Devils Under Pressure To Show They Can Lord It Over Title Rivals

Cardiff Devils play three of their next four Elite League matches at home and must re-establish themselves as champions elect.

Back-to-back League defeats, against Nottingham and Manchester, have allowed Belfast Giants and Sheffield Steelers in particular to edge close to leaders Devils.

Captain Jake Morissette and his team play Coventry Blaze twice in 24 hours, away on Boxing Day (6pm) and at home the following evening (7.30pm) before Dundee Stars come to Ice Arena Wales on New Year’s Day (4pm).

Then it’s back to the Blaze, who come to Cardiff Bay on Saturday, January 7 (7pm).

Devils are at full strength, but coach Andrew Lord has a big decision to make on offence.

The post-Christmas matches against Blaze, home and away, mean Devils play three fixtures in five days and Lord must decide whether to recall himself after a dismal display in their 3-2 home defeat against Manchester Storm.

He had been playing alongside Sean Bentivoglio and Layne Ulmer, although Chris Culligan returned from injury to take over that slot and has scored twice in two games.

There has also been a fair bit of early chemistry between the three forwards even though they had only one training  session together before the 4-2 Challenge Cup home win  against Dundee.

Cardiff’s home match against Coventry on Tuesday is already a sell-out, but there are tickets available for the games against Dundee and Blaze early in the new year.

Ticket information is available from the club’s official website or the hotline on 0800 0842 666.