Posted on 30/11/08, filed under Devils | No Comments
Cardiff Devils Match Report
bmibaby Elite League Sunday, November 30
Altair Altrincham Ice Dome
Manchester Phoenix 3 Cardiff Devils 5
The Cardiff Devils, sponsored by 1two1cars.com Vehicle Leasing & Contract Hire Specialist, completed a four-point weekend with a thrilling 5-3 win against the Manchester Phoenix.
Coming off Saturday’s 4-1 victory against Edinburgh, the Devils doubled up with another road win to close within a point of the fifth-placed Phoenix.
Mike Prpich, Phil Hill, Tyson Teplitsky, Derek Campbell and Wes Jarvis were on target for the Devils.
Luke Fulghum (2) and David Beauregard scored for the hometown Phoenix, who staged a third period comeback after trailing 3-0.
The Devils were comfortably in front in the third, but the Phoenix were energised by a ruckus at that saw Manchester winger Kyle Bruce and Cardiff captain Brad Voth ejected.
The home side’s fight back threatened to spoil a solid performance from the Devils, but they replied with a pair of goals to close the gap in the standings.
Teplitsky opened the scoring in the first, finding the net after taking a pass from Prpich at 14:01. Latulippe notched the second assist on the play, his first helper on the way to a three-point night of his own.
The second period began with 1:51 remaining on a delay of game to penalty to Jason Stone. After successfully killing the fresh ice powerplay, the Devils made it 2-0 with a goal from Hill.
Jason Silverthorn and Mike Hartwick combined to feed the Welsh power-forward, who despatched the puck past Manchester goalie Stephen Murphy at 22:26. Silverthorn’s assist continued his point-streak, which now stands at five games.
Man of the match Prpich made it 3-0 at 37:08 with a powerplay marker. With Phoenix D-man Dwight Parrish serving a delay of game penalty, Teplitsky fed Prpich for his 19th of the year.
Entering the final twenty minutes, the Devils were in total control. With a 3-0 lead on the road all they had to do was play typical third period hockey, clear the zone and catch the Phoenix on the break if they pressed too hard. However, that game plan soon changed at 43:25 when the game boiled over.
Bruce and Voth were shown the door by referee Michael Hicks and Jarvis and Nathan Ward were both sin-binned as tempers flared. The fracas switched the momentum to the hometown Phoenix, who benefited from Voth’s absence just as they did earlier in November when the Devils captain left the game through injury.
The Phoenix were the beneficiaries of the argument and scored on the ensuing powerplay. Fulghum fired the puck past Cardiff goalie Peter Aubry at 44:11, assisted by Beauregard and Smith - and suddenly the Phoenix were off the mark and right back in the game trailing 3-1.
Within a minute, Campbell made it 4-1 to the Devils when he latched on to the puck after good work from Prpich and Latulippe at 45:02. It was a big goal for the Devils as they maintained a three-goal lead, but their advantage didn’t last long.
Campbell was his usual menacing self throughout the game, leaving several Phoenix players with spaghetti legs as they picked themselves up after one of his crunching checks.
Beauregard lit the lamp at 46:30, from Smith to make it 4-2. And when Fulghum notched his second with just over five minutes remaining to make it 4-3, it seemed that the Devils were on the verge of coughing up their lead.
After Fulghum’s goal, which was scored at 54:34 and assisted by Ward and Parrish, the Phoenix laid siege to Aubry’s goal, trying to level the score.
With the Devils aiming to catch the Phoenix in the standings, a regulation win was worth an extra point and it was Jarvis who settled it at 57:19.
Latulippe and Campbell combined to feed the Canadian defenceman and he shot the puck past Murphy to give the Devils a 5-3 road win.
The Devils now return home for Wednesday’s Challenge Cup game against the Hull Stingrays (7:30pm).
Statistics:
Devils: Mike Prpich 1+2; Tyson Teplitsky 1+2; Derek Campbell 1+1; Phil Hill 1+0; Wes Jarvis 1+0; Jay Latulippe 0+3; Jason Silverthorn 0+1; Mike Hartwick 0+1
Phoenix: Luke Fulghum 2+0; David Beauregard 1+1; Kenton Smith 0+2; Dwight Parrish 0+1; Nathan Ward 0+1
Period Scores: Devils: 1+2+2=5; Phoenix: 0+0+3=3
Shots on Goal: Devils: 36; Phoenix: 35
Penalty Minutes: Devils: 49; Phoenix: 39
Referee: Michael Hicks
Powerplays: Devils: 1/5; Phoenix: 1/5
Posted on 30/11/08, filed under Devils | No Comments
Cardiff Devils Match Preview
Manchester Phoenix vs Cardiff Devils
bmibaby Elite League game Sunday, November 30
Altrincham Ice Dome, 5:30pm
The Cardiff Devils’, sponsored by 1two1cars.com Vehicle Leasing & Contract Hire Specialist, weekend road trip continues as they travel to Altrincham on Sunday to face the Manchester Phoenix (5:30pm).
