Ben Bowns made 38 saves and Joey Martin scored the lone goal to give the Devils a narrow 1-0 lead after game 1 of this two-legged quarterfinal.
Ben Bowns made 38 saves and Joey Martin scored the lone goal to give the Devils a narrow 1-0 lead after game 1 of this two-legged quarterfinal.
From the drop of the puck, you could feel the tension between these two teams. Things hit boiling point just 8 minutes into the game when Matt Pelech from the Giants and Mark Louis from the Devils dropped the gloves for a rare fight in a game with so much on the line.
The Devils got the only powerplay of the opening 20 minutes, but didn’t convert with Brian Ward off for hooking, however just after he returned to the ice, Mike McNamee touched the puck over to Joey Martin just inside the Giants zone and Martin rifled a shot over the shoulder of Shane Owen in net for the Giants.
That goal came at 14:25 of the first period, and it ended up being the game winner. Despite 5 powerplay chances for the Giants, the home side could not find a way past Ben Bowns who played one of his best games of the season so far.
The middle period saw the Devils shorthanded 3 times, but time and time again the Cardiff penalty killers along with the standout play of Bowns kept the Giants at bay. The Giants piled on the pressure in the final period, but again Bowns was there to make big save after big save to keep a blank sheet.
The series is still all to play for with the 2nd leg coming up next Wednesday in Cardiff with the puck dropping at 7:30pm at the Viola Arena.
Photo Credit: William Cherry
