League Record So Far; 31 – 13 – 5, 67pts, 3rd Place
L10GP; 5 – 4 – 1
CARDIFF, WALES – Devils comfortably swept aside Stars for a home double header weekend, that gave them so life, belief and helped to deny league leaders Giants an easy run in to retain their title.
The weekend saw a familiar story in some respects, with both games being played with an undercurrent of expectation that was just about met, that also saw stocks rise and some get out of jail cards played.
Here is a run down of the best snippets of the weekend;
1. Physicality maintained a consistent tone
It was one of the keys to the weekend on the build up and the calls were taken on and applied with venom. From Caponi, to Brandt, Helgesen to Oligny, Barrow to Ferguson, they all played a part in making key hits and turning over their opponents at crucial points.
It drew some ire as Stars were heavily outplayed, outclassed and outsmarted across the weekend, resulting with particularly dirty play that went uncalled.
Key moments were hits from Brandt, Barrow, Caponi and Helgesen, each almost sending a human in Stars gear through the benches. Caponi with one hit send a player into the corner stanchion, which drew a crowd and erroneous penalties.
Nonetheless, it wore the pace of the Stars down, who spent less and less time skating up the ice and with the puck, despite the gift of power plays that came their way.
2. Stat sheet, kind of, built up
One of the biggest keys was to take advantage of their opponents’ form on the road, rate of goals conceded and to refind that firepower they had at the start of the campaign.
After the first dance, this was a big miss.
Just 3 goals scored and there seemed to be a switch off. The coach clearly wasn’t happy and it felt like that ticket was punched for the flight home already.
With 64 shots, 42 on net, more was certainly expected from the men in red (white and black), especially on a night that had a sensational throwback for their jerseys.
The best part was that 20.3% of those chances were high danger, it just wrought back that familiar feeling of accuracy.
Night one aside, the floodgates opened on night two.
With 8 goals scored, power play goals to boot and a natural hat trick for Kontos, it was the game all expected them to deliver. There no answer from Stars, saves for a consolation goal in the grand scheme of things, which should have been ruled out due to an obvious icing play beforehand.
Such was the level of officiating across the weekend.
Kontos extended a natural point streak to 6 straight games, picking up 6 points on the weekend alone. He now has 13 points across those games, leaving him one point shy of being a point per game across this season. With 5 games left of regular season action, this is very achievable.
His tallies have taken him to above last season’s with the Panthers, which should silence his doubters once and for all.
Sanford dialled up the production, finding the net and adding 5 helpers to be the other player and one of the stars of the weekend, adding to his totals and cementing his position of a key distributor.
After languishing for weeks, he is over a point per game this season, with 43 in 41. He has now gone to 14 points in his last 8GP, missing some but not consecutively.
Barrow took his own career pace to a new level with the 2nd goal of the weekend, tying his previous best totals (32) with 2 games spare. He did sit out the second game, hopefully as a precaution more than anything else.
In terms of goals, that one on Saturday took him to a new career high of 15, the icing for a great comeback season. He backs up his ambition and then some.
3. Pace was set, but not entirely
It took less than 5 minutes to get things underway for the clash vs Stars, with the following night even faster. From the point of view of the first stanza, once the 2nd goal went in, it was all coasting from there.
The power plays went quiet, 0/3 on night one and habits slowly crept back in.
Something must have definitely been said after that game, as it was a constant cycle of good skating, puck movement, positive zone entries and keeping the goalie under pressure immediately.
There were 2 PPG’s, with a great response after the Stars clawed one back against a missed routine call from the officials.
The response to that was 4 more goals, including two in the last few minutes. Total buy in and you could see the enjoyment on their faces.
This should be the standard. Always.
4. Top Players lining up the top 10
Prior to the weekend, there were just 2 Devils players inside the top 10 for points, but amongst the average, making Balmas an exception to the rule.
Kontos’ 6 point weekend kept him inside, but only at 8th, with the likes of MacDonald dropping out, who picked up his 24th goal of the regular season campaign.
However, places 11 to 13 are now occupied by MacDonald, Martin and Sanford, each with 43 points, one off the top 10.
The total average is 47.9, so lets say 48 points to be considered the best of the best – which included Balmas (63) and Doherty (51), Piccinich (47).
Kontos is one off that and the rest are only a few points away.
It is not bad, but could be a lot better. Something I would imagine once presented to those players, they would clench their jaws, grind their teeth and make sure to smash that for good in the final run in.
5. Stoever steps up, earning respect and praise
With Bowns taking bench duties this weekend, it wasn’t a tall order or concern to see the rookie goalie face off against 9th placed Stars.
