The Devils suffered their heaviest defeat in recent history as they fell to the Belfast Giants by a score line of 9-3 on Sunday afternoon.
It started poorly and got worse through the first 40 minutes of play beginning with the opening goal just 1:44 into the game. Steven Owre shovelled the puck along the goal line that somehow fooled Ben Bowns and ended up in the back of the net to give the Giants an early lead.
The Devils responded with a powerplay goal from Ryan Penny at 15:59 after Sam Jardine’s blast was initially stopped by Jackson Whistle to tie the game. The Giants came right back with Darik Angeli tipping in a shot from Gabe Bast to restore  the home side’s lead at 17:22.
An early powerplay to start the second period for the Devils gave them the chance to equalise, but instead the Giants came back with a short-handed goal by Owre, his second goal of the game at 22:12 to go up 3-1. The Giants extended their lead to 4-1 when David Goodwin took a pass from Scott Conway and lifted the puck over Bowns at 25:19. That goal ended the night for Bowns, as Taran Kozun replaced him in net with 35 minutes left in the game.
Things went from bad to worse for the remainder of the period, as the Giants scored another 5 goals before the period was out to take a 9-1 lead. Owre scored his hat-trick goal at 30:02 on the powerplay, then Conway made it 6-1 at 31:12. David Gilbert scored at 34:07, then Ciaran Long at 38:12. Owre got his 4th of the night to make it 9-1 with 16 seconds left to play in the period.
The game was already over by the time the teams hit the ice for the third period, but the Devils managed to claw a couple goals back in the final 20 minutes. Jake Coughler scored on the powerplay when he tipped in a shot from Cole Sanford at 41:50 then Brodie Reid picked up a rebound off a Ryan Penny shot and beat Whistle at 55:17.
The  game finished 9-3 for the Giants, an embarrassing loss for the Devils against the reigning league champions and one that will give Head Coach Brodie Dupont plenty to work on this week ahead of their trip to Dundee next weekend.
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