Devils stay mathmatically in title race with OT winner
Photo: William Cherry
Cardiff Devils kept themselves mathematically in the league title race with an overtime victory in Belfast after the Giants fought back from 3-1 and 4-3 down to earn a point in an excellent game at the SSE Arena.
The goals came thick and fast in the opening period after which it was the Devils who held a two-goal lead. Sam Jardine pinched into the play and was on hand to tap home a rebound from a Justin Crandall shot in front of Tyler Beskorowany's net with just 71 seconds played, before Josh Waller took the shot instead of passing on a 2-on-1 rush and sniped a shot past Beskorowany ay 6:31. 26 seconds later, Matt McLeod beat Ben Bows through the five-hole to get the Giants on the board, but as the game went run and gun Crandall finished with a neat move on Beskorowany on the rush to put the Devils 3-1 up at 8:07.
Cardiff thought they'd gone 4-1 ahead not long later, but the goal was washed out on video review for a high stick, after which the odd-man rushes became more limited and the game calmed down somewhat. The Devils ended the period ahead, but it could have been more as they went 0 for 3 on the powerplay.
Cardiff saw a Will Cullen tripping penalty pass off without a goal as they soaked up Giants pressure and looked dangerous on the break. However, the home side's chances were getting better and it was no surprise when Steve Owre beat Bowns in front to get the Giants back to within one. Trevor Cox was binned for charging before Joey Martin took a slashing call 1:38 later to set the Giants up for a 5-on-3 advantage, and although the Devils got through the first penalty they struggled to get a line change and were eventually punished by Mark Cooper on a rebound. Prior to the goal, Ben Bowns slide across his crease to make one of the saves of the season as he did his best to keep the Giants at bay on multiple occasions in period two.
Trevor Cox hit the crossbar on a rush with the Devils' best chance early in period three but the visitors were back in the lead with just under 10 minutes to go - Brodie Reid worked the puck to Jake Coughler in the slot who beat Beskorowany with a patient move at 50:44. The Devils could only hold that lead for just over two minutes, though. After a scramble around the crease, Scott Conway was in the perfect position to put the loose puck past Bowns to tie the game at 52:40.
Both teams had chances as regulation drew to a close, but they each hold on for the point and the game went into overtime. Beskorowany was given a tripping penalty 2:23 into overtime which put the Devils on another powerplay, and this time they got the job done as tic-tac-toe passing set up Cole Sanford for a rocket one-timer to win it for Cardiff.
