Tonight: Devils with no option but four-point weekend

Photo: James Assinder

Cardiff Devils head into Week 22’s weekend fixtures knowing they need to pick up maximum points after disappointment midweek.

Jarrod Skalde’s team were beaten in Dundee on Wednesday night to stay four points off the top of the table having played four more games. Tomorrow night, they face the league-leading Steelers in Sheffield in what will be a must-win game.

However, the Devils can’t look further ahead than this evening’s visit of Guildford, a team that have taken them past 60 minutes in two of their four meetings this season at Ice Arena Wales. Cardiff’s midweek defeat makes it two straight losses after a run of three wins on the spin. Guildford, meanwhile, saw their midweek game postponed with Coventry in COVID-19 protocol. They’ve gone .500 over their last 10 games and sit fifth but having played a sizeable number of games more than the teams chasing them.

Cardiff have had the league’s best powerplay for most of the season but were usurped by Sheffield in the last week - the Devils’ 25.38%, however, still massively outranks the Flames at 18.11% (#6 overall). The Devils lead penalty kills at 86.73%, with the flames in fourth on 84.49%. While the Devils have three layers aside the league’s top ten point scorers, Guildford’s leader Ian McNulty comes in at just #19 overall across the league.

The Devils have won all three games against the Flames on home ice this season, with Guildford’s last win in the Welsh capital coming in October 2019.