Devils get first win in Nottingham for three years

Photo: Panthers Images

Cardiff Devils picked up their first win over Nottingham at the Motorpoint Arena since January 2021 with a 4-2 win over the Panthers on Saturday night.

Rok Stojanovič was a large part of the reason why the Panthers stayed level with their hosts through the opening 17 minutes of this encounter, but the Sloven was eventually beaten twice in 30 seconds for the Devils to take a two-goal lead. Bode Wilde shot home from the point at 17:21, followed by River Rymsha backhanding the puck past Stojanovič to double the Devils' lead.

Ben Bowns made an excellent point-blank save off Otto Nieminen to keep the Devils ahead heading into the closing stages of period two.

Two quick goals got the Panthers back level as Jake Ryczek and then Didrik Hendrant struck 46 seconds apart to make things all square with just under 15 minutes to play.

The goal that eventually won the game was something special. Jamie Arniel dangled through a defneseman's legs before beating Stojanovič to put the Devils back ahead with 9:33 to play. Joey Martin netted into the empty cage with 25 seconds remaining to seal the win.