Saturday night, the Solent Devils hosted the Slough Jets for the first game of 2018, and the second match up of these two teams this season.
In their first meeting, in October, the Devils took the competition 6-2, in an action packed game at the temporary rink in Slough.
Richard Facey with his Player of the Month award from the EIHA – Photo courtesy of Skye Ferguson.
Middle of the table Jets, obviously wanted revenge, and two points could have seen them pass Cardiff Fire in the league, and close the gap on Haringey Huskies. Jets came out fighting, and in a display of speed and skill, Lukas Smital set up Timo Lindgren to beat Christian Cole, getting the scoring off to a start for the visitors.
The Devils responded two minutes later, head coach Alex Murray and Devils top points man, Richard Facey, helped Drew Campbell level the score.
Twenty seven seconds later, Facey gave Murray an assist as Murray put the Devils in the lead. Minutes later, Murray returned the favour, helping Facey make the score 3-1.
Recent re-signing for the Devils, Jamie Fitzpatrick provided the solo assist to Mark Pitts at 8:34, pushing the Devils further in to the lead.
Slough, despite being 4-1 down less than half way through the first period didn’t drop their heads, and kept on pressing the attack, used to playing on a small pad so stealing some of the Devils home advantage. Eventually, Luke Dreelan broke through, scoring an unassisted goal.
Smital was called for crosschecking, and while he sat in the penalty box, he witnessed Pitts help Devils captain, Alex Cole score his first goal of the season.
The second period started, Pitts in the penalty box following a tripping penalty just before the break, and both teams were playing fast and physical hockey. Pitts returned to the ice, then Slough lost Luke Reynolds. Devils however, didn’t get much of a powerplay, as Kieran Annis headed out seconds later.
With the two players in the sin bin, Facey scored his second goal of the night, Campbell and defenceman, Ben Lock with the assists.
Just over a minute later, Sam Rudkin buried the puck in the net, helped by Murray, making the score 7-2.
A pair of penalties were sat, one for each team, after Lindgren elbowed Cole, and Cole retaliated. Both players returned to the ice, with the score remaining the same.
It was just over ten minutes from Rudkin’s goal, when Rhys McCormick had the home fans cheering once more, Rudkin with an assist, and another returning Devil, Kyle Goddard helping too.
The teams headed to the break with the score 8-2, and when they returned the Devils had swapped their net minder, Cole relinquishing the job to Aaron Taylor.
The Jets still had some fight in them, and as Lock finished a penalty he picked up in the dying minute of the second period, Lindgren picked up a second goal of the game, Reynolds with the only assist, just thirty two seconds in to the period.
This was the final goal for the visitors, but the Devils were not done, and the following ten minutes was like a challenge for the Devils to see who could add to the points tally.
It started with a goal from Christopher Hocquigny, assisted by Pitts.
This was quickly followed by the first line (Facey, Murray and Campbell), with Campbell scoring the goal, as the other two added to their assists tally. Following this goal, Chris Douglas headed to the bench, relieved by Matthew Lowden.
Pitts then earned another assist, Evan Crockford beating Lowden. Ten seconds later, Lowden allowed another to slip through, this time Goddard with the goal, McCormick with his first assist of the evening, Daniel Shire with the secondary assist.
Minutes later, the veteran trio of the first line were back on the ice, and Facey earned his hat trick, the only assist coming from Campbell. Never one to be outdone though, Campbell picked up his third goal of the game, just twenty seconds after Facey’s, both Facey and Murray picking up assists.
Richard Facey receiving his man of the match award from some young fans – Photo courtesy of Skye Ferguson.
This saw the last eight minutes of the game pass goal less, and neither team lost another player to the penalty box, meaning the final buzzer went with the scoreboard reading 14-3.
Man of the match for Slough was Timo Lingren, and for the Devils was Richard Facey, who also had an extra round of applause for picking up the league trophy for Player of the Month in November – this being the first home game since the announcement.
Speaking after the game, Richard Facey, humble as ever, said “We have a lot of games like this where you are going to get a few extra points, these aren’t the ones that are going to matter at the end of the season, when we play against Oxford, Bracknell and Chelmsford, these are the ones I’m really worrying about and I really want to be involved in.”
Head coach, Alex Murray talking about the busy period ahead – seven games in five weeks, five games in January – said “We have been desperate for some games, I have strengthened and am hoping to get some more players through the door before the January deadline, we are excited to get some games in a quick turn around.”
The Devils are home again this Saturday, facing off against the Swindon Wildcats for the second meeting this season, before heading to Chelmsford on Sunday to try and get revenge against the Chieftains following the loss in Gosport in October.
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