EIHL Game Report: Cardiff Devils 4 Coventry Blaze 0
A thrilling weekend for the Red Army faithful as they witnessed the Cardiff Devils pick up their first four point weekend of the season and their second home win, blanking the Coventry Blaze 4-0 in the Bay.
Indeed, this Cardiff Devils team seem invigorated and revitalized in comparison to the previous week’s efforts; a clinical performance that can be attributed to a number of on and off ice changes in the past week.
The Blaze travelled to the Big Blue Tent laden with injuries; icing just three defencemen throughout the game. The Devils themselves were missing two imports; however it was the Blaze who looked absent of ideas as the Welsh club closed down on their offence.
The first period saw the Devils camp out in the opposition’s zone for the majority of the 20 minutes due to a number of penalties from the Blaze. Despite a well worked Power play and a number of chances, the Devils weren’t able to get past goaltender Mike Zacharias in the early minutes of the game.
The Devils were able to get onto the board late in the period though, with a goal from defenceman Mark Smith. The Devils would extend their lead before the buzzer sounded, as Chris Blight took advantage of a 5-on-3 powerplay with just 35 seconds remaining.
Into the Second, and again the Devils dominated as they out-shot the Blaze 15 to 6. Just the one goal in this period and it was Andrew Lord who increased the score to 3-0, with the assists going to Jake Morissette and Ben Davies.
In the third period, Ben Davies scored the final goal of the game 1 minute and 40 seconds into the session, as the game finished 4-0 in favour of the home team.
Zacharias deservedly picked up Man of the Match for the Blaze stopping 39 or 43 shots faced, with the home Man of the Match going to Dan LaCosta for his first shutout in Devils colours. The two victories this weekend means the Devils are now through to the next round of the Challenge Cup.