Devils down Flames in Cup Opener

Pictured above:  Callum Booth faced 31 shots on Saturday night (photo Dave Williams)

The Devils opened their Challenge Cup campaign on Saturday night in front of a sold out Vindico Arena against the Guildford Flames.  

Callum Booth got the start in goal for the Devils who were missing Ben Bowns, Josh Waller and Ryan Barrow. Bayley Harewood was called up from the Bristol Pitbulls and Tyler Perre was called in at the last minute to back up Booth.

It didn’t take long for the Devils to open the scoring through Cole Sanford who tipped in a shot from Evan Mosey at 3:43 to make it 1-0.  The Flames answered back with two quick goals, the first from Turner Ripplinger who chased down a loose puck and beat Booth between his legs at 11:48.  

Pictured above: Donaghey fends off a Flames forward (photo Dave Williams)

After the goal was scored, Marcus Crawford hit Ripplinger into the boards and was called for roughing, putting the Flames straight onto the powerplay.  They took full advantage and at 13:33, Bradley Lalonde’s blast from the blueline found its way through traffic and into the back of the net to give Guildford a 2-1 lead.  

The second period saw some sloppy play from both teams but no goals at either end of the ice.  The best chances came for Guildford when they had nearly two full minutes of a 5 on 3 powerplay, but the Devils managed to kill it off thanks to a handful of big saves by Booth to keep it a one goal game. 

Pictured above: Sanford was on fire with 2 goals (photo Dave Williams)

The third period was all Devils as they outshot the Flames 13-5 and scoring three times to turn the game around.  First it was Sanford who stole a bouncing puck off of a Flames defender and fooled Taz Burman in the Guildford goal with a quick shot for his second goal of the game at 49:05.  

On the very next shift, Cole Ully showed great patience holding onto the puck then placing it perfectly onto the stick of Justin Crandall who deked out Burman on a breakaway and put the Devils in front 3-2 with just under 10 minutes to play.  

The Flames pressed for the tying goal but couldn’t find a way past Booth.  With the Guildford net empty in favour of an extra attacker, Trevor Cox sealed the win with an empty net goal at 58:28 to make it 4-2.  

Booth finished with 29 saves, but it was Sanford who picked up Man of the Match with his two goal performance.