On Country Night, Cardiff Devils moved above Manchester Storm in the Elite League standings with a one-goal victory at the Vindico Arena, in another close contest between the two sides.
Cardiff thought they had taken the lead less than two minutes into the game when Brett Perlini finished off a goalmouth scramble, but video review showed the puck was kicked in and the goal was waved off.
Storm then struck first at 9:33 – a stretch pass sent Gary Haden clear, and he skated through to beat Christian Stoever for the opening goal. Cardiff pushed back in the second period, with Cole MacDonald denied on a breakaway by an excellent toe save from Evan Weninger. The turning point came when JD Dudek was assessed a double minor for high sticking after a video review confirmed contact with Ryan Barrow’s face.
The Devils took full advantage of the momentum shift. Cole Sanford forced the equaliser at 34:04 as Storm began to tire, before Riley Brandt teed up Evan Mosey three minutes later to fire high past Weninger and give Cardiff a 2-1 lead.
Two quick penalties on Manchester saw Devils’ head coach Paul Thompson use his timeout to draw up a play. Kohen Olischefski made it 3-1 with 5:50 remaining, driving the net and finding space past Weninger just after the powerplay expired.
Storm pulled their goalie for the extra skater and, after drawing another penalty, made it a 6-on-4. Kaleb Ergang scored in close with 43 seconds to go, but it was too little too late as the Devils held on for the win.