MacDonald hits hat trick in big Devils road win

Photo: Mark Ferris

Three goals in the final two periods saw Cardiff Devils comfortably past Manchester Storm in front of 1,942 fans at the Storm Shelter.

Period one ended all square at the Storm Shelter with the Storm out-shooting their visitors 7-4 through the opening 20 minutes.

Having waited to see over 20 minutes for a goal, the crowd at the Storm Shelter were treated to three in period two – but not the way the majority of them wanted to see them.

Zach O'Brien's excellent pass to the reverse wing found Cole Sanford for the one-time finish 43 seconds into the middle frame to put the Devils ahead. Just over eight minutes later, O'Brien was the recipient of a Cody Donaghey pass to the back post to double the visitors' advantage on a delayed penalty. With three minutes remaining in the second, and Storm skating 5-on-3, Taz Burman made a huge glove save to keep the Devils' lead at two. Josh MacDonald then put the Devils three ahead with 81 seconds remaining in the period.

Three more goals went the way of the Devils in the final period to extend their advantage. MacDonald scored 33 seconds into the third, and then made it a hat trick with a powerplay goal at 45:19. Joey Martin completed an excellent start to the period for the visitors with their sixth at 46:04. A late Boarding penalty on Ryan Hughes saw Dallas Ehrhardt, Jarrod Gourley and Riley Brandt all take Fighting majors, but it was academic as the Devils took a comfortable win.