Taz Burman had a shutout and Flames jumped on Cardiff Devils early to get a lead they would not give up the rest of the way during a 3-0 win in front of a sold out New Year’s day Spectrum crowd.
During a 4 on 3 powerplay, Bradley Lalonde set Flames to a lead at the 6 minute mark and Ian McNulty doubled their start just 61 seconds later and that scoreline was still on the board to begin the 2nd.
Devils re-started the frame with a powerplay chance, but Flames turned the tables when Sam Marklund scored shorthanded to extend the home team’s lead to 3. A Flames powerplay chance that ensued and another late in the frame that carried over mostly into the 3rd were unable to add more to the scoreline which was enough for Burman’s 20 save clean sheet and a Flames win.
“It is always a good time to record a win, but after a few rough outcomes for us it is great to be able to put one back on the good side of the ledger,” admitted Paul Dixon.
“Between 3 losses on the bounce and a full building today, I think we might have started a bit nervous the first few minutes because we had a little trouble handling the puck and Cardiff put a bit of pressure on for the first couple of shifts. Getting that powerplay goal helped pull us out of that and we were on our way from there.”
“It’s good to be able to return to a normal week of training on the back of a huge result and hopefully we can get ourselves ready for solid back to back efforts coming up against Nottingham Panthers.”
