Andrew Lord’s Men Must Beware Comeback Kings

Cardiff Devils must beware the comeback kings in Saturday’s Elite League play-off semi-finals at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.

Number one seeds Devils take on a Flyers team who finished seventh, but those stats hide the fact that Kirkcaldy-Based Fife left Manchester Storm stunned last weekend when they fought back from 4-1 down after the first leg at Fife Arena to lose 6-5 on aggregate.

Head coach Andrew Lord played in the home match against the Scots when Devils led 5-1 during the second, 6-4 early in the third and lost.

https://soundcloud.com/eliteicehockeyleague/finucci-one-of-the-biggest-goals-of-my-career

Danick Gauthier, a 26-year-old former Wichita Thunder player, scored four goals including three in 10 minutes during the final period.

Devils went from 5-1 ahead in the third to lose 8-6 and that should pose a major warning to Lord’s man.

Russ Moyer, who won the Elite League title with Sheffield Steelers in 2-16, has no doubts Flyers can cause an upset.

“We can beat any team in the league on our day and the play-off format suits us,” says 35-year-old Moyer. “WE are confident we can outwork teams and there is no doubt we are tough to put away.

“Our results show that we won against Devils in Cardiff and there were a couple of other close games.”

Devils won twice in Fife, 5-3 and 4-3, while they defeated the Scottish team 4-1 at home, but lost that big match in Cardiff Bay 8-6.

http://https://youtu.be/FQbHlNwCMX4

Left-winger Carlo Finucci, who has scored 99 points (45+54) in two seasons with Flyers, netted the overtime winner in their play-off quarter-final victory against Manchester Storm.

His backhand effort left coach Ryan Finnerty’s Storm team down and out.

“That’s one of the biggest goals I have scored in my career,” says Finucci. “I threw a backhand at the net and it went past the net minder’s arm.

“The place went crazy. I took a chance and it went in.

“There is a lot of belief in our locker room. We’ve produced some big comebacks in tough building this season, including Cardiff.

“That shows how special a season this has been for us and we are determined to carry it on into this weekend.

“We’ll be ready to go and ready for Cardiff. We’ve played them well this season, it’s a one-off game and we are incredibly excited.”

Devils play Fife Flyers in the 1pm semi-final face-off on Saturday followed by Sheffield Steelers v Nottingham Panthers at the Motorpoint Arena.

The winning teams clash in the play-offs final on Sunday.

ELITE LEAGUE FINAL STANDINGS

Regular 2017

Rk	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	WPCT	Pts
1	Cardiff Devils	56	41	12	1	2	.759	85
2	Manchester Storm	56	35	16	3	2	.670	75
3	Sheffield Steelers	56	34	19	2	1	.634	71
4	Nottingham Panthers	56	33	18	2	3	.634	71
5	Belfast Giants	56	34	20	2	0	.625	70
6	Guildford Flames	56	30	17	5	4	.616	69
7	Fife Flyers	56	33	21	1	1	.607	68
8	Coventry Blaze	56	25	26	4	1	.491	55
9	Braehead Clan	56	24	26	5	1	.482	54
10	Dundee Stars	56	22	30	3	1	.429	48
11	Milton Keynes Lightning	56	20	34	1	1	.375	42
12	Edinburgh Capitals	56	5	50	0	1	.098	11