Devils have big Mac to thank for weekend double
MAC Carruth posted a 42-shot shutout to help the Cardiff Devils earn a hard-fought 2-0 win on the road against the Coventry Blaze on Sunday evening.
The opening period was scoreless but not without chances, however it was in the second that things really sprang to life.
Blaze forwards Janne Laakkonen and Joey Raats both had chances in close to score but couldn’t beat Carruth, while Janne Kivilahti saw his shot come back off the crossbar as the Blaze pressured the Devils’ net.
In a crazy passage of play, Blaze netminder CJ Motte made an excellent recovery save to deny Josh Waller in the slot, before the Blaze sent Ross Venus through one-on-zero up the other end, but he missed the net to keep the score tied at 0-0.
The Devils eventually broke the deadlock on the powerplay when Trevor Cox’s shot was stopped by Motte, but the rebound fell straight to the feet of Josh Lammon who batted it past Motte at 32:16 to make it 1-0.
Cardiff should have added to their lead early in the third period but both Brodie Reid and Sam Duggan were denied in close.
Duggan also had a great chance shorthanded when he stripped the Blaze defender but couldn’t beat Motte to extend the lead.
Blaze coach Danny Stewart pulled Motte with well over 2:30 to go to try and score the equaliser, but despite good offensive zone pressure the Blaze couldn’t find a goal.
Justin Crandall cleverly read a pass into the zone as the clock ticked down and fired directly into the empty net to seal the win for the Devils with 53 seconds to play.
A tough day of travel and a long delay at the airport for the Belfast Giants meant Saturday’s game in Cardiff started 45 minutes – but the Giants looked anything but tired as they outshot the Devils 47 to 23 over the 60 minutes of play.
The Giants opened the scoring on the powerplay late in the first period through JJ Piccinich.
Brodie Reid buried his league leading 11th goal at 19:24 to tie the game before the period was out.
In the middle period the Devils eventually broke the deadlock with another powerplay goal by Brandon McNally.
Pressure from the Giants continued in the third period and eventually it paid off when Piccinich scored his second goal of the game to make it 2-2.
At 53:58 Piccinich was called for interference and the Devils powerplay went to work for one final time. McNally found a wide open Reid who looked to shoot but fanned on the puck, recovered it and passed it back to McNally who was wide open at the side of the net to score his second of the game and the Devils third powerplay goal of the night at 54:56.
Trevor Cox sealed the win with an empty net goal at 58:57 to give the Devils a 4-2 verdict.