Devils beat Blaze to reach play-off semi-finals
Cardiff Devils lost out to Belfast Giants in the Elite League title race [Rebecca Brain] Cardiff Devils eased into the Elite League Play-off finals weekend with a comfortable 4-1 win against Coventry Blaze that earned a 6-2 two-leg quarter-final aggregate triumph in the Welsh capital. Devils won the first leg 2-1 at Skydome Arena on Saturday and were in control at Vindico Arena until William Boysen's late consolation for the visitors. Kohen Olischefski set the tone for the hosts with the opener timed at 39 seconds and Josh MacDonald added the second.
Joey Martin and Riley Brandt added their names to the scoreboard as Devils led 4-0 on the evening going into the final period. Boysen's effort rewarded Blaze, but it was too little too late as their season came to a close. The play-off semi-finals, final and third-fourth play-off all take place in Nottingham on the weekend of 18-19 April with Sheffield Steelers and Manchester Storm progressing before the line up was completed in a dramatic finale to Sunday's late game in which Glasgow Clan beat Giants 3-1 in a shootout to book their place.