Devils stay level in third with home win over Giants

Photo: James Assinder

Cardiff Devils kept themselves joint third in the Viaplay Elite League standings with a home win over Belfast at Ice Arena Wales, moving six points clear of the Giants in the process. 

The Devils scored the first goal of the game early in the second period as Cole Sanford capitalised on a 5-on-3 powerplay at 22:21. The Giants, however, did not take long to respond: Ciaran Long took a nice pass from Steven Owre and beat Ben Bowns a mere 21 seconds after the Devils had opened the scoring. Marcus Crawford took the lead back for the Devils when he blasted a one timer past Jackson Whistle at 37:15.

Cole Sanford grabbed his second goal of the night with a quick wristshot at 47:45 to put the Devils up 3-1, however the final stages weren't comfortable for the hosts. Long added his second of the night with a deflection on Owre's pass to the front of the net with 2:31 to play. The goal was subject to a video review but stood with no conclusive angle to review it. The visitors then threw pucks at Bowns' net in the final minutes, but home nerves were calmed when Sanford completed his hat trick with a blast into the empty net with 19 seconds to play.