It took 8 rounds of penalty shots, but the Devils pulled off a stunning win over the Coventry Blaze on Saturday.
It took 8 rounds of penalty shots, but the Devils pulled off a stunning win over the Coventry Blaze on Saturday.
It was feeding season for both team’s powerplay units with the Devils opening to scoring on the man advantage 5 minutes into the game. Masi Marjamaki tipped in a shot from Gleason Fournier to make it 1-0 at 5:15 of the opening period.
Below: Devils celebrate Marjamaki's opening goal (credit Helen Brabon)
The Blaze evened the score with a powerplay goal of their own from Evan Bloodoff at 7:05, then took the lead with another PP goal at 18:15 courtesy of Justin Hache’s blast from the blueline to make it 2-1 after the first period.
Below: Stephen Dixon stick handles from his knees (credit Helen Brabon)
David Clements put the Blaze up 3-1 at 27:48 but the Devils pulled one back before the period was over to make it 3-2. It was another powerplay goal, this time from Joey Haddad set up by Sean McMonagle and Joey Martin at 36:19.
Below: The Devils PP celebrate Haddad's goal (credit Helen Brabon)
Midway through the third period, the Devils were celebrating a Sean Bentivoglio goal, but a quick whistle before the puck was covered meant the referees disallowed the goal and the score remained 3-2 for the Blaze.
Below: Evan Mosey returned to the lineup for the first time this season (credit Helen Brabon)
At 55:29, Captain Joey Martin faked a pass to Haddad then opted to shoot himself and the move paid off with the tying goal for the Devils, again on the powerplay. The clock ticked out in regulation time and the 5 minutes of overtime ensued.
Below: Joey and Joey right after the tying goal (credit Dave Williams)
The Devils had plenty of chances to score in extra time, including 3 breakaways, but they couldn’t find a way past CJ Motte for the game winner, so this one headed into a shootout.
Below: The game winning goal from Sean McMonagle (credit Dave Williams)
After the 5 rounds of shots, it was all square with Charles Corcoran scoring for the Blaze and Sean McMonagle scoring for the Devils. McMonagle scored again in the 8th round of shots and Bowns stopped all 3 additional shots, stopping 7 of 8 shooters overall to get the win.
Below: Ben Bowns after winning the shootout (credit Helen Brabon)
Photo Credit: Dave Williams & Helen Brabon
