Flames extend streak and lead at the top

Guildford Flames extended their league run to 10 games unbeaten, and moved on to six points clear at the top of the Premier Sports Elite League, thanks to a comeback win over Cardiff Devils.

The Devils started strong and found themselves two ahead inside six minutes. Marcus Crawford opened the scoring with a shot through traffic from the point at 3:12, followed just under two minutes later by Cole Sanford pinging the inside bar of Eamon McAdam’s net from the circle. Daniel Tedesco got the Flames back into things at 8:41, but Jake Coughler put the Devils 3-1 up at 10:52 after an excellent fake and pass from Josh Batch.

Coughler scored the only goal of period two when he batted home in front of the net off a pass from Justin Crandall, the latter having been denied on a 1-on-0 but with awareness to feed the puck back in front of McAdam’s net.

Guildford looked a different team in period three, however. Rob Lachowicz’s smart pass into the slot set up Jordan Klimek for a wrist-shot finish 97 seconds into the period, and by 44:51 the Flames were level when Turner Ripplinger turned the puck over off Sam Jardine and finished high over Ben Bowns.

Neither side found a winner in regulation, although Trevor Cox was only a matter of inches from winning the game inside the final seconds. In overtime, Bradley Lalonde made a rush to the net spotted by Tedesco’s perfect pass, and the defenseman fired home to earn Guildford the win.

Photo: John Uwins