Late Gourley winner puts out Flames

Photo: John Uwins

Cardiff Devils celebrated a game-winner with 156 seconds to play to beat Guildford Flames at a sold-out Spectrum in Surrey on Sunday night.

The game was delayed starting by over an hour due to problems with the ice, but when it did get going was a tight throughout.

"It was a big relief for our team, we've been battling for a few weeks to find a win, I think we've been working really hard for it and it was a relief for us to get it no matter who scored the winner," said Jarrod Gourley, who hit the game-winning goal with under three minutes to play.

Cardiff opened the scoring just five minutes into the period. A giveaway by the Flames allowed the Devils to rush down the ice with Zach O'Brien slotting past Jake Kupsky with 5:16 played. The Devils probably could have ended the period further ahead, were it not for Kupsky, who kept his side in it.

"Cardiff had been struggling lately, and our big thing was to jump on them early. I think we came out slow in the first period," admitted Flames' Daniel Catenacci. "It wasn't easy with the delays, we found some energy in the locker room, but at the end of the day it wasn't enough.

The Flames were quicker to start period two, and more energetic. An excellent Ryan Tait pass from behind the net set up Daniel Catenacci for a one-time finish at 25:37 to tie the game. The teams traded chances at each end for the rest of the period, although neither could take the lead - the Devils hitting the post of Kupsky's net the closest either side came to going ahead.

Period three remained relatively open, but the game looked set to change with 10:27 to play. Cardiff's Andrew MacWilliam was ejected for a hit to the head on Sam Talbot, putting the Flames on a five-minute advantage. It didn't click for the hosts, however, who failed to really trouble Mac Carruth who was aided by some excellent blocks in front of him. With 2:36 to play, a snipe from Jarrod Gourley as he entered the Flames zone flew past Kupsky and into the top corner to put the Devils back ahead - and leave the home fans stunned. 

"It was going to come down to character, honestly," added Gourley. "There were a lot of distractions going on, they came in from Belfast, we were short, so I was really proud of our group and I thought we showed a lot of character today."

Kupsky went to the bench for the extra skater with just under 90 seconds to play, but the Flames couldn't get much going. O'Brien wrapped up the game with an empty-netter form his own end with 12 seconds to play, ending the Devils' run of five straight defeats.

"Daniel Tedesco and I played for Italy on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week, so this was our fourth game in four nights, plus travel, which was something new for me," added Catenacci. "Coming back today, we knew this was a big game. We came up short tonight, which hurts, but we will get back to it next week."