Flames fight back from three down

Photo: John Uwins

Guildford Flames fought back from 3-0 down to beat Cardiff Devils 4-3 on Saturday night.

Three goals in six minutes across the opening two periods put the Devils in complete control at the Spectrum. The first had an element of fortune about it with the puck landing at the feet of Ryan Barrow after Trevor Cox threw the puck on Eamon McAdam at 15:42. Seven minutes before the first period was out, Cole Sanford fired home from a Marcus Crawford pass to score short side and double the lead on the powerplay.

1:42 into the middle period, Cox let fly from the point through a crowd of players to put the Devils three up. Guildford needed to score the net goal if they were to make a game of it, and did with 1:15 left in the period - Ben C'Connor shooting from the point and captain Brett Ferguson tipping it in front of Ben Bowns. Debutant Matt Tugnut then piked the puck home in close to bring the Flames back to within one at 31:20. As the clock ticked down of period two, Cox went through 1-on-0 on McAdam but couldn't convert, the the visitors led by just one through 40 minutes.

With Marcus Crawford given a Slashing minor 5:25 into period three, the Flames took full advantage with Patrick Bajkov deflecting an excellent pass from Ryan Tait past Ben Bowns to tie the game at 46:46. The comeback was complete with 7:18 to play when Peter Crinella used the defenseman in front of him as a screen and shot high past Bowns to put the Flames 4-3 ahead. 

Bowns was pulled with 1:19 to play, the Devils were then haded a powerplay with Crinella called for interference as he chased a loose puck going wide of the empty net.