Cardiff Devils put seven on the board to beat Nottingham Panthers at a sold-out Vindico Arena, severely denting the Panthers’ title hopes.
It was Devils captain Joey Martin who gave them the lead with an excellent wrist shot from the top of the circle with 7:51 played in the opening period.
The home side went two ahead at 10:31 shorthanded when Connor Caponi retrieved a cleared puck and passed perfectly into the slot for Ben Davies to finish past Kevin Carr.
It got better for the hosts who were three up with 6:30 still to go in the opening period. This time on a powerplay, Kristoff Kontos’ shot hit the ironwork but the rebound deflected off Martin to score the Devils’ third.
Brendan Harris shot narrowly over for the Panthers as they began to put on some pressure of their own, before Harris’ pass into the slot hit a skate in front and went through Christian Stoever’s five-hole at 15:56.
With 33 seconds left in the first, Tim Doherty kept a play alive and then saw his shot from the point take a deflection in front, possibly off Ross Armour, to bring the visitors back to within one.
A Martin reverse pass from behind the net set up Josh MacDonald in front to re-establish the Devils’ two-goal advantage 5:37 into the second.
It got worse for the Panthers who conceded two more in under five minutes to find themselves four behind through 40 minutes.
A seventh came with 10:14 to play in the final period. On the powerplay, Brett Perlini had the final touch on a loose puck in front to put the Devils in total control as they cruised to a home win.
Photo: James Assinder
