Flames lose on the road to Devils

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A couple of Cardiff Devils goals in the middle period put them on top and they didn’t look back the rest of the way while handing a 2-0 defeat to the visiting Flames.

The travellers from Spectrum had a couple of opening period powerplay chances, but were unable to capitalize, and the 20 minute segment closed with the teams on a scoreless draw.

As the game inched towards the halfway mark, the Welsh club kicked off the scoring with a Layne Ulmer strike. A little more than 3 minutes from close, and while the Flames were working to kill a triple minor penalty, Gleason Fournier doubled the margin.

An exchange of chances in the final stanza didn’t generate any offence for either side, despite Flames playing with an empty net for a bit more than the last 2 minutes, and the Devils held on to shut out Surrey’s men in their final game ahead of Sunday’s Cup Final.

“We came out well in the 1st period,” explained Head Coach Paul Dixon. “We definitely had the best of the play for the bulk of it, perhaps except for the last couple of shifts, and we had some good looks on a couple of powerplays.”

“To have come out of that period without a lead was disappointing, and then Cardiff had more pressure in the 2nd and were able to make it count and force us to play from behind against the league leaders which is not a good recipe for success.”

“More than ever, we need to just move on because now we are back here Sunday for an even bigger game in the Cup Final, and tonight’s outcome is not going to deter us from taking a really positive attitude into our first ever Elite League trophy match.”