By Terry Phillips

 

Cardiff Devils 6, Edinburgh Capitals 2

 

Man of the match Layne Ulmer led Cardiff Devils to victory against Edinburgh Capitals at Ice Arena Wales.

Canadian forward Ulmer scored two goals and added an assist, while Cardiff’s other scorers were Matthew Myers, Andrew Lord, Jake Morissette and Andrew Hotham.

Devils were again with Chris Culligan, who has a minor injury, with player-coach Andrew Lord keeping his place on the team. Lord joined Ulmer and Bentivoglio on a potent forward line.

This was Devils only match of the weekend and they earned a sixth successive Elite League victory.

Their next test is against Dundee Stars in the first leg of their Challenge Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

Devils have back-to-back home matches next weekend when Nottingham Panthers are visitors to Cardiff Bay on Saturday (7pm) followed by Sheffield Steelers the next evening (6pm).

First period

The first goal, scored by Ulmer after seven minutes 56 seconds, was the signal for the teddy boss.

Devils fans threw hundreds of teddy bears and soft toys onto the ice and they will be delivered to local children’s charities including Ty Hafan.

That first goal came on the powerplay when Gleason Fournier fired a rink wide pass to Ulmer, who drove the puck from the corner across the front of the net and jammed in his own rebound past Travis Fullerton on 7-56.

Devils failed to convert on a second powerplay opportunity minutes later, but, on a delayed call for high-sticking, Matthew Myers doubled the lead at 14-55.

End of first: Devils 2, Capitals 0.

Second period:

Umer netted his second after 22-14, with Scott Hotham and Bentivoglio adding assists, while Capitals hit back with their first goal through Jacob Johnston (38-09).

Devils were well on top at this stage with Capitals battling to stay in contention.

End of second: Devils 3, Capitals 1.

Third period:

It only took 18 seconds for the Devils to make it 4-1 when Andrew Lord scored from a Bentivoglio pass from Bentivoglio.

Four minutes later Devils were 5-1 up thanks to an Andrew Hotham powerplay goal set up by Joey Martin and Patrick Asselin (44-16). Less than a minute later Caps pulled one back from Yevgeni Fyodorov at 45-38 to make it 5-2, while Devils added their sixth goal when captain Jake Morissette netted with a smart backhand shot.

End of third: Devils 6, Capitals 3.

Match stats:

Scorers, Devils: Layne Ulmer 2+1, Matthew Myers 1+0, Andrew Lord 1+0, Jake Morissette 1+0, Andrew Hotham 1+0, Joey Martin 0+2, Patrick Asselin 0+2, Mark Louis 0+1, Sean Bentivoglio 0+2, Scott Hotham 0+1,

Capitals: Jacob Johnston 1+0, Jared Staal 0+1, Taylor MacDougal 0+1.

Period scores: 2-0; 1-0 (3-1); 3-1 (6-2).

Shots on goal: Devils (on Fullerton) 15+9+8=32; Capitals (on Bowns) 5+12+8=25.

Powerplays: Devils 2/4; Capitals 0/3.

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

Attendance: 2,584.