After a\u00a0 5-2 win over the same opposition in Nottingham last weekend, the Panthers were beaten 6-2 on the road last night as Cardiff Devils returned the favour in the Elite League to provide their opponents with a thumping.<\/p>\n
Alex Dubeau started his third successive game in goal for Nottingham with Matty Bloor as back-up, while Duggie Lagrone (injury reserve) was the only absentee in the Panthers line up.<\/p>\n
The visitors to Wales had a chance inside the opening minute when Devils netminder Ben Bowns denied Craig Puffer following a neat pass from Mike Hammond while at the other end, Dubeau had to be at his best to deny Josh Brittain twice from close range.<\/p>\n
The Devils then took the lead just past the five-minute mark as Marcus Crawford’s shot fell to Justin Crandall, who slipped the puck past Dubeau at his near post (5:21).<\/p>\n
Puffer, David Levin and JC Brassard had chances as Nottingham had two successive powerplays, but Devils took control as Cox scored twice in just over 90 seconds, tipping in a shot from Josh Batch (16:12) before sneaking the puck over the line from close range (17:56).<\/p>\n
After an early chance in the period for Hammond, Stephen Anderson reduced the deficit when he poked the puck past Ben Bowns following a goalmouth scramble (22:37).<\/p>\n
The Devils however regained their three-goal advantage with the second period coming to a close, as Justin Crandall put the puck on a plate for Jake Coughler to fire a one-timer past Dubeau from the right circle (39:43).<\/p>\n
Riley Brandt and Josh Waller combined to set-up Ben Davies who did well to stretch for the puck before firing past Dubeau off the post (47:55).<\/p>\n
Brittain reacted first to a loose puck on the doorstep to score Cardiff’s six on his backhand (50:59), while Bowns produced an outstanding save to deny Hammond on a breakaway in the closing stages.<\/p>\n
Luke Ferrara set-up Jordan Kelsall for a sweet wrist shot to beat Bowns in the closing stages to score Nottingham’s second of the night (59:21).<\/p>\n
That defeat leaves Nottingham sixth in the standings of the Elite League table with attention drawn to the Challenge Cup game on Sunday against Manchester Storm.\u00a0It’s set to be a special occasion on Sunday at the Motorpoint Arena with the Kids for a Quid game a 4pm face-off.<\/p>\n
The two sides go head-to-head with qualification for the knockout stages on the line. A win for Nottingham will see them through to the next round.<\/p>\n