Match Night Live

Good evening!

Chris with you tonight, as always I can be reached before/during the game at matchnightlive@gmail.com

If you're worrying about the score, as this game is the 2nd leg of the competition only, i've set it at 0-4 to show the deficit we need to overcome to win tonight :)

Both teams are out for warmup, no news coming through yet about Richardson though :S

Richardson hasn't been seen, and warmup is now over :(

Seems there's some discussion about a possible delay to the game due to major problems on the main link road down to the Bay, nothing as actually been confirmed yet though

If I was at the game, that would be possible Jim, but unfortunately i'm stuck in Nottingham for another 3-4 months :)

Flag bearers make their way onto the ice, i'd assume there is no delay to the game

Giants make their way out

Devils on the ice \o/

Richardson is in the lineup, wahay :D

Anthem is done, no word on crowd size, but still seems there's a lot of people stuck in the mega jam of doom

And we're off, GOOOOOOOOOOO DEVILS!

Sorry, that came a bit suddenly, I was expecting some more texts! Was supposed to say Hi to Zara who's joining us for the first time tonight!

Devils have started the stronger of the two teams, coming very very close just over a minute in

Devils throwing everything at the Giants, now this is what we needed :D

Giants penalty timed at 3:36, B Hemingway 2mins for hooking

Giants clear their zone from the resulting faceoff

1min of the powerplay gone, no real chances for the Devils :S

Devils haven't managed one shot on goal during the powerplay so far

Puck out of play after Murphy makes his first save on the powerplay at 5:21

Giants kill the penalty with ease :(

Giants taking their time, Devils trying to go all out and catch up

Penalties coming for both teams

Devils penalty timed at 6:43, Voth 2mins for slashing

Giants penalty timed at 6:43, Mason 2mins for slashing sorry, Voth penalty was roughing

Giants wrist shot from the point, Lyle makes the save at 7:35

Couple of big saves from Murphy

Devils very close with a slapshot from the faceoff

Mason and Voth both return

Giants penalty timed at 9:23, Gleed 2mins for holding

Weller debates with Hoffman how badly he'll get slapped if he has a pop at us...

Devils penalty coming, despite being on the powerplay...

Devils penalty timed at 10:18, Weller 2mins for slashing

A silly penalty to take by all accounts

4on4 for 1:05 then a Giants powerplay :S

Gleed comes back, and the Devils somehow get a breakaway only to not score :(

Weller nails Walton :D

Pelle very very close

Good play from Richardson who doesn't appear to be suffering at all :)

Good save from Lyle at 13:15

Hill misses an open net :(

Now a Devils icing call after Hill misses the pass at 14:08

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL

Devils 1st goal timed at 14:52, Matzka from Macrae :D

Apologies, assist should go to Birbraer :)

Just over 16mins gone and that goal seems to have woken the Giants up :S

Seems to be some confusion on that goal, some texters are saying it was Macrae wit hthe assist, others say Birbraer...

Devils penalty timed at 16:12, Weller 2mins for slashing *again*

Giants score only 18 seconds into the penalty, what fantastic play from the Devils...

Giants 1st goal timed at 16:30, C Hemingway from Lambert and Peacock...

The penalty on Weller before the Giants goal has been changed to high sticks, I swear people are just inventing things tonight :S

Pelle see's his shot somehow cleared from the line :(

Giants penalty timed at 18:25, Mason 2mins for hooking

Please score a 2nd before the period break :S

Giants miss an empty net and then get another penalty :D

Giants penalty timed at 19:52, Gleed 2mins for slashing

But that's the end of the 1st, Devils 1-1 Giants in the game, or Devils 1-5 Giants overall :(

Devils hit the pipes twice in quick succession just before the period break :(

Devils will start the 2nd period with 26 seconds of 5on3, please let it lead to a goal :(

Shots on goal for the 1st period, 6 on murphy, 11 on Lyle :S

Forgot to say, it's Darnell with the whistle tonight which may explain some of the more ridiculous penalties

Both teams back on the ice and here we go with the 2nd!

Devils have a 5on3 for 26 seconds, then it's 5on4 for about 1:30

Giants start the strongest and the 1st penalty is killed, 1:30ish of powerplay for the Devils now on a 5on4

Pelle comes close but Mason stops the shot :(

Murphy making save after save to deny us on the powerplay

Penalties killed, Giants are back to full strength :(

Matzka and Pelle both come very close

Voth floors Hoffman :D

Giants player loses his close in a check and seems to be hurt, skates off holding his hand/arm

Devils see the puck halted on the line, net is crashed but puck is somehow cleared :(

Giants penalty timed at 23:09, Mason 2mins for roughing

Giants clear the puck straight to Lyle who almost spills it into our net :S

1min of powerplay gone, Devils still not looking that good on the powerplay :S

Devils have possession but just aren't getting any great shots off :S

powerplay described as rubbish once again

Giants kill another penalty with ease, that's 0 goals from 6 powerplays for the Devils so far...

