Cardiff Devils 4, Coventry Blaze 3

Devils win 8-5 on aggregate

Man of the match Josh Batch left Coventry Blaze breathless with the power of his hits – and rendered their fans speechless when he scored a crucial goal early in the third period.

Blaze had the upper hand in the PredictorBet play-off quarter-final on the night, leading 3-1 and their fans, more than 200 of them, were loud and proud in a corner of Ice Arena Wales.

Batch, a British defenceman turned forward, stunned them with his goal and 39 seconds later Matt Pope netted again and sent Red Army fans into wild celebrations.

Devils won 8-5 no aggregate to clinch their place at the play-off finals weekend in Nottingham and they will play Scottish club Fife Flyers in their semi-final.

The other side of the draw sees Nottingham Panthers take on Sheffield Steelers.

Cardiff’s key to victory was a never-say-die attitude, while the character and spirit in this team is magnificent.

They have underlined that throughout a season in which they have already won the Elite League title and Erhardt Conference.

Now they head into the play-off finals weekend aiming to add a third trophy this season.

Blaze forward Ryan Dingle gave his team hope with a goal after only 34 seconds and Devils head coach Andrew Lord said: “Unfortunately, where we are in the process of this organisation a goal goes in and it’s chaotic. The building goes dead silent, people are panicking and that flows into the guys a little bit.

“Our puck management wasn’t nearly good enough at that stage, but we still generated a ton of chances over the game.

“Their netminder (Kevin Nastier) was tremendous, making big, big saves, and at the same time our goalie (Ben Bowns) didn’t have his best night.

“We are going to need him over finals weekend and I have no doubt he will bring it.

“Overall, I loved the way we responded to our situation and got the job down.”

Devils were 3-1 down on the night after two periods, while the score was 5-5 on aggregate, and Blaze were fired up and looking dangerous.

“I didn’t say much during that break,” said Lord. “I was fired up at the end of the second, but I didn’t relay that to the group.

“We have leaders, we have winners. Our leaders stepped up, talked among themselves and got the message across.

“The way the guys played during the third period was unbelievable. They were almost unplayable at times.

“That’s why I do what I do. It’s so enjoyable to see a team come together like that.”

Dingle’s goal after 34 seconds was a blow to Cardiff, but Justin Faryna hit back to level the scored late in the period.

Brett Robinson netted the only powerplay goal of the match four minutes into the second period and Ross Venus a third for Blaze after 37-42.

At that stage Devils fans feared the worst, but there were wild scenes of celebration when Batch (42-49) and Pope (43-26) scored to tie things up at 3-3.

Coventry pulled their goalie with more than four and a half minutes left in favour of an extra skater and they pressed hard, but Devils had several chances before Faryna scored into an empty net on 58-03 and effectively ended Blaze hopes.

Red Army fans cheered, chanted and sang their way through the last couple of minutes, chanting the names of Faryna and Batch in particular.

Fife Flyers will play Devils in the last four after beating Manchester Storm 6-5 on aggregate. Storm won 4-1 in Kirkcaldy during the first leg, Flyers reversed that scoreline in Altrincham and Carlo Finucci’s fired an overtime winner.

Match stats (Devils v Coventry):

Scorers, Devils: Justin Faryna 2+0, Josh Batch 1+0, Matt Pope 1+0, Tyson Strachan 0+2, Jake Morissette 0+2, Joey Martin 0+2.

Blaze: Ryan Dingle 1+0, Brett Robinson 1+0, Ross Venus 1+0, Alex Barron 0+1, Gaelan Patterson 0+1, Adam Courchaine 0+1, Voitech Kloz 0+1, Danick Paquette 0+1.

Period scores (Devils first): 1-1; 0-2 (1-3) 3-0 (4-3).

Shots on goal: Devils (on Nastiuk) 8+12+9=29; Blaze (on Bowns) 7+8+9=24.

Penalties in minutes: Devils 0+4+0=4; Blaze 8+4+0=12.

Powerplays: Devils 4/0; Blaze 1/1.

Attendance: 3,095.

Referees: Dean Smith and Matt Thompson.

Stars of the game: Devils, Josh Batch; Blaze, Ryan Dingle.

Guildford Flames defeated Sheffield Steelers 5-4 on the night, but lost 9-7 on aggregate.

Three goals in the third period secured a win for Guildford Flames, but they were knocked out over the two legs.

Cardiff-born former Devils forward Ben Davies scored twice for Flames, but his team have ended their season.

Steelers will play Nottingham Panthers in their semi-final. Panthers defeated Belfast Giants 5-3 on the night and 8-7 on aggregate.