The Devils opened up a 4-goal lead in the opening period and never looked back, eventually cruising to an 8-3 victory over the Guildford Flames on Sunday Night.
Matt Pope opened the scoring on the powerplay for the home side at 11:12. Sean Bentivoglio doubled the lead at 13:00 just as another penalty expired for the Flames. At 16:46 Matthew Myers scored to make it 3-0. Less than a minute later, it was 4-0 courtesy of a Joey Martin goal at 17:30, which is how the period ended.
The second period was filled with penalties and goals from both teams. The Flames scored on an early powerplay when Ian Watters broke Ben Bowns shutout at 23:32. Tyson Strachan restored the 4-goal advantage for the Devils when he scored at 27:59 to make it 5-1.
Sean Bentivoglio was thrown out of the game after being called for a check to the head after a hit on Liam Stewart. The call on the ice was a match penalty for checking to the head, which means an automatic 1-game ban for Bentivoglio and a review from the Department of Player Safety of the hit.
The final minute of the middle period saw two quick goals, the first was a shorthanded tally from the Flames Kruise Reddick at 39:16 to make it 5-2, then a Devils goal from Matt Pope, his 2nd goal of the night and 2nd on the powerplay, making it 6-2 at 39:56.
Joey Martin scored his 2nd goal of the night just 46 seconds into the final period to give the Devils a 7-2 lead. At 56:36 Flames defenceman Kevin Phillips ripped a shot past Thomas Murdy, who replaced Ben Bowns in the Devils goal for the third period, to make it 7-3. A beautiful individual effort from Gleason Fournier resulted in an unassisted goal for the Devils defenceman at 57:34 to round off the scoring at 8-3.
Three Devils had 4 point nights; Joey Martin (2 goals, 2 assists), Matt Pope (2 goals, 2 assists), and Gleason Fournier (1 goal, 3 assists). Ben Bowns and Thomas Murdy shared the win, collectively stopping 34 of the 36 shots they faced.
Photo: David Williams