He earned a shutout on night one and was criminally let down down by the match night officials on night two, conceding just a single goal from 52 SOG, notching 97.8 SV%.
This was a league leading metric for the weekend, so no doubt will be one of the 3 stars and also would make the EIHL Face-Off Podcast team of the week.
He has had a stellar rookie season at a big club in this league, earning 17 wins, 2.29GAA, 91.76 SV% and 3 shutouts to boot across 30GP in all EIHL competitions.
His post work is great, reads the game extremely well, unafraid to glove the puck and slow down the game, then his stick work and heads up play with passing delights each week, even claiming an odd assist here and there.
At 25 years old, he was one of the biggest question marks for the off-season recruitment, with the outgoing experience of Carruth and of course, Kozun previously, it seemed like a risk.
A well calculated one at that.
A trusty back up, who can slot in at any time, one for the future and a project for Ben Bowns to work with, should he focus on coaching after his testimonial year.
Looking Ahead to the End of Regular Season
With just 5 games left of the regular season campaign, Devils are in a position that at least for my own expectations are sitting slightly higher than expected.
They are one point off 2nd, they have earned so far the second highest regulation wins, 3rd overall for goals scored, 2nd overall for goals against.
Yes, there was no silverware, at least in regular season play, challenge cup ended abruptly after a fast start and steep rise, then the league has all but gone to Belfast, again.
This time, there is no pang of disappointment in terms of final outcome.
They briefly hit the summit, then sharply fell away, this would sting. However, they have largely kept pace and out performed better than nearly all expected.
If only, marginally.
This season has exposed some overly inflated expectations, shown the true value of roster developments, demonstrated that smart recruitment can achieve sensible aims and in some corners, at least one club has been gifted success time and again.
Devils have forged their own path, the recruitment went as expected, an entertainment first team, that wasn’t built for a championship season and despite their known short comings, here they are.
Devils face-off vs Blaze twice, Panthers, Storm and Steelers. It isnt an easy run in, however, they are winnable games. Panthers have more on the line being 2nd and facing the leaders twice this week. It is a strong possibility Giants could lift the trophy from any of those games.
Then, Panthers face Storm twice before hosting the Devils at the end of regular season. Regardless of the rest, by then it is likely the table for playoffs would be firmly set, so seeing a victory up in that arena would be a cool way to finish a season where thay have (finally) found some success on the road to Nottingham.
Storm Chasing
Devils first face off vs Storm and that contest hasn’t been a walk in the park. In the cup, they had a series that saw some of the highest PIMs totals this season.
In the league, so far, Devils edge the series 3:2, but maintain a home record of 100% in all EIHL competitions vs Storm. They are also on a 3 game run, the same as Devils, but face Flames first. That one is likely more important to them, due to league positioning.
They have held 5th all season long, however Flames have now gone to within 3 points of them. For a long time, there was 9 points either way of 5th.
Blaze of Glory
Despite Blaze making the cup final, Devils have had an easier time against their smaller rivals this season. They have earned 3 shutouts from 4GP and have already won their season series in regular fixtures.
With a 16:4 record in goal scoring, there would be high expectations that for now, Devils should sweep the Blaze, who have hit a rut again following their valiant defeat at home in Nottingham vs Panthers. Yes, it never makes sense.
Steel-ing Some Pride
Finally, their most potent opponent, Steelers also awaits them in what would be final order seeding for the playoffs, with a little spice for pride along the way.
This has been a nightmare fixture for the campaign, which for their new coach, would sting a little deeper.
Steelers were written as favourites to win the lot this season, yet have found ways to lose amongst a back drop of subpar, timid performances.
Except vs the Devils.
They won just once in regular season vs Steelers, picking up just 3 points from 10 available across their series. They have conceded 20 against this team, their worst record by some distance, without a win on the road there for a couple of seasons.
This hasn’t benefitted their nearest rivals however. Who sit a point behind Devils in 4th, have been dismantled by Giants and had a failed Scottish triple header to boot.
You go, I go comes to mind.
This would be a blockbuster penultimate finale home game before playoffs. A must win above all for pride and in some way, push them toward 5th, if at all possible by that date.
For the playoffs, which is the last chance dance for many on this roster and one the fanbase have ear marked since the (consecutive) mid season collapse, it is likely the Flames they would face, unless a final push could see Storm nipped to 5th.
Either way, neither would be an easy battle, in fact, for the former, it would be a battle of the ages as there are a host of former Devils on that roster this season.
Exciting prospects as the season closes and a final dash for silverware commences.
Three Stars vs …. Dundee Stars
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