Josh puts out Blaze as Devils reach finals

CARDIFF Devils’ Josh Batch silenced Coventry Blaze fans when he scored a crucial goal to help book the Welsh side’s place in the end-of-season playoffs

Blaze had the upper hand in the PredictorBet play-off quarter-final on the night, leading 3-1 and their fans, more than 200 of them, were singing loudly in a corner of Ice Arena Wales.

But man-of-the-match Batch, a defenceman-turned-forward, stunned them with his goal and 39 seconds later Matt Pope netted again and sent home fans into wild celebrations.

Devils won 8-5 on aggregate to clinch their place at the play-off finals weekend in Nottingham and they will play Scottish club Fife Flyers in their semi-final.

The other side of the draw sees Nottingham Panthers take on Sheffield Steelers.

Cardiff’s key to victory against Blaze was a never-say-die attitude.

They have underlined that throughout a season in which they have already won the Elite League title and Erhardt Conference.

Now they head into the play-off finals weekend aiming to add a third trophy this season.

After winning Saturday’s clash 4-2, Devils were 3-1 down on Sunday after two periods, the score was 5-5 on aggregate.

“I didn’t say much during that break,” said Lord. “I was fired up at the end of the second, but I didn’t relay that to the group.

“We have leaders, we have winners. Our leaders stepped up, talked among themselves and got the message across.

“Our puck management wasn’t nearly good enough early on, but we still generated a ton of chances over the game.

“Overall, I loved the way we responded to our situation and got the job done.

“The way the guys played during the third period was unbelievable. They were almost unplayable at times. That’s why I do what I do. It’s so enjoyable to see a team come together like that.”

Ryan Dingle’s goal after 34 seconds was a blow to Cardiff, but Justin Faryna hit back to level the scored late in the period.

Brett Robinson netted the only powerplay goal of the match four minutes into the second period and Ross Venus a third for Blaze after 37-42.

At that stage, Devils fans feared the worst, but there were wild scenes of celebration when Batch (42-49) and Pope (43-26) scored to tie things up at 3-3.

Coventry pulled their goalie with more than four-and-a-half minutes left in favour of an extra skater and they pressed hard, but Devils had several chances before Faryna scored into an empty net on 58-03 and effectively ended Blaze’s hopes.

Red Army fans cheered, chanted and sang their way through the last couple of minutes, chanting the names of Faryna and Batch in particular.

Fife Flyers will play Devils in the last four after beating Manchester Storm 6-5 on aggregate. Storm won 4-1 in Kirkcaldy during the first leg, Flyers reversed that scoreline in Altrincham and Carlo Finucci’s fired an overtime winner.