Coventry Blaze made it a perfect weekend with a 2-1 win over the Cardiff Devils in a tight game in the Skydome.
“It is always good to win a victory. It was bad to go down early while the shot makes its way, but I think that’s one of my strengths – to stay composed,” said Mat Robson, who stopped 45 out of 46 shots with which he encountered in the blazet network. “I had faith in the boys in front of me and we thought it was a way to get it done. It is never good to get boys injured, but it offers opportunities for others to get into roles and we are really happy with how everyone in what is asked of them, steps.”
The devils wasted no time to get started and were ahead in the opening minute. A floating puck in and around Robson was put home after 53 seconds by Ryan Barrow. Christian Stoever deducted a few decent rescues when the Devils came across the criminal problems towards the end of the period, but they stayed ahead of a single goal.
Period two was the turn of the fire to start quickly. Fifty-three seconds were on the clock this time when Stoever stopped the chance of Grant Mismash, but Mike Pelech was present to put the rebound at home for a powerplay goal. The Devils took two more minors in the period, but came out of square.
“I felt that we lost our momentum when we started taking minors, when we got our chances, we had no gasoline,” gave Devils stand-in captain Jimmy Oligny. “We believe in our team and have had a good start. I don’t think tonight is a good representation of what we can do.”
Just over two minutes in the period three, a loose puck perfect for Colton Saucerman to hit home and start the fire. Sam Duggan saw him deny him on an escape when the Devils tried to become the same, and as the game approached his conclusion, they invested Robson’s net, but it didn’t help.
“We feel good. Taking silverware home for the fans is something that we want to do this season and we take every game seriously,” Robson continued. “It is a bit different this year, starting with only cup matches, but it was a really good test for us tonight in the coming week.”
Despite the loss, Oligny enjoys his time in Cardiff. “It has been great in Cardiff so far. This team treats myself and my family so well. I am enthusiastic about the team; we work hard, have a good group of boys and I have enjoyed the Elite League so far.”
Photo: Scott Wiggins
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