Drew Schiestel made a winning debut for Cardiff Devils and delighted head coach Andrew Lord, who said: “He’s going to be one heck of a D-man for us.”
Devils earned a third successive Elite League win, beating Fife Flyers 3-2, and eased into second place in the table behind Belfast Giants.
Schiestel made his first appearance at the Viola Arena in Cardiff Bay less than two days after landing in the UK.
“Drew’s arrival is great timing,” said Lord, who played Schiestel alongside Bryce Reddick. “We’ve considering another addition for a long time and have been pretty picky.
“He is a great find. The guys skates unbelievably well and has an extremely good first pass.
“That’s big and will help us. Teams are forechecking hard with the pace of play going up.
“Drew had good references and has fitted right in, jumping in only around 24 hours after getting off the plane. It’s not the best thing to put your body through, but he was all for it.
“Give him a couple of weeks to get up top full speed and he’s going to be one heck of a D-man or us.”
Man of the match Charlies Linglet (2) and Matt Pope scored for Devils, who were in control at 3-0 in the final period and really should have added more goals.
The next test for Devils is against Manchester Storm away on Saturday, while they take on MK Lightning in Cardiff Bay on Sunday (6pm).
Lord’s men look in good shape to step up their challenge for a third successive League title, three points behind Giants with a game in hand.
The rivals still have to play each other five times in League fixtures, while Fife and Nottingham Panthers are also right in the mix at this early stage of the season.
Devils were able to give defenceman Mark Richardson and centre Layne Ulmer a break during a busy run of fixtures.
They now have one extra import, which will allow Lord to rotate, and cover in all areas.
Joey Haddad switched from wing to centre against Fife, covering for Ulmer, while Matthew Myers linked Sam Duggan and Jake Morissette.
“We have four quality forward lines,” said Lord. “Joey Haddad did a solid job at centre, a little out of position filling in for Layne.
“We’ve been getting back to our game over the last few games, but we started slow against Fife. The first goal was big and got the building energised.
“After that we were in good shape.
“Our second period was really how we want to play hockey and there were tons of good things. We were unlucky not to score a couple more and make it four or five nil.
“It was good to make it 3-0 in the final 20 minutes. I was not all that happy with the final nine minutes when we made some poor decisions, but overall we are playing the right way and getting back to where we want to be.
‘There is a team buy in to what we are doing and a lot of pace.
“We have a big challenge on Saturday in Manchester. Their building is hard to play in for visiting teams. Storm play to their strengths, have good goaltending and an offensive upside.
“They play hard defensively and counter well. We will have to start well and play a hard-nosed game.”
Pure filth from @TheRealCL07 for his second goal last night 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LNn5SBLEhf
— Cardiff Devils (@cardiffdevils) November 22, 2018
Cardiff Devils remaining fixtures in 2018
November
Saturday 24 v Manchester Storm (away, 7pm)
Sunday 25 v MK Lightning (home, 6pm)
Wednesday 28 v Glasgow Clan (away, 7.30pm)
December
Saturday 1 v Fife Flyers (away, 7.15pm)
Sunday 2 v Dundee Stars (home, 6pm)
Wednesday 5 v Guildford Flames (home, 7.30pm)
Sunday 9 v Belfast Giants (away, 4pm)
Friday 14 v Glasgow Clan (home, 7.30pm, Challenge Cup)
Saturday 15 v Manchester Storm (away, 7pm)
Thursday 20 v MK Lightning (away, 7.30pm)
Saturday 22 v Dundee Stars (home, 7pm)
Sunday 23 v Guildford Flames (away, 6pm)
Wednesday 26 v Coventry Blaze (away, 6pm)
Thursday 27 v Coventry Blaze (home, 7pm)
Sunday 30 v Guildford Flames (away, 6pm)
Tickets for Devils games are on sale.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE or CALL 0800 0842 666 to book
CLICK HERE to be redirected to the full fixtures list.
ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2018/19
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA | PIM | STREAK |
| Belfast Giants | 19 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 30 | .789 | 77 | 38 | 265 | 7-0 |
| Cardiff Devils | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 27 | .750 | 74 | 48 | 187 | 3-0 |
| Fife Flyers | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 27 | .675 | 75 | 63 | 281 | 0-3 |
| Nottingham Panthers | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | .614 | 63 | 66 | 353 | 1-0 |
| Guildford Flames | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | .611 | 65 | 52 | 269 | 2-0 |
| Coventry Blaze | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 20 | .556 | 62 | 66 | 251 | 0-2 |
| Sheffield Steelers | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 20 | .476 | 65 | 73 | 326 | 3-0 |
| Glasgow Clan | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 19 | .528 | 56 | 63 | 260 | 1-0 |
| Manchester Storm | 19 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 17 | .447 | 52 | 65 | 567 | 0-1 |
| Milton Keynes Lightning | 19 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 12 | .316 | 46 | 72 | 434 | 1-0 |
| Dundee Stars | 18 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 11 | .306 | 41 | 70 | 224 | 0-5 |