Elite League Leaders Cardiff Devils Extinguish Blaze

Cardiff Devils stormed to an 11th successive Elite League ice hockey victory – and stand in a commanding position at the top of Elite League.

Coventry Blaze led twice, but Devils hit back in the third period to take the points.

The Sky Dome ruin was packed for the match and two sections were full of Devils fans chanting and cheering or their team.

Devils won a trophy treble last season – League title, Challenge Cup and Erhardt Conference – and are on the charge again.

Gleason Fournier, Patrick Asselin and Andrew Hotham scored the goals for Devils as they earned a second win against Blaze in 24 hours, having won 4-3 after penalties the night before.

Devils went into the match at Coventry’s Skydome with the same line-up from the previous night against the same opposition at home.

Paul Crowder, Josh Batch and Craig Moore were again ruled out injured, while coach Andrew Lord was on the bench.

Mark Richardson and Andrew Hotham continued their partnership on the blue line, while Drew Paris and Gleason Fournier teamed up.

Bryce Reddick linked with the calm and composed Tyson Strachan.

Hard-hitting Mark Louis, normally a D-man, added his physical presence among the forwards.

Lord’s men had the edge during the first period without being able to break the deadlock, while Blaze had a couple o early powerplays in the second.

Cardiff saw both off and continued to press when they were on five v five.

Devils fans made a lot of noise throughout, cheering their team on non-stop. Two coach loads of Devils Red Army fans had made the trip, while many more Cardiff fans travelled by car.

Blaze swept ahead thanks to an unassisted goal by Paquette after 32 minutes, while Gleason Fournier levelled the scored, again unassisted, early in the their period.

There were times when Devils looked tired. They have had a gruelling run of fixtures, but the intensity and character of this team was immense.

Earlier this season I questioned whether Lord had made errors in his recruitment. Wow, was I wrong. Magnificently wrong.

Lordo has a group of guys willing to give everything for the cause.

Devils fell behind after 49-50 when Paquette scored his second goal of the game, while Patrick Asselin made it 2-2 on 51-46.

Defenceman Andrew Hotham then fired Devils ahead after 53-24. The referee reviewed it on video after Blaze protested, but quickly awarded the goal.

Match stats:

Blaze: Danick Paquette 2+0; Brett Robinson 0+1.

Devils: Gleason Fournier 1+0, Patrick Asselin 1+0, Andrew Hotham 1+0, Mark Richardson 0+1, Layne Ulmer 0+1, Joey Martin 0+1, Jake Morissette 0+1.

Period scores (Blaze first): 0-0; 1-0 (1-0); 1-3 (2-3).

Shots on goal: Blaze (on Bowns) 8+21+6=35; Devils (on Nastiuk) 12+10+14=36.

Penalties in minutes: Blaze 6+2+2=10; Devils 2+8+4=14.

Powerplays: Blaze 0/5; Devils 0/5.

Stars of the game: Blaze, Danick Paquette; Devils, Gleason Fournier.

Referee: Tom Darnell.

Attendance: 2,761.

Cardiff Devils remaining fixture during December:

Saturday 30 v MK Lightning (home, 7pm)

Tickets for Cardiff’s home fixture against Milton Keynes Lightning this Saturday (7pm) are available and ticket information can be obtained via ONLINE HERE

To be redirected to the full fixtures list CLICK HERE