Retro night at the Shelter saw the Cardiff Devils make the journey up from the Welsh capital. With just five league games remaining for the Storm nothing less than two points was an option as the playoff push continued.

Neither netminder was particularly troubled within the first ten minutes as the chances created lacked any real scoring threat. Things quickly changed however with two quick fire goals for the Storm. The first coming from Johnson at the backdoor. And the second from Esteves who skated up the left wing and dispatched a perfectly placed shot that beat Bowns up high at his near post. The home side kept up the offensive pressure in the following minutes and were rewarded with a third when a skilful passing play, on the powerplay, was tipped in from close range by Critchlow with the assists on the gamesheet going to D’Aoust and Morrow. A healthy three goal lead for the Storm was carried in to the first intermission.

Weninger was called in to action early on in the second period making a great pad save to deny a golden chance for the Devils. After withstanding some early pressure from the Devils the Shelter erupted just past the midpoint of the period when the hard-working Zack Milton tapped the puck past Bowns after Griffiths made a handy wrap around pass from behind the visitor’s net. A first Elite League goal for the young British forward. The second period concluded with the Storm holding a commanding 4-0 scoreline leaving the Devils with much to think about in the middle interval.

Just three minutes in and the Storm extended their advantage even further when Esteves scored his second of the evening tucking away a rebounded shot from Ulett. A goal that was double checked via the video replay which showed the puck did indeed fully cross the Devil’s goal line. The visitors did try and up the tempo in response, but struggled to create anything meaningful against an in form Weninger and his defence. D’Aoust all but sealed the win for the Storm with only a minute left in the game when the prolific goal scorer added another to his tally from close range. A huge 6-0 win for the Storm was underlined with an impressive 37 shot shutout for Weninger between the pipes.

Kristian Stokwisz