Weekend Recap; Mid-Season Wobbles Linger as Devils Struggle Offensively

League Record So Far; 19 – 6 – 4, 42pts, 3rd Place

L10GP; 6 – 3 – 1

CARDIFF, WALES – In a weekend where results have never mattered more, this was a chance to really keep the ante up on Panthers as they head into Conti cup action, whilst limiting any momentum Giants might have had from their games in hand.

It was a weekend where for the top 4 teams, it mattered just as much as the bottom 4 and the middle of the pack. Where results elsewhere could have an impact on another teams’ season.

It was also a case of more deja vu, as Devils switched off, dropped points, but so did a host of other teams, as one of the most unpredictable campaigns to date rolls on with no guarantee of who would win on any given night.

Here is a breakdown of those games, the aftermaths and the finer details;

1. Leagues hottest goal scoring team finds ways to not score

Amongst intense debate and sarcastic back biting throughout the season and off-season, the discussion or viewpoint of whether this team had quality goal scorers or not has ran closer than many might have expected.

Only by a few goals, the team were up on last season, going into 2026 as the league leaders.

Justification for one camp.

The lack of goal spread and how tight games have been, not to mention the power play, has continued to be a gripe for many, including the aforementioned camp.

Which only points to one conclusion; another player was missing to provide that extra finesse and lethal presence in front of net, despite all the existing players – justification for the other camp.

It truly is an enigma, but let’s have a look at the last five games.

Devils were shutout, then picked up another, both one goal games.

They have slipped to 2 – 0 – 3 in that space, scoring 10 goals. Seems pretty good scoring wise. Only, it is an average of 2 goals per game at that point, hardly a way to win a game in this league.

The last 5GP shows this.

The best take away is there is no GD in the negative, they conceded as much as they scored.

The teams’ GFA is around 3.6 per game, so definitely missing that fire power.

They had 79 shot attempts at home, with 44 on net, 135 on the weekend and 88 on target. In fact, they put on net the same as Storm attempted and still lost.

They put up the same high danger chances as their hosts (2), with a quarter of those attempts wide of the mark.

The same was repeated at home, with more shots taken from mid slot, twice as much in fact. Their increased desperation to pummel their opponent leant to a thinning of metrics, but even the wide shots were just over a fifth of their overall looks.

A remarkable 18 shots were blocked, showing just how dialled in their opponents were to protect their goalie. The same went the other end, 18 shots blocked. That created the story of the night.

2. MacDonald bucked a long trend for a point streak, snapped at home

Leading into this game saw Josh MacDonald once again lead his team at the mid season stage, after starting off too quiet for anyone’s liking.

He is 2nd overall on the team for points with 27 and is projected at 50 for the season.

He has now gone 4 games in his last 10 without a single point, but there is a semblance of a run there; with 6 points in his L5GP, 2 of those either end had no returns.

In his last 11 games overall, he has 15 points, with 10 goals and his current form pattern leans to a goal or two the next game.

In that stretch he has also developed 6 multi-point games.

3. Sanford low on goals, finds ways to contribute

In a similar vain to what MacDonald has been procuring, his line mate has been the one also seeing some reward.

With just 3 goals in the last 12GP, Sanford has added 13 points to that run of games, going just 3 games without any points. Of course, 2 shut outs in the last 5GP aids this.

Both Sanford and MacDonald lead the forwards for their team in terms of shots, with 184 and 183, respectively. Only Brandon Estes (196) leads the team overall.

4. Brief moment on the top fizzled as they flew too close to the sun

Going into the Christmas set of fixtures, Devils found themselves atop of the table, most goals scored and with a healthy team to boot.

Just the one long term injury, compared to a plethora of players missing for all sorts of reasons a calendar year ago.

Bigger differences were that the team lead by a large margin the previous year, which slipped away until Continental Cup time, which in the aftermath, saw them behind Giants and the trend continued, emphatically.

