Cardiff Devils man of the match Mike Hedden. Pic: Richard Murray.

Devils Take Coach Lord Back To 1980s Childhood Days

Cardiff Devils took Andrew Lord back to the late 1980s during their thrilling, but odd, Elite League ice hockey win against Coventry Blaze at the Viola Arena last night.

Captain Jake Morissette scored a late shorthanded winner to hand Devils a 6-5 victory and head coach Lord said: “What a night! 

“It reminded me of watching the Oilers back in the 80s when they played an open, off-the-rush style. 

“We certainly weren’t playing our normal game against Blaze.

“Coventry played a 1/4 trap and kept us to the outside. We had plenty of 0-zone time, but they made it difficult. Their goalie (Matt Hackett) made some timely saves as well.

“It was a huge win at this time of the season. I loved the character we had to claw it out and our captain (Morissette) scored a big goal.

“At times we need to make better decisions and we weren’t great with puck. 

“We didn’t have sharpness, the mindset to move the puck quickly, throughout the line-up.”

Calgary-born Ben Lake, the League’s leading points scorer on 60, was a key player for Blaze and Lord said: “We talked about Lake until we were blue in the face and it didn’t make a difference.

“He is having a phenomenal season and scored four points against us. He took their team on his back at times.”

It was a night when Devils were far from their best, gave away the puck too often, lacked big match intensity and struggled against Blaze counter-attacks.

Morissette popped up with the winner when Blaze were looking for a winner on the powerplay. Mo’s first shot was saved, but he tucked away the rebound and Devils secured their second successive win to stay top of the table.

Coventry coach Danny Stewart said: “We had a powerplay and four of our guys were caught low. Devils took a shot, got their own rebound and sealed the game.

“We played a perfect road match and kept Devils to the outside. One mistake and it was in the back of our net.”

Mike Hedden was named man of the match, while Thomas Rutkis shone when he was given time on the ice and Lord said: “Rutter had a couple of great shifts for us. I’m loving his development right now.”

ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2018/19

TEAM GP W L OTL PTS PCT GF GA PIM STREAK
Cardiff Devils 43 32 7 4 68 .791 173 109 501 2-0
Belfast Giants 44 33 10 1 67 .761 179 110 572 7-0
Nottingham Panthers 48 23 16 9 55 .573 147 150 780 0-2
Glasgow Clan 43 25 14 4 54 .628 155 132 491 2-0
Guildford Flames 46 21 20 5 47 .511 146 148 572 0-2
Fife Flyers 42 21 16 5 47 .560 140 142 572 1-0
Sheffield Steelers 46 22 22 2 46 .500 137 159 602 1-0
Manchester Storm 45 20 20 5 45 .500 137 157 934 0-2
Dundee Stars 44 17 16 11 45 .511 125 150 425 0-3
Coventry Blaze 42 18 17 7 43 .512 153 170 520 0-1
Milton Keynes Lightning 45 12 29 4 28 .311 106 171 780 1-0

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