Devils eliminated from CHL with defeat in Finland

Photo: Elmeri Elo / ElonKuvaus

Despite a battling performance in Finland, the Cardiff Devils were made to rue missed chances in the final period as they slipped to a 5-2 defeat to Lukko Rauma.

Lukko, who knew a win would see them into the Round of 16 with a game to spare, had the better of the early possession and chances but were ahead on the rush - Scott Pooley with an inch-perfect pass to the stick of Noel Pietilä who deflected past Mac Carruth at 9:18. Just under three minutes later the hosts were too ahead as Pooley this time set up Arttu Ilomäki for the finish in close.

When Kristian Pospisil sniped past Carruth from the slot 3:05 into period two it looked as the Devils might be in for a long night, but they rallied and were back in the game just 29 seconds later thanks to Cole Sanford, who went round one defenseman and shot from the slot to get his side on the board.

A badly-timed penalty on Josh Batch only 11 seconds later put Lukko on to a powerplay they didn't waste, Vili Saarijärvi shooting through traffic to restore their three-goal lead only 34 seconds after the Devils had got themselves back into things.

The visitors weren't done in the period though, and a laser of a shot from Josh Waller found the top shelf from an angle to bring Cardiff back to within two with 28 minutes still left on the clock.

Brodie Dupont, Josh Lammon and Cole Sanford all had good chances to halve the deficit, but were unable to find a breakthrough for the Devils in the third. A late powerplay for the Devils gave them a chance to force a way back into the game, but with Carruth pulled Lukko scored straight of the faceoff thanks to Saarijärvi shooting from his own goal line.

The defeat means that the Devils are now mathematically eliminated from the Champions hockey League 2021/22, although they will host Lukko in Cardiff next week for their final Group Stage game.