Devils beat Giants to extend perfect start to four

Cardiff Devils maintained their perfect start to the Elite League season with a 5-2 victory over Belfast Giants at the Vindico Arena on Sunday.

Following victory over Dundee Stars 24 hours earlier as they celebrated their 40th anniversary, Devils have now won four games from four.

Josh MacDonald's early opener was cancelled out by Giants' Jake Gaudet before David Goodwin put the visitors ahead.

Man of the match Riley Brandt levelled in the second period, and Cardiff went on to secure victory with three goals in the final period.

Ryan Barrow and second goals for both MacDonald and Brandt - who slotted into an empty net - saw off the challenge of last season's league champions.

"For the first 30 minutes Belfast were by far the better team," admitted Devils head coach Paul Thompson.

"We hadn't had a team that came at us as hard as they did.

"From the 10-minute mark in the second period we took over and I said to the boys at the end of the second, 'it doesn't matter about the first 30, it's a 2-2 game, we've just got to be the best team in the last 20'. And I think we were."

Cardiff have a 100% home record across 12 league, cup, and pre-season matches in 2026-27 but are yet to win a competitive game on the road - losing all three away games in the Challenge Cup.

They conclude a five-game home stand with a cup visit from Coventry Blaze on Saturday before a first away league trip the following day.

"We want to make this place as tough as anywhere to come into and sometimes you have to show character to win and we did that today," added Thompson.

"The boys can enjoy their day off and then we can get back at it on Tuesday and we prepare for Coventry and then we've got a big travel day up to Dundee on Sunday."