Match Night Live
 
Cardiff Devils 2 - 1 Belfast Giants

Evening guys, Chris with you tonight and as usual I can be reached at matchnightlive@gmail.com

It seems the game tonight may be delayed by 90minutes, in which case we're looking at a face off time of 7:30pm, not 6pm as advertised!

Forgot to add, game is delayed due to a delay in flights from Belfast, with the team flying into Bristol who knows when the game will actually start...

Well Belfast have just landed... in Luton :S

Conflicting reports, they've definitely landed somewhere, but no one seems to know exactly where :)

Ok, so Belfast actually landed in Bristol and are now on their way to Cardiff, probably looking at a 1hour delay to face off (ish) so keep checking here :E

Word from the rink is the club have put on some figure skaters and we're now going into a mini skills competition for the players, starting with a shooting comp...

Fair play to the club for getting stuff out onto the ice to entertain the crowd methinks :)

Brent Pope has just announced at the game that they're hoping for a Giants arrival in approximately 15minutes \o/

Not got anymore updates from the rink yet, but the Giants *should* be turning up anytime soon with any luck

Perhaps time to purchase some lucky charms or something

Other scores at the end of the 1st period were...

Newcastle Vipers 1-1 Nottingham Panthers

Coventry Blaze 1-1 Hull Stingrays

End o the 2nd period, and it's... Newcastle Vipers 2-1 Nottingham Panthers :D

Word is now that the Giants only crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales maybe 5-10minutes ago, looking like a 7:30-8:00pm face off to me :S

Good attendance for tonights game it would seem, shame the flights were all buggered up for Belfast

Then again, texters are reporting the club has filled the gap with 'stuff' so it's not been half as bad :)

Paul has just announced at the game that the Giants are now due to arrive at 7:15! There's always hope :)

The bus has arrived! unfortunately it wasn't accompanied by fireworks and a dancing troupe though :(

I had asked for a photo to be sent, but it's not arrived yet, just so we knew this wasn't some cruel joke :)

Don't forget i'm still alive and can be reached via email at matchnightlive@gmail.com

Face off time announced at game of 8:05pm :S

Belfast taking their full warm up it would seem...

Both teams on the ice for the warmup *finally*

Final score, Newcastle Vipers 2-1 Nottingham Panthers :D

Word from the rink is that planet-ice have run out of food...

Giants are missing Faubert, Awada and Morrison. but with Thornton playing they're at full import strength.

Devils missing Smith :(

Word is Darnell may be referee for tonight :S

Word from the rink says Mcmorrow is trying to/succeeding in winding Voth up already...

warmup over, but players not leaving the ice, fans getting wound up...

Not long to go! 2 hours overdue, but it's almost game time!

Word is that Mcmorrow was shouting at Francis again, didn't this happen the last time we played them? :)

Who knew Francis could be such a windup merchant :D

Sounds like Darnell is the man in charge tonight *shudder*

Faceoff now at 20:10, so another 5minutes to go :(

Anthems are done, lets get this show on the road!

Voth, Latulippe and Birbraer is the starting line for the Devils tonight!

and we're off, wahay!

Mcmorrow started on the ice, but left straight after the faceoff, sounds like Voth won't be fighting *yet*

Mcmorrow giving Voth hassle from the bench

Giants offside at 0:54

Craze in nets for the Giants tonight, Murphy still out with injury :(

Giants pushing a lot harder than the Devils so far

Giants penalty. Szwez 2mins for interference.

Big save from Lyle, Giants get 2on1 breakaway despite being shorthanded!

good save from Craze, still in powerplay which is being described as pretty rubbish

Giants called for hand pass at 5:59. Must be back to full strength now.

Devils penalty at 6:12. Hartwick 2mins for elbows

Lyle making some good saves on the penalty kill

Johnson from the Blaze sticks a Devils player in the face at 9:21

Sorry for sporadic updates folks, things arriving all out of turn

Devils penalty at 9:21. Hill 2mins holding

Giants penalty at 9:27. Jacobsen 2mins for high sticks.

Crowd are having a pop at Mcmorrow who appears to be reacting...

30seconds of 4on4 left

Play appears to be stalling in neutral ice for both teams

Sounds very much like the Blaze game last weekend, Devils attack, then the Giants attack, then the Devils attack etc etc

Both teams at full strength

ooooooooooooooooh, shot from Jarvis just glances the pipework...

