Cardiff Devils man of the match Joey Martin. Pic: Richard Murray.

Flyers’ Praise For Lord’s ‘Relentless’ Cardiff Devils

Todd Dutiaume, Fife Flyers’ long-serving head coach, paid tribute to Cardiff Devils after their 7-2 win ended the Scottish club’s unbeaten Elite League record.

“Devils are relentless, they keep coming at you in waves,” said Dutiaume. “This is probably the strongest Devils team we’ve come across.

“We were fortunate to get out of the first period only 2-1 down and for 12 to 13 minutes in the second were were engaged. Then five minutes of madness when Cardiff scored four goals effectively ended the game.”

Canadian Dutiaume, from Winnipeg, first joined Fife Flyers as a player more than two decades ago and has been coach for 13 years.

Man of the match Joey Martin and Sean Bentivoglio both finished with two goals and two assists, leading Devils to their second seven-goal win of the weekend. They won 7-1 against Steelers and Fife were beaten 7-2.

Now head coach Andrew Lord and his players are focused on their home match against Guildford Flames on Saturday, the first of three fixtures in five days.

Devils travel to Coventry Blaze in their last Challenge Cup group game on Sunday and then go to Scotland for a League clash against Glasgow Clan the following Wednesday.

Justin Faryna, who returned last weekend after recovering from injury, did not ice in the third period against Flyers and Lord said: “It was a little niggle and he’s be good to go in a couple of days.

“We were concerned it was to do with the old injury, but thankfully it isn’t.”

Flyers went into the match unbeaten in the League, having earned eight successive wins, but they could not match Devils.

“We were firing on all cylinders,” said Lord. “I loved our start again, the boys came out gunning.

“There was an unfortunate bounce just before the end of the first when they scored, but we kept our composure and finally swore them down.

“When you play the right way offense comes and chances come. Confidence in a factor and the guys are confident right now.

“We have to focus on details and process and must enable the mind and body to do that.”

Devils took the chance to give back-up goalie Thomas Murdy ice time in the final period and he was beaten once when Fife were awarded a penalty show and Evan Bloodoff scored.

“For the little amount he plays Thomas is fantastic,” said Lord. “The guys love him. He sums up our locker room and when we can get him in goal we do that.

“He is an extremely good goalie. Thomas and Bownsy (Ben Bowns) complement each other really well.”

Tickets are on sale for Devils’ home fixture against Guildford Flames on Saturday (7pm).

CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE or CALL 0800 0842 666 to book

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There is midweek Elite League action this week when Guildford Flames host the Sheffield Steelers on Wednesday night, as both try to build on their wins on Sunday.

Steelers finally earned their first win under new Head Coach Tom Barrasso as the Yorkshire side eded their negative series with a 4-3 win against Manchester Storm.

On Friday night MK Lightning play the first fixture of their Scottish triple-header games when they visit Stars.

ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2018/19

TEAM GP W L OTL PTS PCT GF GA PIM STREAK
Nottingham Panthers 15 9 6 0 18 .600 48 49 239 1-0
Fife Flyers 10 8 1 1 17 .850 46 31 134 0-1
Belfast Giants 12 8 4 0 16 .667 46 27 155 0-1
Cardiff Devils 9 8 1 0 16 .889 46 17 83 6-0
Coventry Blaze 9 5 3 1 11 .611 30 28 123 2-0
Guildford Flames 10 5 5 0 10 .500 33 32 128 1-0
Glasgow Clan 10 5 5 0 10 .500 29 34 118 0-1
Manchester Storm 12 5 7 0 10 .417 34 39 248 0-1
Dundee Stars 12 1 4 7 9 .375 28 40 154 0-8
Sheffield Steelers 13 4 9 0 8 .308 30 52 222 1-0
Milton Keynes Lightning 10 3 7 0 6 .300 19 40 223 0-2

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