Cardiff Devils vs Hull Stingrays 26/02/2012

  Bouncing back from a devastating 6-3 loss to the Nottingham Panthers, the Cardiff Devils gained those precious two points in an exciting 5-3 win over the visiting Hull Stingrays.

  Despite the finishing score line, it was the visiting team that started the scoring off, with former Devils Jason Silverthorn showing some amazing skill as he travels past several of the Devils’ players and shooting the puck passed Lyle.  But that didn’t slow the Welsh side down; with a man-advantage, Devils’ forward Scott Matzka tipped the puck passed Boucher to level the score before the end of the first.

  Even though the score was tied coming into the second, the Devils’ were a definitely a force to be reckoned with.  Just 44 seconds after the restarted, the Devils had pushed ahead, with Matzka getting his second goal of the night, after picking up the puck from fellow Devils Sam Smith and shooting it five-hole.  Now on a role, it wasn’t long until Cardiff had extended their lead further, with a nice poke from Coach Gee, who had only just returned to the ice after taking a puck to the face, to make it three-one Devils.

  With the Devils’ leading 3-1 when entering the third, it seemed that Hull were beginning to wake up.  In the opening minutes of the final twenty, Head Coach Cloutier managed to bring one back for the English side, bouncing the puck of Lyle’s pad into the back of the net.  Despite the pickup in play by the ‘Rays, nothing could stop the Devils’ now and fan favourite Jeff Pierce redirecting the puck behind Boucher whilst Cardiff had the man-advantage.  Not finished yet, Scott Matzka also shot the puck home, for one final Cardiff goal, to earn himself a hatrick, also on the powerplay. 

  In a last ditched attempt to level the score, Hull’s Osman took a blinding shot at the net, beating Lyle and bringing the final score to 5-3 Devils. 

  With two more points in the bank, it’s now time for the Devils’ to prepare for next weekend, which will take the Devils up north to visit Scottish teams the Braehead Clan, who currently sit behind Cardiff in fifth with 57 points, and the Dundee Stars, who are just outside the playoff berth with 24 points.  All teams need those points, make sure you follow along to find out who gets them… Let’s Go Devils!