Burman shutout ends Flames negative series

Photo: John Uwins

Taz Burman stopped all 20 shots he faced to record a shutout and help Guildford Flames end their three-game losing run with a win over third-placed Cardiff Devils, snapping the Welsh side's winning run in the process.

In a very lively opening period, Bradley Lalonde opened the scoring when Ben O'Connor set him up for the big one-timer at the point for a powerplay goal on six minutes. 61 seconds later, the Flames broke on what turned into a 2-on-0 with Ian McNulty beating Taran Kozun in close to put the home side up by a pair.

The next goal in the game was going to be important, and it came in strange circumstances when a dump in from the Flames on a penalty kill took a bad bounce of the boards, completely wrong-footed Kozun, and allowed Sam Marklund to fire into an empty cage with 21:19 on the clock.

Burman got good help from his defensemen to preserve the shutout as the Devils pushed hard for a way back into the game in period three - both Bradley Lalonde and Ben O'Connor putting their bodies on the line to stop the puck getting through. The final 10 or so minutes of the game was largely played in the Flames' zone, but the Devils couldn't force a breakthrough and went down 3-0.