With both teams already out of contention for the next round of competition, pride was on the as the Cardiff Devils played host to the Växjö Lakers, in a rematch of last weeks meeting that ended with a 3 - 1 victory for the Lakers at the Vida Arena.

Växjö would still be out for revenge however, as the last time they made the trip to Ice Arena Wales, they were shocked as the Devils took a stunning 5-1 victory, so head coach Sam Hallam would do all he could to avoid a repeat of the result in Cardiff in last years group stage.

It was a commanding start by the Lakers who were quick on the attack, and despite not being able to make an early power play opportunity count, it didn’t take them long after to open the scoring. Captain Liam Reddox buried his opportunity past Devils netminder Ben Bowns for the opening goal less than five minutes into the game.

Cardiff responded well after falling a goal behind, but couldn’t find too many shooting lanes to challenge Viktor Andrén with the solid defensive efforts from Växjö to keep their goalie from having too much to do.

The Devils ran into some penalty trouble throughout the first period, and Växjö made them pay late in the period after some great passing set up Linus Fröberg for his fourth of the tournament.

Växjö wasted no time extending their lead in the second period through Karl Johansson but the Devils weren’t about to lie down and accept defeat. First Layne Ulmer clawed one back with a great effort to slot the puck past Viktor Andrén, and then they wasted no time on a lengthy power play adding another as Joey Martin tipped a shot to bring it to a 3-2 scoreline. Then just moments later it was all tied up at three as Stephen Dixon was battling in front of the net to redirect the puck into the net to tie the game at three each heading into the final period.

With the game tied heading into the final period, it was all to play for and again Växjö struck first with Janne Pessonen’s tip in front just trickling over the line past Ben Bowns, but again Layne Ulmer was on hand to bury his opportunity to tie it up at 4.

Växjö set up for a powerplay chance midway through the period but it was the home side using the extra room on the ice to their advantage. Joey Martin stole the Puck at Centre ice and went in alone, and as the pressure came he coolly slotted his chance into the cage, giving Cardiff their first lead of the night, but they still had their work cut out for them as another penalty meant Växjö had a lot of time with a man advantage to pull it back, but after a potential game-tying goal was waved off on a slashing call against Brendan Shinnimin, it meant despite the lengthy time with an extra man, Växjö still trailed late in the game.

With time winding down, the great defensive work couldn’t hold the Lakers, a great breakout pass from Linus Fröberg to top scorer Joel Persson who beat Bowns with a slick effort late in the game, which was enough to send the game to overtime with the score tied at 5-5.

Despite their best efforts, the Devils couldn’t hold Växjö at bay for the entire five minutes of overtime, as a rush up ice led to a lethal snipe from Joel Persson to give the visitors a 6-5 win on the night as both teams CHL journey came to an end.