alight inside after watching teammate Osman go one on
one with Canadian Devils Jamie Vanderveeken, Silverthorn added a second to his
tally, the game finishing with a final score of five goals to three, in favour of
the Cardiff Devils.
