Coventry Blaze 3, Cardiff Devils 5

Cardiff Devils are back in control at the top of Elite League after an emphatic win at Coventry Blaze.

On the same night rivals Sheffield Steelers lost 3-2 against Nottingham Panthers.

Both Steelers and second-placed Belfast Giants have games in hand on Devils, but neither can catch Cardiff even if they win all of them.

Coach Andrew Lord, who ran the bench last night, and his team now turn to their home clash with Blaze at Ice Arena Wales on Tuesday (December 27, 7.30pm).

Man of the match Layne Ulmer led the way for Devils at Coventry’s Skydome, scoring two goals with two assists.

Devils survived a late rally from hosts Coventry to win 5-3 and maintain their lead at the top.

Guillaume Doucet opened the scoring on 13 minutes 40 seconds before Matt Marquardt levelled for the Blaze, but Cardiff’ lead was restored 29 seconds from the break when Sean Bentivoglio beat Coventry goaltender Brian Stewart.

Joey Haddad (29-20) and Layne Ulmer (33-20) scored to make the score 4-1 to Devils, but Coventry staged a third period recovery through Robin Bergman (45-26) and TJ Syner (51-03) and suddenly, for the first time, Cardiff looked under pressure.

Their authority was underlined, though, when Ulmer scored his second of the night, giving him a total of four points.

Devils headed back to South Wales and now prepare for their sell-out match against Blaze at the IAW in Cardiff Bay on Tuesday.

Match stats:

Blaze: M Marquardt 1+1, R Bergman 1+0, T Syner 1+0, B Davis 0+1, B Almeida 0+2, B Robinson 0+1.

Devils: L Ulmer 2+2, G Doucet 1+0, S Bentivoglio 1+0, J Haddad 1+0, M Richardson 0+2, S Hotham 0+1, G Fournier 0+1, M Louis 0+1, A Hotham 0+1.

Period scores (Blaze first): 1-2; 0-2 (1-4); 2-1 (3-5).

Shots on goal: Blaze 11+6+14=31; Devils 10+12+10=32.

Powerplays: Blaze 0/4; Devils 1/3.

Referee: Mike Hicks.

Attendance: 2,525.

Men of the match: Blaze, Garrett Klutz; Devils, Layne Ulmer.