Devils head home with one-goal lead

Photo: Scott Stevens

Cardiff Devils will start Sunday’s home game one goal ahead of Coventry Blaze after a 2-1 victory at the Skydome on Saturday night.

The opening period saw both netminders tested, with Mat Robson producing a number of strong saves to keep the Devils at bay. Coventry took the lead midway through the period when Grayson Constable directed home a low shot from Jere Vertanen.

“It’s what we expected from Cardiff, they’re very structured and didn’t give us a whole lot,” said Blaze forward Alessio Luciani. “We had a good pushback, we came out strong and took the lead. A couple of bad turnovers ended up in the back of our net.”

Cardiff responded early in the second period to level the game. Kristoff Kontos set up Evan Mosey, who skated in with a clear path to goal and finished to make it 1-1. Seven minutes later, the Devils took the lead when Nolan Yaremko fed Kontos, who fired top corner past Robson.

“It’s a tough place to come into, and I thought we did well to come in and take a lead home,” said Devils forward Kristoff Kontos. “We did well to stay focused when they took the lead and come back.”

Despite further chances for both sides, neither team could add to the scoring in the final period, leaving Cardiff with a slender advantage heading into the second leg.

“We knew that it would be a tight game coming into this rink; they do a good job of collapsing tight,” added Luciani. “Going into their building on a slightly bigger ice surface, it should give us space to hopefully make some plays and get more pucks on the net.”

“We have a game plan that we’re going to try and stick to, and that doesn’t change from a road game to a home game,” added Kontos. “We don’t want to take our foot off the gas and will push to win the game, but we do have that one-goal cushion as well.”