Devils Back To Winning Ways With Dramatic Penalty Shootout Victory In Glasgow

Braehead Clan 2, Cardiff Devils 3 (after sudden death overtime and penalties)

Cardiff Devils underlined their Elite League title credentials with an overtime win against Braehead Clan in Glasgow.

The leaders hit back from a goal down twice to force the game into overtime, but had Patrick Bordeleau thrown out on a match penalty with less than two minutes of regulation time left.

That handed Clan a five minute powerplay which ran into the extra period when the home team had four skaters to Cardiff’s three for two  minutes 55 seconds.

Mark Richardson, Andrew Hotham and Joey Martin were the first three out and Devils kept Clan at bay, ensuring the match would be decided by a penalty shootout.

Braehead sent back-up goalie Gary Russell out for the penalties, replacing the injured Michael Zajkowski.

Martin and Jake Morissette scored to put Devils 2-0 ahead, while Clan’s Mike Hammond had his shot saved.

Matt Beca kept Braehead hopes alive, making it 2-1 with his shot, and when Patrick Asselin failed to find the net everything depended on the home team’s third penalty.

Goalie Ben Bowns stood tall to deny Daniel Ahlberg and Devils came out the winners.

They earned two points, while Clan collected one because scores were level after regulation time.

That was a huge win for Cardiff on the night Sheffield Steelers and Belfast Giants clashed for a second successive night in Northern Ireland.

Giants emerged winners on Saturday, while Steelers swept to a 4-1 victory on Sunday.

League leaders Devils badly needed to win in Glasgow after being edged out against Coventry Blaze after overtime at Ice Arena Wales the previous evening.

A second defeat would have been disastrous, but they came through a tough test to ensure they earned three points from a possible four over the weekend.

Ahlberg (4-16) and former Devils player Bari McKenzie (33-23) scored for Clan, while Cardiff’s goals were from Joey Haddad (18-46) and Andrew Hotham (39-57).

Clan had 14 skaters against Cardiff’s 19, but the Scottish team fought hard, continuing to defend solidly and attack on the break.

The final period in regulation time was goalless, although Devils hit a post, and there were no changes to the scoreline in the extra five minutes, but coach Andrew Lord’s men came through to earn the victory they needed.

Devils have only one match next weekend and that is at home against second-placed Belfast Giants at Ice Arena Wales on Saturday (7pm). Ticket information is available from the club’s official website or via the hotline on 0800 0842 666.

Bordeleau will be ruled out of that match by suspension and the cross-checking to the head incident he was penalised for will be assessed by the League’s department of player safety.

Match stats v Clan:

Clan: D Ahlsberg 1+0, B McKenzie 1+0, C Crouch 0+1, C Carlson 0+1, A Leavitt 0+1.

Devils: J Haddad 1+0, A Hotham 1+0, G Doucet 0+1, J Martin 0+1, P Asselin 0+1, M Louis 0+1.

Period scores (Clan first): 1-1; 1-1 (2-2); 0-0 (2-2); 0-0 (2-2) 1-2 on penalties (final scoreline 2-3).

Referee: Pavel Halas.

Men of the match: Clan, Michael Zajkowski; Devils, Andrew Hotham.