Play stopped at 12:13, unsure why as I have no details :/

Handbags after Giants player hits Devils player to head, no penalties called by the sounds of it

Handbags were behind the Devils goal

Mcmorrow is trying to get a fight going with Voth *again* but Voth doesn't react to losing his helmet and just skates away

Giants penalty at 13:05. Cook 2mins for interference *I think*

Darnell has words with Mcmorrow and Voth at same time as penalty call.

Devils player sprays Craze with ice as Craze saves a shot, players pile in and we have more handbags...

Time of handbags, 13:50. Birbraer the instigator :)

Giants getting rattled by Devils tactics

Craze deflects Richardson shot out of play at 14:09

Mcmorrow mouthing off at any and all Devils players who pass the bench, and we have more handbags!

Apparently Cook is called for another penalty, but I have no time details and i'm not sure it's the right player :S

Giants starting to throw some big and 'nasty' checks

Penalties for both teams called at 14:16, Miller and Cook i'm assuming, both for roughing

Giants penalty at 14:49. Walsh 2mins interference.

Think we're down to 4on3 in the Devils favour...

No wait, apparently it's 5on3 for 17seconds *confused*

one man back for Giants, 5 on 4 in Devils favour

Apparently before all these random penalties, Birbraer had open net but Cook conceded a penalty in stopping the shot.

Another Giants penalty coming after Johnson nails Michel in the face...

Giants penalty at 15:59. Johnson 2minutes for boarding!

Have Giants lost their mind or something tonight?

And against the run of play it would seem, the Giants score :(

Perhaps they haven't lost their mind :)

Devils defence went missing, Lyle saved the initial shot but the rebound went straight to unmarked Giants player :(

Giants player (Walsh) came out of box to gift a 2on1

Giants goal at 17:03. Cheverie from Shields and #5

Shorthanded goal it would seem

Giants now back to full strength

Giants #5 is Jacobsen

Giants penalty at 19:53. Jacobsen 2mins holding

And at the end of the 1st period, the score is Devils 0-1 Giants :(

Apparently Miller was brought down by Jacobsen on last chance of 1st period

Texter at game says Devils should be leading, but some dodgy defending has us 0-1 down :(

PIM for the 1st period... Devils: 6 Giants: 14! We need to find the net some more, lots of chances missed there it would seem.

During the period break, Francis is interviewed by Devils TV and says that the Devils should have had *more* powerplays as the Giants are playing very dirty, lots of checks to the back and head :S

Both teams back out for the 2nd period!

Devils start with a powerplay for 1:54

And we're off!

Devils start the 2nd period by nailing a couple of Giants

And Giants are back to full strength :(

Devils penalty at 21:52, 2mins for interference

I guess Giants weren't back to full strength...

they must be full strength now though :(

Hill blocks a shot at our end and goes off the ice limping, Giants player decides to push him off the ice...

Devils back to full strength, penalty kill looked good

Texters seem to be getting increasingly agitated at the Giants dirty style of play and Darnells lack of calls

Giants called for icing at 25:04, some good chances for the Devils beforehand

Devils 3rd line looks to be Towe, Davies and Miller, but the lines are all over the shop

Giants penalty at 26:02. Bateman 2mins delay of game

Giants tried to get Peacock to sit penalty, but Darnell refuses to accept it

Devils powerplay just not working tonight, Giants clearing with ease

Almost another gifted chance but Richardson manages to get back

Giants penalty killed, but more chances for them than the Devils who had the extra man

Devils defence managed to get back in time to prevent another Giants 2on1 opportunity at the end of the penalty kill

Just over 28minutes of game gone I believe

Voth not playing very physical at all again tonight - seems to be a recurring complaint :/

Mcmorrow hitting anyone he wants and the Devils don't seem to have an answer...

Devils starting to look rattled and making unforced errors :S

half way point reached, 10minutes of 2nd period left

Craze makes a big save to deny voth at about 31minutes...

Devils having a better spell, but just can't seem to get set up

Giants penalty at 31:40, Swez 2mins for tripping

Szwez sorry

Another breakaway gifted to the Giants, they're really putting pressure on the Devils

Craze makes the save at 32:45

53seconds of powerplay left

Big save from Lyle at 32:48

Giants are picking out the passes when they clear their zone, Devils are just firing the puck into the neutral zone...

Ooooooooooh, Towe hits the pipes :(

Corrected to Miller, who received the pass from Towe

And Giants back to full strength

Texter at game thinks giants have had 5 or 6 shorthanded breaks or odd man rushes so far...

