Ryan Barrow scored twice – once in the final minute and again in overtime – to earn the Cardiff Devils both points from their visit to Nottingham Panthers on Sunday night.
“It was a big weekend for us coming off the back of the last one,” began two-goal hero Barrow. “Tonight, whichever way it would have gone in the end, I think we could have held our heads high with the effort. The hockey gods were in our favour at the end.”
On a night when the Panthers raised their Playoff banner, it took over half an hour for the opening goal. Ben Bowns came out to play the puck behind his net but put it straight on Tim Doherty’s stick, and he fed Brendan Harris to open the scoring. With 2:40 left in the period, the Panthers were awarded a penalty shot for an Evan Mosey hook, and Mitchell Fossier expertly dispatched it, out-waiting Bowns before finishing five-hole.
“It’s frustrating, to be honest,” commented Panthers captain Matt Alfaro, who returned to the lineup on Sunday. “I think we played pretty good for two periods to get ourselves up, and then we took our foot off the gas. Cardiff are a good team and they kept taking advantage of our mistakes.”
For the Devils, it was as dramatic a comeback as you’ll see. They pulled one back with just over six and a half minutes to play – Nolan Yaremko’s pass set up Brett Perlini, whose shot was saved by Kevin Carr, but Riley Brandt was on hand to bury the rebound.
With Bowns pulled for the extra skater, Barrow tipped Kristoff Kontos’ feed past Carr to tie the game with exactly one minute remaining.
“We stuck to our game plan. When it was time to be aggressive, we were. Coming back from two down was tough, but we came out with full force and went from there,” added Barrow.
Barrow then played the hero again in overtime, finishing a neat back-door pass from Kohen Olischefski at 62:09 to complete the Devils’ late turnaround and secure the 4–3 victory.
“I don’t usually find myself out in overtime too much, but it was a great play by Olischefski to set me up,” said Barrow of the winning goal. “It’s huge – points are big in this league, and you don’t want to be wondering ‘what if’ at the end of the season because of a game you lost early on. Any time we can win in Nottingham is a big win for us.”
Speaking about his return to full fitness, Alfaro added: “It was a long time out, not very fun, but as professional athletes we just want to get back competing. When you get to skate out and have that many fans cheering you on, it’s something special.”
Photo: Panthers Images
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