Devils strike twice against Lightning with six of the best
CARDIFF Devils hit MK Lightning for six on two nights in a row to secure a fine double in the Elite League
After battling back from 4-1 down to win 6-5 on Saturday night, Sunday was a different story with the Devils going out in front to win 6-4.
Lightning scored first just 44 seconds into Sunday’s game after the Devils were called for two penalties in the first 19 seconds. Nelson Armstrong scored on the ensuing powerplay.
From there, Devils took over, scoring four goals before the first period was out.
Joey Martin tied the game at 3:14 to get the ball rolling, then Stephen Dixon and Bryce Reddick scored 16 seconds apart to give the Devils a 3-1 lead.
At 17:01, Joey Haddad put the Devils 4-1 up, then James Livingston rounded out a dominating opening period for the visiting Devils.
If the first period was all Devils, the middle period belonged to Lightning. At 29:33, James Griffin scored to make it 5-2, then Michael Fine scored on the powerplay to pull the Lighting within two.
Devils regained their three-goal advantage with just under two minutes to play in the period, with Charles Linglet making it 6-3, but 45 seconds later, Cole Shudra pulled one back to complete the scoring. On Saturday, Devils got off to an ideal start with Dixon scoring at 2:29 off a rebound at a sold-out Viola Arena.
Lightning took over from there scoring four unanswered goals to build up a 4-1 lead, through Robbie Baillargeon (2), Tim Wallace and David Norris.
Then the comeback was on. Martin and Sean Bentivoglio put Devils within one before Mark Richardson levelled things up at 31:26.
Before the period was out, the visitors would take back their lead with a powerplay goal from Andreas Valdix.
It took Devils 25 seconds od the final period to tie the game, courtesy of Martin with his second goal of the night.
Then, after Lightning player Martin Mazanec was thrown out of the game for head-butting, Martin capped a remarkable comeback with the game winner, and his hattrick goal, at 53:44 on the powerplay.