Devils called for offside at 24:51

Devils slapshot saved by Murphy

Giants called for offside at 27:31

Texters are trying to work out if our powerplay is utterly bobbins, or if the Giants PK is that awesome

More pressure from the Devils but the shot is no where near good enough

Devils fans very very quiet tonight

A terrible rebound from Lyle gifts the puck straight back to an attacking Giants player, but somehow the 2nd shot is saved

Giants shot glances the pipework

Devils icing at 29:14, Giants are all over us :(

Massive hit from Voth gifts the Devils a 2on1 break but Murphy makes the save

Hoffman has words with Voth after that hit, but then gets into a fight with Adams...

Fight started after Adams killed someone behind the Giants nets

Hoffman probably wins the fight as he almost landed a punch, Adams landed nothing...

Penalties coming for both players

Penalties still being sorted, But S Smith has joined Adams in the penalty box :S

Giants penalty timed at 30:14, Hoffman 5mins fighting

Devils penalty timed at 30:14, Adams 5mins for fighting plus 2+10 for check from behind

Giants hammering us on the powerplay

Giants have had more shots on this powerplay than Devils have had in the 7 previous powerplays...

Fans going nuts because Adams was stupid enough to hit someone from behind and Darnell was too dense to give Hoffman the instigator penalty

2min penalty killed, S Smith returns

Yet another big save from lyle at 32:48

That save came after some terrible passing from the Devils :(

i wish I could say we were going to come back from this, but from all the texts i'm getting it sure doesn't sound like we're going to score 4 unanswered goals :(

Giants getting breakaway after breakaway, Lyle is standing on his head but our defense is all over the shop once again

Murphy makes an easy save at 35:19

Devils hit the pipework then shoot miles too wide :(

Devils called for offside at 36:41

Birbraer very close, but still not close enough :(

Giants penalty timed at 37:26, Prudden 2mins for interference

Murphy saving everything the Devils manage to actually get close to scoring

That save came at 38:20, Devils are setting up well, but can't score...

into the final minute of the 2nd period

Devils hit the pipework once again, they think they've scored but it's not crossed the line, and now the Giants kill the penalty

End of the 2nd, it's still 1-1 or 1-5 overall :(

Texters also convinced it's all over, Devils trying hard but can't find a goal, Giants playing very smart game

Teams back out for the 3rd...

And we're off with the 3rd period

"If the Devils manage to win, it will be a bigger comeback than Elvis"

Puck out of play at 41:42

Puck out of play again at 41:52

Devils under pressure once again :S

Walton checks Voth into Murphy and unsurprisingly Voth gets the penalty...

Devils penalty timed at 42:31, Voth 2mins for roughing...

Andy French is at the game, perhaps he can have a word with Michel and try to justify his random 5 game ban for sucker punch

Devils penalty kill is far better than our powerplay...

Everyone jumps on Murphy trying to push the puck over the line at 43:51

41 seconds left for the Devils to score a shorthanded goal...

Shots on goal for the 2nd period were... 12 on Murphy, 10 on lyle

Devils kill the penalty with ease

Murphy beaten but Devils can't get to the puck to tip it over the line

Voth comes back from one penalty and almost immediately gets another...

Devils penalty timed at 45:07, Voth 2mins for tripping

It was our favourite idiot Welch who fell over after Voth barely touched him

Weller nails one of the Hemingways who tries to start on Weller in return...

Devils penalty kill is fantastic and leading to more chances than on the PP and in normal play

Giants call a timeout, seemingly to try and slow the game down

Lyle save at 46:39, shortly afterwards, Weller nails another player :)

Penalty killed and Voth is back until Andy French signals he wants another penalty called...

Voth nails... Symonds...

Weller hitting everything, can only be a matter of time until Darnell makes up some nonsense call for hitting a Giants player

Giants called for icing at 47:48

Adams returns, and attendance on gamesheet has just shown it as 1307...

Giants called for offside at 48:20

1307 isn't so great, but after recent results and it being a midweek game it's not all that terrible

Giants called for icing again at 48:58

Prudden leaves the ice looking hurt, not sure why or how

Weller looks very wound up

Giants called for delay of game at 50:01

Astašenko gets the penalty

Giants clear the puck once again from the face off

Astašenko was the player who got the penalty

Puck deflected out of play at 50:31

Apparently I can't put the players surname into MNL, but it was Kaspars A who got the penalty for the Giants

Devils powerplay nothing special, but slightly better than some of the others

Giants back to full strength, no problems killing that penalty at all

K Smith on the end of a massive check from a Giants player

Another awesome save from Murphy

Murphys net kicked off at 53:13

53:13 gone, Giants are sitting all 5 players on the blueline it would seem

Adams comes very close, but Murphy just makes the save

Symonds getting a lot of ice time tonight

Giants penalty timed at 54:47, Kaspars A 2mins for interference

Murphy once again denies Pelle :(

Giants throwing themselves infront of every shot

56:14 gone, murphys nets come off once again

Devils fans starting to leave, and now the Giants are back to full strength :(

Devils penalty timed at 56:54, Voth 2mins for cross checking

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL

Devils 2nd goal timed at 57:23, K Smith from Birbraer and Macrae - SHG

Another big save from Murphy, we must be approaching the final 2mins now :(

into the final minute it would seem :(

And it's all over, Devils win 2-1, but lose overall in the CC semi final 2-5 :(

Giants man of the match goes to Murphy

Devils man of the match goes to... Symonds!

That's all from me, shame about the result but hopefully it'll give us just a little bit more confidence for this coming weekend...