Vastly experienced former NHL defenceman Shaone Morrisonn is set to make his Cardiff Devils debut against Fife Flyers at the Viola Arena this evening (6pm).
Canadian Morrisonn, who played more 500 games in the NHL, mainly for Washington Capitals, will skate out in front of Devils fans in Cardiff Bay.
Andrew Lord, Devils’ coach, described Morrisonn’s arrival this week as ’an exciting signing for our organisation and Elite League’.
Morrisonn sat out during Devils’ 4-1 win against Manchester Storm away on Saturday, but is likely to play against Fife this evening.
Lord’s men were stung by a 5-1 defeat in Fife earlier this month and he says: “Fife beat us convincingly the last time we played in their rink.
“That was a performance where we just were not ready to play. I expect much more from our players tonight, especially after a solid, grinding win in Manchester.”
Cardiff bounced back from a midweek defeat in Glasgow to beat Storm in Altrincham on Saturday, while Flyers fought back from two goals down to beat Clan.
Joey Haddad (2), Mike McNamee and Mark Richardson, with an empty net goal with 26 seconds left, scored for Devils in their win.
Devils earned a first win in three matches by beating Storm.
In an opening period that took only 29 minutes to complete, it was the Devils who scored through Haddad, picking up the puck behind Matt Ginn’s net and beat the Storm goalie with a wrap-around at 14:36.
First training with the team ✔️
Headshots ✔️
Ready for his first game on Sunday 😈🎟 https://t.co/UH03jzYrnG pic.twitter.com/Ik0fAPGn3Q
— Cardiff Devils (@cardiffdevils) November 15, 2019
McNamee made it 2-0 (29-51) before Storm hit back at 36-12 when Scott Simmonds’ shot from a tight angle snuck in under the crossbar.
It seemed that only the goal judge saw the puck go in, but it confirmed after video review.
Cardiff scored from a 2-on-1 break where Matt Myers set up Haddad for the Devils’ third with 1-56 to play before Mark Richardson found the empty net with 26 seconds left.
Match stats
Scorers, Storm: Scott Simmonds 1+0, Cody Thompson, Jared Aulin 0+1
Devils: Joey Haddad 2+0, Mike McNamee 1+0, Mark Richardson 1+0, Stephen Dixon 0+2, Charles Linglet 0+2, Matthew Myers 0+2, Sean Bentivoglio 0+1
Period scores (Storm first) 0-1; 1-1 (1-2); 0-2 (1-4).
Penalties in minutes: Storm 2+2+2=6; Devils 0+4+2=6
Shots on goal: Storm (on Bowns) 16, Devils (on Matt Ginn) 35
Face-offs won: Storm 21, Devils 34
Attendance: 1,291
Referees: Tom Darnell, Blake Copeland
Devils team:
Goalies: Ben Bowns (back-up Thomas Murdy)
First line: Mark Richardson, Gleason Fournier, Blair Riley, Joey Martin, Sean Bentivoglio
Second line: Bryce Reddick, Sam Jardine, Joey Haddad, Stephen Dixon, Charles Linglet
Third line: Mark Louis, Sean McMonagle, Matt Pope Mike McNamee, Masi Marjamaki
Fourth line: Sam Duggan, Matthew Myers, Josh Batch