Cardiff Devils made a winning start to pre-season, defeating Rapaces de Gap 5-1 in front of an almost sell-out crowd at the Vindico Arena.
After hitting the post earlier in the opening period, Nolan Yaremko opened the scoring by banking the puck in off Max Zimmermann, who was caught out of position.
Gleason Fournier and Brett Perlini struck just 49 seconds apart early in the second period to put the Devils 3-0 ahead, before the game turned scrappy. Cedric Lacroix was ejected for a slashing major after video review at 29:21, and soon after the Devils were reduced to three skaters when Josh MacDonald cleared the puck over the glass. Gap capitalised on the 5-on-3 advantage, with Dimitri Thillet pulling one back.
Yaremko restored the Devils’ cushion late in the period with his second goal of the night, assisted by Jacob Bryceland in his first appearance for Cardiff.
Ryan Barrow rounded off the scoring with 3:47 left to play, tapping in Perlini’s feed at the far post to seal a 5-1 victory.
The two sides meet again on Sunday at 6pm.
Photo: James Assinder
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