Andrew Lord sees a lot of his younger self in the playing style of Cardiff Devils spark plug Justin Faryna.
The Calgary-born winger has scored 11 goals this season and his all-action, physical style is a hit with fans.
“Justin is a young Andrew Lord, version 2.7, with skating ability, a better knack around the net and a ton of fire,” says player-coach Andrew Lord. “I love watching that guy play.
“It was a big adjustment moving to Devils because we play a different way. It’s a tough and tough league and a tough guy like him can play through that. He is a big part of our team.”
Faryna linked up with Paul Crowder and Joey Haddad against Sheffield Steelers and they scored all four goals in Cardiff’s Elite League victory.
Former Dundee Stars forward Faryna weighed in with two goals plus two assists, but Lord had to make a change to that line the next evening when Braehead Clan were beaten 6-4 at Ice Arena Wales.
Paul Crowder suffered an injury during the clash with Steelers and had to withdraw from the team an hour before face-off with player-coach Lord taking his place in the team.
Devils have won seven successive matches and travel to play Guildford Flames in a Challenge Cup quarter-final first leg match this evening (7pm).
Faryna is loving life in the Erhardt Conference, having moved from Dundee to South Wales for this season, and says: “The pace is really higher in this conference and that’s one of the big reasons I was keen to move.
“I’m happy in this conference, the big match-ups.
“We are out to prove we can get the job done and I can contribute to that.”
Devils are at the Guildford Spectrum in Surrey this evening. The teams finished second and third in Group C with the Devils finishing ahead of Flames by virtue on a tiebreaker of regulation wins because both had 3-2-1 records during the round robin phase.
Flames beat Cardiff 8-4 at home and 3-2 in Cardiff Bay during the group stages.
However, with neither side chosen as a quarter-final opponent by the three group winners, the two in-form teams were left to face each other again in the last eight.
The winners will play Sheffield, who won their two-leg quarter-final against Dundee Stars 13-3 on aggregate.
Cardiff have the longest winning streak in the Elite League so far this season, having won their last seven games.
Guildford are not far behind the Devils in terms of recent form, however, having won three in a row and eight of their last nine games to move up to fourth place in the League.
Flames’ success has been bolstered by the form of Elite League top scorer John Dunbar plus defencemen Calle Ackered and Jesse Craige, while goaltender Chris Carrozzi has also been among the league’s top puck stoppers since joining in October.
Officials for the game will be referees Stefan Hogarth and Jan Schemjkial with linesmen Lee Young and Ilia Kisil.
Cardiff Devils remaining fixtures during December:
Wednesday 20: v Guildford Flames (away, Challenge Cup first leg, 7pm)
Friday 22 v Braehead Clan (away, 7.30pm)
Saturday 23 v Dundee Stars (home, 7pm)
Tuesday 26 v Coventry Blaze (home, 6pm)
Wednesday 27 v Coventry Blaze (away, 7.30pm)
Saturday 30 v MK Lightning (home, 7pm)
Tickets for Cardiff’s home fixture against Braehead (6pm) are available and ticket information can be obtained via ONLINE HERE
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