With 4 unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes of play, Flames on the road closed out 2023 with a 2nd consecutive win over Cardiff Devils; this time a 6-2 victory.
Jamie Arniel had Devils in a lead on an early powerplay, but Patrick Bajkov in the 16th minute converted a Flames man advantage to take the clubs to break on a goal each.
In the 2nd, Peter Crinella at 27:41 put the visitors in front, but Arniel’s 2nd in the 33rd minute had it level at a pair each the next break.
In the 3rd, however, it was all Flames who bagged 4 straight to secure the win. Lewis Hook had the winner on a powerplay at 42:32. Turner Ripplinger at 48:00 and 2nd’s by Crinella and Bajkov inside the final 10 minutes completed the success.
“Looking at the schedule earlier on in the season, I don’t think we would have necessarily counted on back to back wins over this weekend,” admitted Paul Dixon.
“Devils are a top end side and very difficult to have success on consecutive nights, but hats off to our guys for pulling it off.”
“We obviously had a bit of good fortune in the 3rd to be successful on our better opportunities to be able to get into a lead and continue to build on it. That didn’t happen earlier in the year, but we are playing now with a lot more confidence.”
“As many people recall, our immediate post Christmas schedule is not always all that successful for us, so we are very pleased to kick off 2024 on the back of some huge wins and we are looking forward to the back half of the season.”
“We wish all fans a very safe and Happy New year.”