Lyle keeping the Devils in the game at the moment, making save after save

35:56 gone, Giants have us rattled and keep out muscling us

Devils crowd very quiet :(

Giants offside at 36:31

Having text problems here, just had one arrive saying the Devils had a penalty at 33:05, Michel 2mins interference...

Giants penalty at 32:27. Thornton 2mins for slashing

Craze save at 38:06. Devils all over the crease...

I'm guessing the Thornton penalty was timed wrong, but everything arriving out of order :(

Devils played checked to face again...

Giants penalty at 38:45. Szwez 2mins for roughing I think, but it's all over the shop!

Szwez called for cross-checking initially, then pushed Richardson as he went to the box, Jarvis stepped in and then call changed to roughing, or another 2minutes added... Who knows :/

Devils 5 on 3, but cannot get set up and Giants continually clear the puck, crowd getting angry...

Well, seems it's the end of the 2nd period... Devils still trailing 0-1 to the Giants :(

Thanks to David on the email, the last Thornton email was timed at 37:27 and not whatever I said first time around

Devils will start the period with 45seconds of powerplay, and then we'll see the return of Szwez...

Texters are saying it's only Lyle keeping us in the game :(

And here we go with the 3rd period

Come on Devils :(

Fans at the game don't sound best pleased with how we're playing

Voth nails Shields, and Giants clear the puck *again*

Giants back to full strength

Devils getting pushed around :(

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL

Devils 1t goal comes from everyone crashing the net...

1st even

Devils goal at 42:12, Miller from Stone and Adams :)

Goal details should infact read... Miller from Towe and Adams :)

Giants penalty at 42:30. Bateman 2mins roughing

Fans confused as to why Darnell is calling dodgy hits as roughing

Devils penalty at 42:42. Voth 2mins holding

Devils goal details changed again, Miller from Stone and Adams!

No, it seems i'm way off on my goal stats. The goal was infact... Towe from Stone and Adams. FACT.

Both teams back to full strength, sorry for the goal confusion there folks :(

Giants penalty. Benedict 2mins for high sticks at 44:53

Devils penalty at 45:07. Adams 2mins interference

Both teams back to full strength again

Devils penalty at 48:02. Birbraer 2mins for tripping.

Fans not best pleased at Darnells call on Birbraer

Shields gets in the way of a Devils player and ends up on his arse, moaning to Darnell now that he wasn't interfering but that the Devils deserve a penalty...

Devils successfully kill the penalty \o/

10minutes of the final period to go, several texters hoping this doesn't run into OT or penalties!

Devils crashing the net at every opportunity hoping for Craze to spill the puck again

Whistle was blown by Darnell, everyone is waiting for the penalty, Mcmorrow is having a pop at the Devils players, but now there's no penalty...

mass confusion...

Darnell having a word with Mcmorrow again

Whoever Mcmorrow mouths off at, they're just laughing back at him...

Texters saying Voth very quiet tonight, infact they're saying he's too quiet

That's a complaint we've heard quite often recently :(

Devils appear to be a lot more fired up in the last 10minutes

Gone awfully quiet...

Giants sound like they're getting tired, continual calls of icing against them and they keep trying to get a line change in...

Devils starting to put some pressure back on the Giants, makes a nice change :)

About 5minutes of the 3rd period left I believe

Big lyle save at 56:27. Szwez hits someone after the whistle, expecting chaos...

No penalty called, play resumes and another big save from Lyle

Giants called for offside at 57:12

Texters at the game seem to be getting more and more annoyed at Darnell...

This is what happens when you have a late start on a Sunday and the rink runs out of warm food!

Think we have coincidental penalties coming...

Devils penalty goes to Latulippe at 57:56, 2mins for roughing

Scrub that

Latulippe penalty for high sticks, Shields penalty for roughing. Both at 57:56

And we're into the last minute of the 3rd period...

Cheverie chance saved by lyle

Devils call a timeout at 59:36...

And that's it, regulation ends with the score at 1-1

at 10:30pm on Sunday night, we're heading into... OVERTIME!

Giants came awfully close in the last second of regulation, but somehow a Devils player knocked the puck away

Whatever happens now, the top 5 teams will all be separated by 2points

and here we go, OT starts!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL

Devils win in overtime, wahay :)

Devils 2nd goal comes at 60:42

Devils had a breakaway, lost control and somehow the puck ended up in the back of the net

Sounds like goal was scored by Latulippe with assist to Hartwick

Giants man of match = Craze

Devils man of match goes to.... Lyle!

Just under £700 raised on the SOHB tickets

That's all from me tonight, am off to calm down :) Thanks for tuning in!