This time, the entire top 4 are as close as ever, with Panthers now back to the top, as they start their own journey, albeit with less hockey played, which makes the final more of a mockery than the last one.

Contrast to this stage last season in games played, Devils are behind in the overall run, with 7 goals shy compared to the previous campaign.

Defensively, they are much more improved, they are now -21 compared to last season, which is the only good, negative number you would want.

What does need improving, again, is the power play. Without a specialist to drive or convert, they have struggled in this area year on year since 2019.

5. Bowns injured during Storm, Stoever responds with a key shutout

Before the game started, I was having a conversation with another creator about the goal tending and how Stoever needed a game to rebuild confidence.

He done just that. An incredible performance where he made a number of key desperation saves, especially after spending the majority of it as a bystander with a very good view on the ice.

The visiting Clan side turned up the ante as the final period started to run out of time, with a gift of a 6 on 4 thanks to a late power play, in a weekend, which despite the opposition, saw very little.

This turned a casual, well controlled game into a pressure cooker, nail biting finish where onlookers could only gasp, draw in deep breaths and hope for the best.

Stoever ended up making 33 saves in a shutout, his 2nd in the EIHL and overall it counted toward 9 for the tandem. An insane number.

For deeper context, Clan just logged 3 shots in the first period alone, by the end of the second, Devils already put up 33 shots on goal.

The previous night saw Bowns take an injury which saw him worryingly down on the ice for too long to feel at ease. Later, Dudek dangle through the DZ and crashed into Bowns for the go ahead goal to win the game.

He later got switched for Stoever. Perhaps much too little, far too late and a learning curve going forward.

Those moments made the game but were not a determinant factor for the result. That was the lack of impetus from the skaters in front of them to be more direct, dynamic and ruthless.

A Look Ahead to the Weekend

Home vs Storm

Devils face Storm for the 5th league clash this season, after already visiting them 3 times in regular action, a total of 6 meetings overall, with 4 regulation wins and an OTL, as well as the last game at Storm resulting in a disappointing one goal loss.

The ties started off as a battle of the PIMS, with plenty of action away from the puck, to tightly contested affairs, with just 2 of the meetings ending in 2 or more goals for the victor.

The PIMS on their own tell a story, which, depending on the version of hockey someone prefers, could swing one way or the other.

In the cup, they shared a staggering 182 PIMs between them, where a hockey game almost broke out.

This was at a time when Devils looked to be all but through to the next stage, then collapsed, again emphatically.

So far in regular season, after 4 meetings, 3 away, one at home, the PIMS count has combined for just 74 overall. Around 40.6% of the ‘drama’ that proceeded them.

The results backed it up, with Devils just edging the overall score average at 2.75 to 2.5 for the Storm.

It seems the hands off approach in the cup worked, as for the league, both teams occupy the top half, with Storm surprising many.

The main caveat between the 2 teams is that Devils top the GAA against the league, a wonderful 1.97, with Storm mid-pack, suiting their current league position.

Devils have collected 5 points from an available 8 between them, as Storm have collected just 3. This next game should determine the season-series, one that has been too close to call.

Road vs Flames

Following a key home clash vs Storm, Devils travel once more to Guildford to face the Flames, looking to avenge their back to back defeats over the new years slate of games.

Again, a contest between 2 teams that has no middle ground.

There have been two 7-1 victories for the Devils. Two one goal shutouts either way, across both EIHL competitions.

As far as the league goes, Flames hold the lead in the series at 2:1, yet Devils, thanks to another 7-1 victory early on in the campaign, edge the scoring 10:7.

A strange and quite comical statistic is former Devil, Tyler Busch, who seems to end up in the penalty box each time he visits Cardiff.

He has collected 41 PIMS individually, so the likelihood of him taking any at home is minimal, but it cannot be factored out.

This Devils team responds, especially when they know they let themselves down previously. This should be a very physical and upended contest, which would rely, much like their home clash the day before on the goalies being on their A-game.

Cardiff Devils Projected Player Points after 54 Regular Season Games