Carr finds top gear to deny Devils’ attackers

CARDIFF DEVILS ............... 0 NOTT’M PANTHERS ........... 3

IT was a matter of inches for both clubs as the Cardiff Devils hosted the Nottingham Panthers in a spirited Saturday night match-up.

A three-goal third period saw the visitors skate away with the win as the hosts were blanked by Kevin Carr who received man-of-the-match honours with a 29-save shutout.

Both sides favoured a physical game in the early going and as the tempo picked up, some undisciplined play landed each side on the powerplay.

The Panthers went up a man first but had a hard time finding their footing with the manadvantage. The hosts were a bit more dangerous with their extra attacker, however, each side weathered the storm as some solid penalty killing from both teams left the score unchanged after one.

The second-period action began with the Devils heading to the penalty box almost immediately. Despite being down a man, it was Cardiff who had a golden chance shorthanded when Josh Lammon skated in all alone against Carr who denied him.

In an unfortunate turn of events, play stopped for some time in the second when, 14 minutes in, Kevin Domingue left the game after taking a heavy hit where a skate blade caught the back of his leg.

The second period ended as it began with the score still scoreless, leaving plenty to play for in the third.

It would be the Panthers who broke the deadlock just over three minutes into the third. Ollie Betteridge fired one off the face-off beating Carruth to open the scoring at 43:13.

Devils had their chances by landing two powerplays in the final frame, but their failure to execute with the man advantage left them chasing the lead with time winding down.

Cardiff’s fate was all but sealed when a late penalty by Mark Louis at 57:35 put their chances of a comeback on ice.

In a last-ditch effort Carruth was pulled in favour of an extra attacker, but a gift from from the hosts gave the visitors a two-goal cushion when Simon Suoranta hit an empty-netter at 58:58.

With Carruth back in the net, Christophe Boivin put the exclamation point on a perfect road performance, capping a breakaway to complete the scoring at 59:39.