Flames made a game of it after falling behind 3-0, but a late powerplay goal by Cardiff Devils put an end to any full comeback thoughts as the visitors delivered a 4-2 defeat of Spectrum’s men.
Joey Martin kicked off the scoring for the road team at 7:43 and an 18th minute Justin Crandall strike ensured they would be up a pair to begin the 2nd.
Just 51 seconds after re-start Cole Sanford had Devils enjoying a 3 goal spread. 31 seconds from period time, Ben O’Connor on a powerplay offered the home sidea chance to start the 3rd just 2 goals adrift.
Less than 2 minutes into that final frame, Peter Crinella nudged them closer again when he pulled it to 3-2, but penalty trouble followed with 3 consecutive minors and Devils earned their insurance goal on the 3rd of those powerplays when Trevor Cox netted 80 seconds from time to complete their success.
“Obviously we did not come out and get the start we might have liked,” explained Head Coach Paul Dixon.
“We played well enough to have been better than no goals in that period so it was tough luck to go to break already down a couple.”
“We were much better in the 3rd, and gave ourselves a chance despite the penalty trouble, but just couldn’t find one to tie it.”
“The key take away for us is we have to be looking for a full 60 minute performance playing closer to the way we were in the 3rd. Having said all that, Cardiff is a top notch team so we can’t discount the things they did to earn a win so a lot of what we were not able to do for parts of the game was down to what they were doing.”
“We will put this behind us and look ahead to tomorrow night with a big game in Coventry.”
