The Cardiff Devils tonight completed a convincing league whitewash over the Excel Hull Stingrays making light work of Sylvain Cloutier's Rays in a 7-2 scoreline to record their sixth win in six games.
The home Stingrays opened the scoring after 5.17, in arguably their brightest moment in the full 60 minutes, as Konstantin Kalmikov perfectly angled his stick to deflect a Kurtis Dulle point shot up and over Stevie Lyle's shoulder for the opening goal.
Despite some positive early play, that would be as good as it would get for the Rays as Max Birbraer quickly leveled the scores less than a minute later, benefiting from a trip from Drew Bannister to send home his own rebound on the ensuing 2-on-1.
Devils tough guy Brad Voth and Rays enforcer Jozef Sladok then dropped the gloves in an effort to energize their respective sides, however, the ensuing hugfest, albeit lengthy, did little to visibly inspire either side.
A powerplay double two minutes apart then gave the Welsh side a two goal lead heading into the second period as Ryan Finnerty first redirected a weak, low but precise wristshot from Mark Richardson before exactly 120 seconds later Birbraer added his second, again slotting home his own rebound past Rays keeper Christian Boucher.
Five minutes into the second period the game was effectively ended as a contest, as two goals 33 seconds apart deservedly killed off the Stingrays after some poor defence from the Rays and decisive counter attacking from the visitors with Sam Smith bagging his first and Birbraer netting his hat-trick goal for a 5-1 lead.
If the game wasn't over at that juncture then it was 46 seconds into a largely uneventful third - which saw the Devils replace Lyle with backup Joe Myers - as Scott Matzka fired in Cardiff's sixth and third powerplay goal of the game as he perfectly found a puck sized hole high on the nearside of Boucher.
League leading goalscorer Jon Pelle then recorded his 54th of the year and his sides fourth powerplay goal on another rebound that stuffed home past Boucher - who allowed seven goals on 45 shots.
The Rays then ended the game as they started it - with a goal - as Jereme Tendler bagged an outstanding 11th shorthanded goal of the year on a 2-on-1 alongside Dulle, who chalked up a second assist of the game, with 26 seconds remaining.
The defeat, their second 7-2 loss in two homes games following Wednesday's loss to Coventry, completed a league whitewash for the Devils over the Stingrays and confirmed that they would be the only team not to suffer defeat at the hands of Sylvain Cloutier's side this season.
While disappointing, the loss and comprehensive series defeat is somewhat acceptable given the quality of the Devils this season and their impressive performances in each of the teams seven meetings this year.
7-4, 12-0, 6-1 and tonight's 7-2 loss perfectly reflects their dominance over the Rays this season and also their overall quality this year. They may not say it but the Stingrays will undoubtedly be hoping to avoid Cardiff in the end of season playoffs, although it is touch and go whether they will face the Welsh club with the Rays set to meet the league runners-up and Belfast, Cardiff and Sheffield all still in the running for the league title with eight days remaining in the season.
Whoever their opponent in the post-season, the Stingrays will have to up their game considerably after two demoralising and heavy losses in their last two home games, in which they have conceded 14 goals.
They travel to Scotland tomorrow hoping to refind their form against a hapless but hardworking Edinburgh side - now on a 26 game losing streak - before returning north of the border on Wednesday with a game in Glasgow against Braehead, who tonight beat Coventry, Nottingham and Sheffield to lift their first ever trophy in a shortened one day 20/20 competition. Finally, the Stingrays will end the 10/11 regular season with a home double header against Edinburgh and Nottingham next weekend.
Rays Rating
4
FBB Three Stars
1- Jozef Sladok (0+0)
2- Ryan Lake (0+0)
3- Andrew Coburn (0+0)
