It’s a great eight as Devils put rivals Clan to the sword
THERE were eight goals and eight different scorers for Cardiff Devils in their emphatic Elite League home win against Glasgow Clan.
Devils’ 8-1 victory against the Scots means they have fired 39 goals in seven League and Challenge Cup fixtures, conceding 13. Layne Ulmer, who tipped in a Gleason Fournier shot (9-22), and four minutes Craig Moore had the Devils two up by the end of the first period.
That laid the foundation for what was to come in front of the Ice Arena Wales crowd.
Josh Gratton pulled one back (24-13), but Cardiff put their foot down and scored three more goals through Toms Rutkis, Matt Pope and Mark Louis had them 5-1 ahead after two periods.
It didn’t get any better in the third when Sean Bentivoglio added to the tally along with Matthew Myers, who fired the puck top shelf short-side on Russel for the Devils 7th goal and 4th powerplay tally of the night.
Mike Hedden scored the final goal of the match at 46-04
Into the final period and Devils continued to pour on the pressure.
Rutkis was voted man of the match with a goal and two assists, while Matt Pope also had a goal and two assists and Fournier provided three assists. Match stats Scorers, Devils: Layne Ulmer 1+0, Craig Moore 1+0, Toms Rutkis 1+2, Matt Pope 1+2, Sean Bentivoglio 1+0, Matthew Myers 1+1, Mike Hedden 1+1, Mark Louis 1+1, Stephen Dixon 0+2, Josh Batch 0+1, Gleason Fournier 0+3, Charles Linglet 0+1, Joey Martin 0+1. Clan: Josh Gratton 1+0, Rasmus Bjerrum 0+1. Period scores (Devils first): 2-0; 3-1 (5-1); 3-0 (8-1) Shots on goal: Devils (on Russell ) 12+10+3=25; Clan (on Bowns) 5+9+0=14. Special teams: Devils PK 2/2, PP 4/6; Clan PK 2/6, PP 0/2. Stars of the game: Devils, Toms Rutkis; Clan, Josh Gratton. Penalties in minutes: Devils 5+4+0=9; Clan: 9+4+4=17. Referees: Matt Rose, Matt Thompson. Attendance: 2,748. Other Sunday results, all Elite League: Coventry Blaze 5,Sheffield Steelers 2; Fife Flyers 7, Manchester Storm 2; Guildford Flames 2, Nottingham Panthers 3; MK Lightning 3, Dundee Stars 2 (after overtime). ■■Devils have two League fixtures in four days this week – against Dundee Stars away on Wednesday and Manchester Storm at home on Saturday – before they return to Champions League action. Head coach Andrew Lord takes his team to play Vaxjo Lakers in Sweden next Tuesday. Tickets for the 2018/19 season games are on sale now.