By Terry Phillips

 

Dundee Stars 1, Cardiff Devils 4

Cardiff Devils powered to an eighth successive victory and took a stranglehold on their Challenge Cup quarter-final clash with Dundee Stars.

Player-coach Andrew Lord and his Devils flew to Scotland for the first leg fixture and won thanks to goals by captain Jake Morissette, Joey Martin, Andrew Hotham and Sean Bentivoglio.

They have earned six league fixtures plus two cup matches in their eight-game winning run, scoring 35 goals and conceding 17.

Stars coach Marc Lefebvre hit out at his team, describing some of his players as ‘lethargic’.

“We were three import players short and needed other guys to step up,” said Lefebvre. “But two or three were lethargic – outplayed by a couple of home grown kids (Kris Ingliss and Ben Edmonds).”

Devils were without Canadian utility player Chris Culligan, who was rested as he recovers from a minor injury. He is expected to be available for their matches this weekend.

After two fiercely contested periods at Dundee Ice Arena, Devils were holding on to a one-goal lead thanks to Morissette and Stars were geared up for a big push in the final 20 minutes.

That’s when Cardiff took control, scoring three goals in the last 10 minutes to emerge comfortable winners.

The return leg is at Ice Arena Wales on Wednesday, December 21 (7.30pm).

Devils have four crucial Elite League fixtures before the second leg clash with Dundee, playing Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers twice each.

Their next three fixtures are all at the IAW in Cardiff Bay including back-to-back home games against Panthers this Saturday (7.30pm) and Steelers the following evening (6pm).

Steelers are then back in South Wales on Saturday, December 18 before Devils go to Nottingham the next day.

Match stats

Scorers, Stars: Kevin Bruijsten 1+0, Craig Moore 0+1, Brett Switzer 0+1.

Devils: Jake Morissette 1+0, Joey Martin 1+0, Andrew Hotham 1+0, Sean Bentivoglio 1+0, Gleason Fournier 0+1, Scott Hotham 0+1, Patrick Asselin 0+1, Andrew Lord 0+2, Layne Ulmer 0+1.

Period scores (Stars first): 0-1; 0-0 (0-1); 1-3 (1-4).

Shots on goal: Stars (on Bowns) 9+6+10=25; Devils (on Fallon) 7+8+12=27.

Powerplays: Stars 0/5; Devils 0/3.

Penalties in minutes: Stars 4+0+4=8; Devils 2+2+8=12.

Referee: Pavel Haias.

Attendance: 500.

Men of the match: Stars, Brett Switzer; Devils, Ben Bowns.

Ticket information for all Devils home matches is available from the club’s official website or via the hotline on 0800 0842 666.