Cardiff Devils head into the biggest game of their season tonight riding on a wave of confidence after their late comeback against Newcastle Vipers on the weekend.

The Devils play Nottingham Panthers in the second leg of the Challenge Cup final and they must battle back from two goals down, after a 4-2 first leg defeat.

But they are full of confidence after beating the Vipers 7-4 on Sunday, despite being 3-0 behind eith 21 minutes to play.

Cardiff Devils coach Gerad Adams branded his team’s defence as “atrocious” after last night’s 5-4 Elite League defeat to Sheffield Steelers.

Devils were ahead four times at the Cardiff Bay Arena through Max Birbraer, Mark Smith, Ryan Finnerty and Tylor Michel. But they threw away their lead late in the third period as Sheffield scored two power play goals through Jeff Legue and Joey Talbot to seal the win.

The defeat leaves the Devils in desperate need of building some momentum in the weekend’s games with Coventry Blaze and Newcastle Vipers, ahead of their Challenge Cup final second leg against Nottingham Panthers on Tuesday.

Cardiff Devils forward Tylor Michel hit both goals in Sunday’s 4-2 Challenge Cup final first leg defeat to Nottingham Panthers – but he can’t get the mistake he made out of his head.
With the Devils trailing 3-2 late in the third period, Tylor’s misplaced pass on the powerplay led to a shorthanded goal for Panthers skipper Danny Meyers.
And the Canadian is struggling to shake-off the frustration.

Cardiff Devils did their talking on-the-ice tonight, producing a masterful display to beat Belfast Giants 4-0 in their Elite League showdown at the Cardiff Bay Arena.

Goals from Ryan Finnerty, Brad Voth, Phil Hill and Mark Smith did the job for the Devils against a lacklustre Giants side.

The win makes it three-in-a-row for the Devils after the double over Hull Stingrays at the weekend, and keeps them in with a sniff of second place, while the Giants chances of making a charge for the title seem to have disappeared.

Cardiff Devils enter a new era in Wednesday’s Elite League clash against Belfast Giants, after the appointment of Mark Richardson as team captain.

Great Britain international Richardson was handed the captaincy to take the pressure off under-fire Brad Voth.

Cardiff Devils 1 – 0 Edinburgh Capitals

A frustrated Cardiff Devils side slipped to a 1 – 0 defeat to Edinburgh Capitals last night, effectively ending their chances of mounting a title challenge.