Cardiff Devils Earn Aladdin Cup Victory At Nottingham Panthers

Nottingham Panthers 1, Cardiff Devils 3

New signing Drew Paris scored his first goal for Cardiff Devils in their 3-1 Aladdin Cup win at Nottingham Panthers on Saturday.

Joey Martin and Sean Bentivoglio were Cardiff’s other scorers in a convincing victory.

The teams clash again at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay on Sunday evening (6pm) and that is Devils first home game.

Sunday’s match is a challenge fixture and does not count towards the Aladdin Cup. Devils and Panthers both have to play holders Braehead Clan in one-off matches to decide who will lift the trophy this season.

Head coach Andrew Lord opted not to risk key defenceman Andrew Hotham in Nottingham because he has only just flown into the UK from North America, but he is likely to be involved at the IAW on Sunday.

Devils special teams proved the main difference between the teams in Saturday’s game. They scored twice on the powerplay, while they stayed solid when it game to killing penalties.

Paris scored Cardiff’s first goal, a powerplay effort with assists going to Mark Richardson and Bentivoglio.

Joey Martin added the second after 12 minutes 32 seconds, again a PP strike with Matt Pope and Richardson providing assists.

Devils led 2-0 after the first period and 3-0 after 40 minutes. Bentivoglio was the scorer.

Panthers outshot Devils 12-8 in the first, while Devils had the edge on shots in the second and third.

Nottingham did pull one goal back in the third period when man of the match Robert Farmer scored, but this was Cardiff’s night.

Man of the match for Devils was netminder Thomas Murdy, who played the entire 60 minutes and saved 30 of the 31 shots he faced.

Aladdin Cup result and remaining fixtures:

Saturday 12: Nottingham Panthers 1, Cardiff Devils 3.

Saturday 19: Cardiff Devils v Braehead Clan (7pm)

Sunday 20: Nottingham Panthers v Braehead Clan (4pm)

Ticket information for tonight’s game against Panthers at Ice Arena Wales (6pm) is available via 0800 0842 666 or on the club’s official website at cardiffdevils.com