A late goal from Patrick Asselin sealed the win for the Devils in the first of back to back games against the Coventry Blaze this weekend.
The first powerplay chance of the night saw the Devils open the scoring when Andrew Hotham fired in a shot from the blueline that was tipped by Layne Ulmer and then Matt Pope past Kevin Nastiuk at 5:02. The Devils outshot the Blaze 9-7 in the opening period
The only goal of the middle period came from the Blaze, who tied the game at 37:40 with a shorthanded goal. A misplayed pass in the defensive zone led to Brett Robinson finding Luke Ferrara all alone in front of the net to score past Ben Bowns and tie the game at 1-1.
The third period was end to end action, with chance after chance being thwarted by both netminders. It was so tight, you could feel this game was destined for overtime, but with just over a minute to play, Sean Bentivoglio intercepted the puck just inside the Blaze blueline and found Layne Ulmer at the side of the net. Ulmer controlled the puck and fed Asselin on the other side of the goal who then took enough time to pull it to his back hand and shelf the puck into the net to give the Devils the 2-1 lead with 69 seconds left to play.
The go-ahead goal sent the sold out crowd at Ice Arena Wales into hysterics and they stood for the final minute and cheered their team as they held on for the win. Defenceman Tyson Strachan picked up the man of the match for his steady play on the blueline and Ulmer finished with 2 assists in the win.
Photo: Dave Williams
