Huge comeback puts Devils into Cup Semis
Photo: James Assinder
Cardiff Devils came back from 4-0 down to beat Nottingham Panthers 6-4 at the Vindico Arena, a result good enough to put them into the Challenge Cup Semi-Finals and force the Panthers into the Elimination Game.
Nottingham took an early lead as Ollie Betteridge found the first goal of the night with a turn and shot only 4:21 into the period. No less than three minutes later, Tim Doherty and Reid Stefanson combined to get the puck past Ben Bowns and make it 2-0. To add to the Panther's great start, Sam Herr was left all alone in the slot to beat Bowns in close and make it 3-0 inside 14 minutes.
9:49 into the second period, Mitchell Fossier found the back of the net in the slot to put the Panthers in total control. A regulation loss would also have seen the Devils eliminated.
Cardiff were able to put themselves on the board and find their first goal of the night as a result of Tyler Busch tipping a puck past debuting Panthers goalie Jason just shy of the 31-minute mark. The Devils then got themselves back to within two with a neat breakaway finish from Cole Sanford four minutes later to bring the score back to 2-4.
5:31 into period three, Kohen Olischefski made it a one-goal game and suddenly the volume in the arena noticeably increased. Didrik Henbrant could have put the Panthers back two ahead but saw his breakaway effort saved by Ben Bowns, who then made a toe save to keep the puck rolling over the line. Bowns injured himself on the play, leading to Mac Carruth entering the home side's net.
Just under six minutes later, the Devils got back on level terms with Sanford's second of the night in close to make it 4-4,
Knowing that a win would put them straight into the Semi-Finals, the Devils pushed forward for a winner, and the Vindico Arena's roof almost came off as Olischefski beat Grande short side to put the Devils ahead at 57:58.
Tyler Busch scored into the empty net with 30 seconds to play to wrap up a sensational comeback win for the hosts.
