Cardiff Devils powered to a 4-1 win against Milton Keynes Lightning to maintain their charge at the top of Elite League ice hockey.

Captain Jake Morissette and his team hit back from a goal down to emerge comfortable winners against a spirited Lightning team, who played a containing game to try and restrict their visitors.

That worked during the first period, but Devils pressed with intent and outshot their hosts 52-20.

Goalie Jindrich Pacl was Lightning man of the match, but he could do nothing to stop Devils emerging convincing winners.

After a goalless first period during which Devils outshot Lightning 18-6 it was former Devil Denny Kearney who broke the deadlock just over two minutes into the middle to make it 1-0.

Devils dominated after that goal, outshooting their hosts 20-4. That pressure finally paid off when Andrew Hotham found Sean Bentivoglio with loads of time in front of the net and he fired into the top shelf past Lightning netminder Pacl at 33 minutes 40 seconds.

Cardiff took the lead at 37-02 when Joey Haddad intercepted a clearing attempt just inside the Lightning zone and he fed Joey Martin, who scored to put the Devils 2-1 ahead.

With less than 90 seconds left in the period defenceman Tyson Strachan blasted a shot through traffic that found its way into the net to make it 3-1 at 38-36.

The only goal of the third period came when Justin Faryne placed a perfect pass onto the stick of Haddad, who fired the puck past Pacl to make it 4-1 at 53-38.

Match stats:

Scorers: Lightning: Denny Kearney 1+0, Kevin King 0+1.

Devils: Sean Bentivoglio 1+1, Joey Martin 1+0, Tyson Strachan 1+0, Joey Haddad 1+0, Andrew Hotham 0+2, Layne Ulmer 0+1, Bryce Reddick 0+1, Justin Faryna 0+1.

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

Shots on goal: Lightning (on Bowns) 6+4+10=20; Devils (on Pacl) 18+20+14=52.

Penalties in minutes: Lightning 4+2+4=10; Devils 2+2+2=6.

Powerplays: Lightning 0/3; Devils 0/5.

Attendance: 2,036

Referee: Matt Thompson and Matt Rose.

Stars of the game: Lightning, Jindrich Pacl; Devils, Sean Bentivoglio.

Other Elite League results, Saturday:  Braehead Clan 3, Dundee Stars 1; Manchester Storm 3, Guildford Flames 0; Nottingham Panthers 0, Sheffield Steelers 4; Fife Flyers 2, Coventry Blaze 3.

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