Five games remain in 2025 for the Storm. In what is undoubtedly a busy festive fixture list the team have the opportunity to pick up a lot of vital league points heading in to the new year.

Winning six of their last eight games the Cardiff Devils rolled in to Altrincham on Sunday evening in good form and sat in third place overall.

An end to end opening five minutes lacked any real chances as both teams settled in to the game. Both Bowns and DeRidder stood tall in net for the majority of period number one – that was until MacDonald for the Devils tipped in a shot from the hash marks, by Oligny, which foiled DeRidder’s tracking of the puck. With 13 shots on goal apiece the period ended with the Devils up by one and carrying over a short powerplay.

The Storm’s penalty killing unit were called in to action early on in the second boxing out Cardiff’s forwards and limiting any real looks on net. It was all one-way traffic for a spell at the midpoint as Storm upped the pressure and created some nice passing plays, pinning the Devil’s within their own zone. Despite six powerplays and plenty of opportunities neither side could find the back of net in the second period meaning the Devils carried their one goal lead in to the final third.

The Storm came out with intent in the third and quickly found themselves level when Gilmour buried from close range, beating Bowns up top – Johnson and Busby with the helpers. The visitors responded with some pressure of their own but the heavy hitting Storm defensive core held strong. A shorthanded goal with ten minutes left to be played put Cardiff back up by one as Olischefski and Oligny broke away with the former scoring down low on a rebound. As the clock ticked down Critchlow elected to pull DeRidder twice in favour of an extra forward but to no avail as the Storm lost possession of the puck resulting in the Devils finding the empty net and recording a 3-1 road win.

Words by: Kristian Stokwisz