Jay Latulippe and Joe Myers combined to blow the Excel Hull Stingrays out of the water as the Cardiff Devils skated out to a 7-1 victory on Saturday night.
Hat trick hero Latulippe had a four-point night and Myers stopped all but one of the 32 shots he faced as the Devils ransacked the Hull Arena.
Ben Davies doubled up with two goals in the second period, while Mike Prpich and Phil Hill added one each to complete the rout.
It was Cardiff’s fourth win in five games against the ninth-ranked Stingrays and the result keeps the fifth-ranked Devils ahead of the Manchester Phoenix for at least a day.
Myers made his second straight start in place of regular number-one Peter Aubry, who was again rested by coach Gerad Adams, turning in possibly the best performance of his young career.
With Myers on top form, the Devils were also boosted by the return of first line centreman Jason Silvethorn.
Silverthorn had been off the active roster since injuring his hand in the ill-tempered game with Nottingham on January 24 and gave the overworked Devils forward pack a boost.
Almost predictably, the return of Silverthorn meant that it was time for another Devil to be struck by the dreaded I-word. Jason Stone took an awkward fall in the second and did not return for the final frame after receiving treatment from the physio.
When the teams last met the Devils held a 1-0 lead for most of the game before Hull came back to win late in the third period. This time the Devils blew the game wide open, taking a 4-0 lead with Latulippe front and centre.
One week after his hat trick in Newcastle, the 26-year old American was at it again as he blitzed Hull goalie Curtis Cruickshank with a first period treble. Latulippe and the Devils got the jump on the hometown Rays only 24 seconds into the contest when he scored his first, assisted by Brad Voth.
Latulippe’s second came at 9:23, from Hill and Mike Hartwick. And it was 3-0 at 14:18 when Latulippe combined with Matt Elich on the powerplay to set up Mike Prpich.
Man of the match Latulippe made it 4-0 with his third at 16:37 after he was played in by Tyson Teplitsky.
The shellshocked Stingrays did manage to stem the tide before the first intermission when Kalmikov scored at 18:08, assisted by Pavel Gomenyuk and Slava Koulikov.
The break in play didn’t slow the Devils, however, as they scored three more unanswered in the second period.
Davies grabbed his first at 25:01, from Elich and Prpich, increasing the lead to 5-1. Later in the period with the Devils on a powerplay, Matt Towe and Doug MacIver worked the puck to Hill, who notched his 19th goal of the season at 29:42 to make it 6-1.
After opening his account last weekend, Davies then grabbed his third of the campaign to wrap the scoring up at 34:02, with help from MacIver.
At that point Cruickshank, who appeared in Thursday’s All Star game, was pulled in favour of Hull backup Andrew Jaszcyk.
Voth and MacIver both received misconducts in the third period as Jaszyck and Myers kept the lid on the score.
The Devils, who have an off day on Sunday, now return home for next Saturday’s battle in the Bay with the Newcastle Vipers (7:00pm).
Statistics:
Devils: Jay Latulippe 3+1; Ben Davies 2+0; Phil Hill 1+2; Mike Prpich 1+1; Matt Elich 0+2; Doug MacIver 0+2; Tyson Teplitsky 0+1; Brad Voth 0+1; Mike Hartwick 0+1; Matt Towe 0+1; Wes Jarvis 0+1
Stingrays: Konstantin Kalmikov 1+0; Pavel Gomenyuk 0+1; Slava Koulikov 0+1
Period Scores: Devils: 4+3+0=7; Stingrays: 1+0+0=1
Shots on Goal: Devils: 42 (30 on Cruickshank – 12 on Jaszcyk); Stingrays: 32
Penalty Minutes: Devils: 55; Stingrays: 10
Referee: Tom Darnell
Powerplays: Devils: 2/4; Stingrays: 0/8
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