Cardiff Devils have six Elite League fixtures in 2018 – and head coach Andrew Lord is demanding a big finish before the new year.

Captain Jake Morissette and his Devils have four away fixtures plus two at the Viola Arena in Cardiff Bay, against Dundee Stars this Saturday and then Coventry Blaze on Thursday, December 27.

Devils opened up the title chase in style on Saturday with a 5-2 win at Manchester Storm, a gutsy performance after their devastating Challenge Cup exit against Glasgow Clan the previous evening.

Club owner Steve King was delighted with the Devils reaction to that cup defeat, tweeting: “For some reason this day feels a bit better than yesterday. Great response @cardiffdevils and great leadership @AndrewLord17”

http://https://youtu.be/fkgvu7koNbc

“Intensity, work ethic, commitment, attention to detail and playing to the game plan were factors we got spot on,” said head coach Andrew Lord after the victory in Manchester. 

“I’m really proud. We earned a solid win in a tough place to play.

“We talked about what we needed to do better, but we have to remember this is a veteran group with a lot of pride. That’s one of the reasons we have won titles. They players showed their pride.

“Our home defeat against Clan still stings and it will sting for a long time. But the win in Manchester is a big step forward.”

http://https://youtu.be/YPOouuwt0Nw

Former Devils captain Ryan Finnerty is the Storm head coach and he said: “Devils came out incredibly hard, while I didn’t like the way started.

“If it hadn’t been for Ginny (goaltender Matt Ginn) we would have been out of it in a hurry. We were 2-2 going into the third, but then Cardiff scored a power play goal and we crumbled.

“We struggled to get anything going and ran into penalty trouble. Devils took it to us from the off and that doesn’t happen too often in our barn.”

Devils travel to play MK Lightning on Thursday before returning to South Wales for a home clash with Dundee on Saturday.

Remaining Devils fixtures in 2018:

December

Thursday 20 v MK Lightning (away, 7.30pm)

Saturday 22 v Dundee Stars (home, 7pm)

Sunday 23 v Guildford Flames (away, 6pm)

Boxing Day, Wednesday 26 v Coventry Blaze (away, 6pm)

Thursday 27 v Coventry Blaze (home, 7pm)

Sunday 30 v Guildford Flames (away, 6pm)

TICKETS for Devils home games available ONLINE HERE or by calling 0800 0842 666 or in person at the reception desk at VIOLA ARENA right up until face-off at 6pm.

An excellent opening seven minutes from Flames was enough to give them a lead that Nottingham Panthers were never able to come back from.

It took just three minutes 14 seconds for Guildford’s John Dunbar to opened the scoring on a powerplay and Ian Watters added a second (5-02).

Two minutes later Panthers were in a real hole, three down when Evan Ritt netted. 

Alex Guptill put Panthers on the board at 8-52, while Flames regained three goal lead with 28-12 played when TJ Foster netted.

Panthers scored a much-needed goal at the start of the final period, Alexandre Bolduc pulling the score back to 2-4 on a powerplay, but Flames finished in style with Kruise Reddick and Richard Krough completing the victory.

Sunday results: Nottingham 2, Guildford 6; Coventry 2, Dundee 5; Manchester 4, Belfast 6.

ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2018/19

TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	PIM	STREAK
Belfast Giants	28	21	7	0	42	.750	107	63	404	1-0
Cardiff Devils	25	17	4	4	38	.760	102	69	325	1-0
Nottingham Panthers	30	16	8	6	38	.633	95	90	508	0-4
Fife Flyers	27	15	8	4	34	.630	95	88	359	1-0
Guildford Flames	26	14	11	1	29	.558	89	81	347	1-0
Dundee Stars	28	10	10	8	28	.500	77	94	308	1-0
Sheffield Steelers	27	13	14	0	26	.481	80	89	391	0-1
Glasgow Clan	24	12	11	1	25	.521	73	83	292	1-0
Coventry Blaze	26	10	11	5	25	.481	82	95	360	0-1
Manchester Storm	27	10	14	3	23	.426	75	98	747	0-2
Milton Keynes Lightning	26	9	15	2	20	.385	65	90	541	2-0