Cardiff Devils swept top of Elite League – and earned high praise from Nottingham Panthers coach Corey Neilson.

Goals from Paul Crowder and Joey Martin earned Devils a 2-1 win in Nottingham.

“Cardiff’s forecheck was the best we’ve seen all season,” said Neilson. “They were excellent and dominated for two periods.

“Sometimes you just have to say the opposition were extremely good and, overall, we weren’t good enough.

“Cardiff played with a great sense of urgency and we did not match their intensity.

“If it wasn’t for Galbraith in goal Devils might have scored more.”

Cardiff, Belfast and Nottingham are all on 31 points at the top, two points ahead of Sheffield Steelers, who play Devils at Ice Arena Wales next Saturday.

Netminder Ben Bowns stopped 20 Panthers shots in front of almost 6,000 spectators at the Motorpoint Arena.

Devils went ahead after one minute six seconds when Crowder batted the puck out of the air past goalie Patrick Galbraith. The goal was reviewed by officials, but replays showed a good goal and Devils were up 1-0 just over a minute into the game.

Panthers were outshot 14-7 in the opening 20 minutes, while Galbraith and Bowns were both in top form to keep the score at 1-0 going into the first break.

Martin doubled the lead after 25-44 when he tipped in a blast from Drew Paris.

Devils had a real opportunity to extend their lead when Yann Sauve was called for slashing and roughing on the same play at 35-59, giving the Devils four minutes straight powerplay time. Panthers penalty killing was outstanding and they kept Devils at bay.

Player-coach Andrew Lord and his team had plenty of powerplay chances in the final period to put the game away, including two 5v3 advantages, but they could not convert.

Mathieu Brisebois was called for tripping and Panthers received a two-minute bench minor for abuse of official, giving the Devils two full minutes with a two-man advantage.

Panthers killed the penalties and you could feel a momentum swing in favour of the home team, but then at 49-40 Mark Derlago was called for hooking followed by Sauve at 49-57 for cross-checking.  Again, though, Devils could not score with the two-man advantage.

The home team finally found a way past Bowns at 52-27 when Zack Phillips made it 2-1, which left seven minutes 30 seconds on the clock.

Panthers had a powerplay chance of their own when Sean Bentivoglio was called for tripping at 55-17 but the Devils killed that off, while Bowns made some big saves and there were a few blocked shots before an excellent road win was completed.

Devils have now won five successive League matches and have back-to-back home matches next weekend. Bitter rivals Steelers visit on Saturday (7pm), while Glasgow-based Braehead Clan are in Cardiff Bay on Sunday (6pm).

Tickets are limited for the clash with Steelers, while there are more available for the Clan visit. Details can be obtained via ONLINE HERE or by calling 0800 0842 666. They will also be available at the arena until face-off on each night.

Match stats:

Scorers:

Panthers: Zack Phillips 1+0, Alexander Mokshantsev.

Devils: Paul Crowder 1+0, Jpey Martin 1+0, Joey Haddad 0+1, Drew Paris 0+1, Patrick Asselin 0+1.

Period scores (Panthers first): 0-1; 0-1 (0-2); 1-0 (1-2).

Shots on goal: Panthers (on Bowns) 7+7+7=21; Devils (on Galbraith) 14+12+11=37

Powerplays: Panthers 0/3; Devils 0/7

Penalties in minutes: Panthers 2+4+10=16; Devils 4+0+2=6.

Attendance: 5,885

Referee: Tom Darnell

Stars of the game: Panthers, Patrick Galbraith; Devils, Joey Martin.