Cardiff Devils must beware the comeback kings in Saturday’s Elite League play-off semi-finals at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.
Number one seeds Devils take on a Flyers team who finished seventh, but those stats hide the fact that Kirkcaldy-Based Fife left Manchester Storm stunned last weekend when they fought back from 4-1 down after the first leg at Fife Arena to lose 6-5 on aggregate.
Head coach Andrew Lord played in the home match against the Scots when Devils led 5-1 during the second, 6-4 early in the third and lost.
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Danick Gauthier, a 26-year-old former Wichita Thunder player, scored four goals including three in 10 minutes during the final period.
Devils went from 5-1 ahead in the third to lose 8-6 and that should pose a major warning to Lord’s man.
Russ Moyer, who won the Elite League title with Sheffield Steelers in 2-16, has no doubts Flyers can cause an upset.
“We can beat any team in the league on our day and the play-off format suits us,” says 35-year-old Moyer. “WE are confident we can outwork teams and there is no doubt we are tough to put away.
“Our results show that we won against Devils in Cardiff and there were a couple of other close games.”
Devils won twice in Fife, 5-3 and 4-3, while they defeated the Scottish team 4-1 at home, but lost that big match in Cardiff Bay 8-6.
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Left-winger Carlo Finucci, who has scored 99 points (45+54) in two seasons with Flyers, netted the overtime winner in their play-off quarter-final victory against Manchester Storm.
His backhand effort left coach Ryan Finnerty’s Storm team down and out.
“That’s one of the biggest goals I have scored in my career,” says Finucci. “I threw a backhand at the net and it went past the net minder’s arm.
“The place went crazy. I took a chance and it went in.
“There is a lot of belief in our locker room. We’ve produced some big comebacks in tough building this season, including Cardiff.
“That shows how special a season this has been for us and we are determined to carry it on into this weekend.
“We’ll be ready to go and ready for Cardiff. We’ve played them well this season, it’s a one-off game and we are incredibly excited.”
Devils play Fife Flyers in the 1pm semi-final face-off on Saturday followed by Sheffield Steelers v Nottingham Panthers at the Motorpoint Arena.
The winning teams clash in the play-offs final on Sunday.
ELITE LEAGUE FINAL STANDINGS
Regular 2017
| Rk | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | WPCT | Pts |
| 1 | Cardiff Devils | 56 | 41 | 12 | 1 | 2 | .759 | 85 |
| 2 | Manchester Storm | 56 | 35 | 16 | 3 | 2 | .670 | 75 |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers | 56 | 34 | 19 | 2 | 1 | .634 | 71 |
| 4 | Nottingham Panthers | 56 | 33 | 18 | 2 | 3 | .634 | 71 |
| 5 | Belfast Giants | 56 | 34 | 20 | 2 | 0 | .625 | 70 |
| 6 | Guildford Flames | 56 | 30 | 17 | 5 | 4 | .616 | 69 |
| 7 | Fife Flyers | 56 | 33 | 21 | 1 | 1 | .607 | 68 |
| 8 | Coventry Blaze | 56 | 25 | 26 | 4 | 1 | .491 | 55 |
| 9 | Braehead Clan | 56 | 24 | 26 | 5 | 1 | .482 | 54 |
| 10 | Dundee Stars | 56 | 22 | 30 | 3 | 1 | .429 | 48 |
| 11 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 56 | 20 | 34 | 1 | 1 | .375 | 42 |
| 12 | Edinburgh Capitals | 56 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 1 | .098 | 11 |