Cardiff Devils 2 - 3 Stingrays (SO)
Phew!
Following that on Twitter and The Inferno's Match Night Live sure was as fun as it ever is following the Stingrays from afar....!
The Rays looked to be cruising to their first win in South Wales for more than two and a half years after twenty minutes, 2-0 up thanks to goals from Dominic Osman and Jereme Tendler.
However, Rays fans will know things are very rarely that simple and the Devils forced their way back into the game, peppering Christian Boucher with 19 second period shots. Bouch - who I'd add has been outstanding recently, barring perhaps Fife's second goal blip on Sunday - stood tall but further third period pressure (17 more shots for the record) saw Cardiff tie things up in the third with goals from Stu Macrae and Kenton Smith.
Heartbreaking for Sylvain Cloutier, who had never won in Cardiff as Rays coach and who - like myself - must have been thinking two and a half years was about to edge closer to three years.
Turning away 53 shots - his second highest save count of the year after the 56 turned away in the loss to Dundee in October - Boucher saved the Stingrays bacon and forced the game into overtime....and then into penalty shots, where, once again, I (and I'm sure the rest of the Rays fanbase) were fearing the worst. Ever the pessimist when the Rays are involved away from home I'm afraid.
It's a cliche to say they're a lottery but after the Devils Jeff Pierce had earlier missed one in regulation this was finally to be the Stingrays day in Wales. Frantisek Bakrlik and Osman scoring their penalty shots to give Cloutier his first win over Cardiff since a Konstantin Kalmikov hat-trick on 12 September 2009. In doing so they improved their shootout record this season from 1-1, from two contest against Fife, to 2-1.
For those wondering, the Rays last win in Wales? 1st February 2009 under former coach Rick Strachan and that only coming thanks to a late unassisted goal from defenceman Pavel Gomenyuk!
The 3-3 Challenge Cup tie last season and 2-2 a couple of weeks ago aside, the Stingrays have been beaten by the Devils in 12 of their last 16 meetings - including that infamous 12-0 loss last season. Here are those last 16 defeats:
Phew!
Following that on Twitter and The Inferno's Match Night Live sure was as fun as it ever is following the Stingrays from afar....!
The Rays looked to be cruising to their first win in South Wales for more than two and a half years after twenty minutes, 2-0 up thanks to goals from Dominic Osman and Jereme Tendler.
However, Rays fans will know things are very rarely that simple and the Devils forced their way back into the game, peppering Christian Boucher with 19 second period shots. Bouch - who I'd add has been outstanding recently, barring perhaps Fife's second goal blip on Sunday - stood tall but further third period pressure (17 more shots for the record) saw Cardiff tie things up in the third with goals from Stu Macrae and Kenton Smith.
Heartbreaking for Sylvain Cloutier, who had never won in Cardiff as Rays coach and who - like myself - must have been thinking two and a half years was about to edge closer to three years.
Turning away 53 shots - his second highest save count of the year after the 56 turned away in the loss to Dundee in October - Boucher saved the Stingrays bacon and forced the game into overtime....and then into penalty shots, where, once again, I (and I'm sure the rest of the Rays fanbase) were fearing the worst. Ever the pessimist when the Rays are involved away from home I'm afraid.
It's a cliche to say they're a lottery but after the Devils Jeff Pierce had earlier missed one in regulation this was finally to be the Stingrays day in Wales. Frantisek Bakrlik and Osman scoring their penalty shots to give Cloutier his first win over Cardiff since a Konstantin Kalmikov hat-trick on 12 September 2009. In doing so they improved their shootout record this season from 1-1, from two contest against Fife, to 2-1.
For those wondering, the Rays last win in Wales? 1st February 2009 under former coach Rick Strachan and that only coming thanks to a late unassisted goal from defenceman Pavel Gomenyuk!
The 3-3 Challenge Cup tie last season and 2-2 a couple of weeks ago aside, the Stingrays have been beaten by the Devils in 12 of their last 16 meetings - including that infamous 12-0 loss last season. Here are those last 16 defeats:
1-7, 7-1, 2-5, 5-2, 4-1, 5-7, 5-1, 7-4, 12-0, 4-1, 1-3, 6-1, 2-7, 1-2 (Playoffs), 6-3 (Playoffs), 4-2.
In penalty news tonight, Stingrays Derek Campbell and Cardiff's Brad Voth tangled, Bobby Chamberlain received a 5+Game for butt-ending and Jason Silverthorn also received a 2+10 against his former side for checking from behind.
Standout defenceman Dmitri Rodin was the Rays import that sat out of this game due to a knee injury expected to keep him out for three weeks. He joins British forwards Tristan Harper and Ryan Lake on the sidelines.
Next up for the Rays are the Nottingham Panthers at the Trent FM Arena and then a streaky Braehead Clan side that was beaten 9-4 last time out at Hull Arena.
