Flames    4

Devils     5

The BRHL Cup kicked off in fine form with 9 goals and 73 combined shots against despite both teams boasting some stellar defensive play throughout the playoffs to this point! Flames GM Kevin has to be a tad upset at this result as this was clearly a game that got away from them. Calgary jumped out to an early 3-1 lead through a period but let that lead slip away and headed to the 2nd period intermission tied at 3 despite outshooting their opponent 30-19. I don't know if being tied in a game that they were clearly better in weighed on them mentally or they simply ran out of steam after exerting themselves for the first 40 but the third period was a complete disaster for the Flames. The Devils completely dominated the third much to the delight of the home crowd outshooting the Flames 21-3 in the stanza and outscoring them 2-1 to snatch away the win. Veteran Flames forward A. Ladd clearly was feeling a momentum shift and dropped the mits with D. Brown in a spirited bout but it was the Devils and the crowd that were energized with the Flames having little response. Of interest will be which goalie(s) will get a night off in game 2 if any as both goalies faced so much rubber neither will be 100% at puck drop! Also of note was the combined 0-9 on the power-play in this one as both are obviously quite pleased with the PK but not so much with the PP and will look to correct that at practice. Devils with the early jump up 1-0 in the series