It was a must win for the Devils with two valuable Challenge Cup points up for grabs on Saturday night in Guildford when they faced the Flames.  Ben Bowns started in the Devils goal for the second night in a row while Taz Burman got the start for the Flames. 

The home side opened the scoring when Ryan Tait beat Bowns just 4:50 into the game.  Some great stick work to pick off a pass in the Guildford zone saw Ben Davies knock the puck down right onto the stick of Josh Brittain who scored the nicest goal of the night, deking out Burman and backhanding the puck top shelf to tie the game at 8:25. 

The Devils took the lead with a powerplay goal when Sam Jardine took the puck down to boards and found Trevor Cox behind the net who tapped it to Joey Martin for the blast past Burman to go up 2-1 with 1:31 left to play in the first period.

Sam Marklund tied the game on a Flames powerplay midway through the second period at 29:44, but the Devils came straight back with Justin Crandall setting up Brodie Reid whose shot trickled through the pads of Burman, restoring the Devils lead at 30:49. 

An early powerplay in the third period saw Martin set up Josh Waller for the Devils’ 4^th of the night at 44:23, but the Flames responded with another powerplay marker of their own at 46:37 when Turner Ripplinger fired a bullet past Bowns to make it 4-3. 

A late penalty called on Trevor Cox gave the Flames one more chance and Coach Paul Dixon pulled the goalie for the extra skater, giving the Flames a 6 on 4 advantage.  They pressed and pressed, but Bowns stood tall, and the Devils hung on for the 4-3 win. 

Bowns finished with 43 saves and Ben Davies was picked as Man of Match after an impressive game at both ends of the ice. 

Photos courtesy of John Uwins