It’s the second meeting between the teams this season and the Phoenix hold the upper hand in the season series after picking up a 6-2 win when the teams last met on November 2.
Coming off a 4-1 win against Edinburgh on Saturday, the Devils will have their work cut out to even the series after Manchester impressed with a 7-1 beat down against the Hull Stingrays on Saturday night.
The Devils are ranked sixth in the EIHL, three points behind the Phoenix and having played two more games. With two games to play against Manchester in the coming week, Cardiff could jump ahead of the Phoenix in the standings.
That will be a tough task against a professional Phoenix outfit that has only lost one game to a team below them in the standings this year. However, the Devils are only eight points behind league leaders Sheffield and are a winning streak away from shaking up the Elite League ladder.
Cardiff’s top scorer Mike Prpich bagged two goals on Saturday and now has 18 markers and 16 assists. Marc Fulton added a helper in Scotland and together with Voth will give the Devils the two imports that they missed for much of the previous game against Manchester.
The Devils enter the game encouraged by Brad Voth’s return to the line-up on Saturday after missing four weeks with a shoulder complaint. Voth sustained the injury when the Devils last visited Altrincham earlier this month and his departure in the second period turned the game in Manchester’s favour.
Phoenix forward David Beauregard, the EIHL’s leading goal-scorer, netted a hat trick against the Rays, as did first line winger Luke Fulghum. The Beauregard-Fulghum-Hand line had a role in all seven Phoenix goals and although Manchester have three solid lines, Cardiff will need to focus on shutting down the top unit.
Posted on 29/11/08, filed under Devils | No Comments
Cardiff Devils Match Report
bmibaby Elite League Saturday, November 29
Murrayfield Ice Rink
Edinburgh Capitals 1 Cardiff Devils 4
Brad Voth returned to the line-up with a goal as the Cardiff Devils, sponsored by 1two1cars.com Vehicle Leasing & Contract Hire Specialist, cruised to a 4-1 victory against the Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday night.
With Voth back on the ice, coach Gerad Adams had a full set of imports for the first time this season and it showed at the Murrayfield rink, where the Devils made it three wins in three games against the Capitals this season.
Captain Voth marked his first game in almost a month with an early goal and made an impact later in the game by adding an assist.
Mike Prpich netted twice and Neil Francis was the other scorer for the visiting Devils.
Neil Hay replied for the hometown Capitals, who had new permanent netminder Pasi Raitanen between the pipes.
Cardiff forward Lee Cowmeadow also returned to the line-up after a couple of weeks on the sidelines.
Voth, who has been on the injured list since he sustained a shoulder injury against Manchester on November 2, helped the Devils to continue their recent good form with the opening goal only 1:10 into the game. After taking a pass from Jason Silverthorn, Voth beat Raitanen to score his third of the season.
It was only Voth’s eleventh appearance for the Devils after a combination of injury and suspension ruled him out of much of the first three months of the campaign. Adams sought to ease Voth back into the line-up, giving him limited ice time, though the return of the team captain gave the Devils coach the option of imports on all three forward lines.
The Devils, who have outscored the Capitals 19-3 this season, increased their lead when Prpich converted a powerplay at 19:23.
Prpich’s goal on the man-advantage, which was assisted by Derek Campbell and Wes Jarvis, came while Edinburgh’s star forward Mark Hurtubise was serving an interference penalty.
Hurtubise, who is third in individual points with 10 goals and 31 assists, had a running battle with referee Moray Hanson, who sent the Canadian forward to the sin-bin five times. Hurtubise was the only Capital to be penalised during the contest. Adam Stefishen, Edinburgh’s leader in penalty minutes with 192 PIMs, missed the game through injury and has been out since November 16.
Francis notched his second goal of the season at 27:45 after Voth worked the puck with Tyson Teplitsky, giving the Devils a 3-0 lead.
Hay got the Caps going with an even-strength goal at 30:09, assisted by Hurtubise. However a series of fruitless powerplays prevented Edinburgh from making further inroads into the Devils lead. The Capitals were 0-for-10 on the man-advantage, compared to Cardiff’s 1-for-4.
Prpich completed the scoring at 54:51, assisted by man of the match Teplitsky and Marc Fulton.
The Devils’ road trip continues on Sunday when they travel to Altrincham to play the Manchester Phoenix (5:30pm).
Statistics:
Devils: Mike Prpich 2+0; Brad Voth 1+1; Neil Francis 1+0; Tyson Teplitsky 0+2; Derek Campbell 0+1; Jason Silverthorn 0+1; Marc Fulton 0+1; Wes Jarvis 0+1
Capitals: Neil Hay 1+0; Mark Hurtubise 0+1;
Period Scores: Devils: 2+1+1=4; Capitals: 0+1+0=1
Shots on Goal: Devils: 33; Capitals: 30
Penalty Minutes: Devils: 22; Capitals: 10
Referee: Moray Hanson
Powerplays: Devils: 1/4; Capitals: 0/10
