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Saturday 30th October: Cardiff Devils v Excel Hull Stingrays @ Cardiff Bay Arena F/O 7pm
Sunday 31st October: Excel Hull Stingrays v Cardiff Devils @ Hull Arena 6pm
This weekend the Excel Hull Stingrays face the Cardiff Devils for the second and third times this year having tied with Gerad Adams side on opening day less than a month ago.
The opening fixture between the two sides saw the Rays bounce back from 3-1 down to snatch their first point of the year in their first game. However, the game was marred by an incident which saw Devils blueliner Justin Sawyer ejected and later suspended for a further three games for a sucker punch on Kris Grundmanis, after Rays defencemen had allegedly manhandled top scorer Jon Pelle
Although Sawyer has now left the Devils for 'personal reasons', Adams and his side vowed to get revenge for what happened to Pelle that night and with tough guy and entertainer Brad Voth back from a thumb injury, the two game weekend series looks set to be a corker.
Since the Challenge Cup draw in early October, the Devils have gone on a run that, prior to last night, had seen them win five games in an eight game spell losing to just Belfast and Coventry. However, yesterday the Devils surprisingly handed bottom side Dundee their first win in the Elite League in a 7-3 loss in Scotland.
The Rays have been performing well recently, if not always claiming the points they deserve, and will be without four Brits through injury. Although reinforcements may or may not be on their way this weekend, deadly import trio Jereme Tender, Matti Uusivirta and Jason Silverthorn have filled the void netting ten goals between them in the last three games as Sylvain Cloutier's side picked up three points.
With a Challenge Cup game in Cardiff on Sunday, the more important fixture comes on Halloween on Sunday when Adams side travel to Hull in the Elite League for a Devil of a night.
Challenge Cup Record
Stingrays: 5TH 2GP 0W 1T 1L 6GF 9GA 1PTS
Cardiff: 2ND 5GP 2W 2T 1L 21GF 22GA 3PTS
Elite League Record
Stingrays: 7TH 7GP 2W 4L 1OTL 22GF 29GA 5PTS
Cardiff: 5TH 11GP 7W 5L 0OTL 55GF 45GA 14PTS
Form
Stingrays: L L L W L
Cardiff: W W W W L
Last 3 Meetings
v Cardiff
14/02/10 7-0 L A
21/03/10 2-3 L H
03/10/10 3-3 D H
Stingrays 10/11 Series
v Cardiff: 1GP 0 wins, 0 losses, 1 tie 1 point, 3 goals for, 3 goals against.
Top Scorers
Stingrays
G: Tendler (7)
A: Dulle (7)
PIM: Sladok (40)
Cardiff
G: Pelle (18)
A: Matzka (18)
PIM: Michel (76)
Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Christian Boucher (9GP 4.00GAA 88.7sv.%)
Cardiff: Stevie Lyle (8=17GP 4.22GAA 86.4sv.%)
Absentees
Stingrays: Lee Mitchell (knee), Ryan Lake (broken thumb), Craig Mitchell (broken arm), Lee Esders (knee)
Cardiff: Full Strength
Predictions
Cardiff 4-2 Stingrays
Stingrays 4-3 Cardiff
