Devils keep up pressure in second

Photo: Derek Black

Cardiff Devils kept up the chase on leaders Sheffield Steelers with a two-goal win in Dundee over the Stars.

Despite Cardiff having the majority of the puck possession and out-shooting their hosts by almost two to one through the first 20 minutes, it was the Stars who led after period one. Carter Johnson was sitting a Hooking minor when the Devils got caught changing, and the Stars broke 3-on-1 where Spencer Naas beat Ben Bowns five-hole to open the scoring - cue hundreds of teddy bears being launched onto the ice.

Ten seconds into period two, Brandon Alderson tied the game as the Devils began to make the most of their chances. Some five minutes later, the Devils broke on an odd-man rush where Jamie Arniel fed Justin Crandall at the far post to beat Kevin Carr and put the visitors ahead. Naas grabbed his second of the game with the equaliser 81 seconds later, taking a wonderful reverse pass from Harms to fire home from the slot. However, Cole Sanford ensured the Devils would be ahead at the break with their third with 3:46 left in the period.

Dundee came close to an equaliser in the third period on several occasions, with most good things happening through Ryan Valentini or Anthony Rinaldi. Inside three minutes to go, Kyle Pouncy had a golden opportunity to level things but Bowns just about got enough of his one-timer coming in at the far post. At the other end, Carr was called into action to deny the on-rushing Trevor Cox from putting the game to bed.

Marc LeFebvre called his timeout with 1:52 to go and pulled Carr, but the Devils did settle things with 64 seconds remaining despite Stars' protests of a missed call in the lead up to Crandall's empty net goal. Drydn Dow took a minor penalty for his complaints as the Devils took the 4-2 win, while LeFebvre was ejected for his emotions getting the better of him.