Cardiff hot on the heels of Sheffield at head of British Elite Ice Hockey League
CARDIFF Devils Ice Hockey host the Nottingham Panthers tomorrow night at the Ice Arena Wales.
The Panthers (4th) sit 16 points and two places behind Cardiff (2nd), with three games in hand.
Last week’s trip to Belfast saw honours shared. Belfast won the first of the two fixtures 5-3, but Cardiff responded the following day with a tight 2-1 win.
On Wednesday night, over 2,000 Cardiff fans saw a valiant Devils side come back from two goals down to win 4-2 against the visiting Glasgow Clan.
The goals came from: Cole Sandford, Stephen Dixon, Josh Batch and Joshua Waller, all in the third period.
Coach Jarrod Skalde said: “I thought we had some good momentum in the first period. We had a lot of puck possession and offensive zone time, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.
“After 40 minutes we were down 2-0, so the message was let’s play fast. I don’t think we challenged their goal tender enough.
“We waited till the end there and once we got that first it was on. You know obviously we’d like to see a better start than that.
“Good teams find a way and tonight we found a way to win a hockey game.”
Cardiff put five goals past Nottingham the last time the two sides met at the end of November.
A 5-1 win at the Ice Wales Arena ensured the Devils comfortably saw off the Panthers, but Nottingham will be looking to reverse that in South Wales this weekend.
Their previous two fixtures have ended in losses to Glasgow Clan and Fife Flyers at home.
Fife sit bottom of the league, with just 17 points to their name.
So, Nottingham come to Cardiff with a point to prove, against an in-form and strong Cardiff side.
Prior to their game tomorrow, Manchester Storm will make the trip down to Nottingham to face the Panthers.
The action starts at 7pm and tickets are still available.
