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- Elite League Leaders Cardiff Devils In Seventh Heaven
Cardiff Devils swept back to the top off Elite League thanks to a hard fought 6-4 home win against Braehead Clan at Ice Arena Wales.
On a night when Nottingham Panthers crashed 6-2 against Belfast Giants at home and Sheffield Steelers lost 3-1 against Fife Flyers on their own ice, Devils were triumphant.
Captain Jake Morissette, who scored twice, and his team fought back from 3-1 down to earn a seventh successive victory.
Justin Faryna and Matthew Myers underlined the spirit and character of this Devils team with some outstanding work when it was needed.
Devils were not at their best, but they fought with a tenacity and aggression which had Clan struggling for long periods.
Cardiff now focus on their Challenge Cup quarter-final first leg match against Guildford Flames on Wednesday.
Devils were without Paul Crowder, Mark Louis, Josh Batch and Craig Moore, while player-coach Andrew Lord returned to the ice after being in charge of the bench during Saturday’s 4-1 win against Sheffield Steelers.
Glasgow-based Clan made a spirited start and Devils goalie Ben Bowns hd to move quickly on a couple of occasions to snuff out chances, while the visitors forced a big scramble in front of the net after five minutes.
Lane Ulmer put Cardiff in front when he tipped in a Gleason Fournier shot after six minutes 16 seconds, but Clan levelled the scores midway through the first period.
Andy Brace found the net for Braehead after 10-21 on a powerplay with Ulmer in the penalty box.
The visitors from Scotland were hungry for success after letting a 3-1 lead slip against Guildford Flames at home the previous evening.
They stunned Devils were a Craig Peacock powerplay goal 53 seconds into the second period – and then Peacock struck again, this time shorthanded, and Clan led 3-1 (25-51).
Matt Pope hit back with a beautifully worked goal on 28-23. Tyson Strachan found Joey Martin and the centreman produced lightning fast stick work and foot speed to lose Clan D-men in a tight space.
He slipped the puck back for Pope to fire Devils’ second goal of the match.
Pope then put his team under pressure again when he was given a two minutes plus 10 penalty for checking from behind.
Both teams already had a player in the penalty box and Clan had almost a minute of 4v3 on the powerplay followed by 5v4.
Bowns produced some big saves and Devils killed the Clan’s powerplay to set up the comeback.
Captain Jake Morissette tied things up again at 3-3 when he finished a flowing powerplay more after good work by Mark Richardson and Ulmer on 37-48.
Patrick Asselin then gave Devils the lead on 39-22 with their third powerplay goal of the game and Ulmer added a fifth goal after 47-13.
That was Devils’ fourth powerplay goal of the evening and Clan were suddenly in real trouble and there was more misery to come.
Morissette scored his second goal after 52-21 to make it 6-3.
Clan scored again with 13 seconds left when Tyler Scofield was on target, but it was too little too late for the Scottish team,
Match stats:
Scorers, Devils: Layne Ulmer 2+1, Matt Pope 1+3, Jake Morissette 2+0, Patrick Asselin 1+0, Sean Bentivoglio 0+1, Andrew Hotham 0+1, Gleason Fournier 0+2, Joey Martin 0+1, Mark Richardson 0+1, Tyson Strachan 0+1, Bryce Reddick 0+1.
Clan: Adam Brace 1+0, Craig Peacock 2+0, Mike Embach 0+1,Tyler Scofielfd 1+0, Cameron Burt 0+1, Landon Oslanski 0+2, Brendan Brooks 0+1, Jacon Doty 0+1.
Period scores (Devils first): 1-1; 1-2;
Shots on goal: Devils (on Nie) 9+9+12=30, Clan (on Bowns) 10+9+11=30.
Penalties in minutes: Devils 6+14+2=24; Clan 4+8+2=14.
Powerplays: Devils 4/6, Clan 2/5.
Referee: Mike Hicks.
Attendance: 2,695.
