The Cardiff Devils are Continental Cup champions for the first time after defeating the Brûleurs de Loups from Grenoble, France 6-1 on Sunday before 3,110 fans at Vindico Arena in the Welsh capital.

Veteran British national team forward Brett Perlini led the Devils offensively with a hat trick, while two assists from Zach O’Brien gave him five points over two games in the final round. Cardiff outshot Grenoble 46-19 in the game.

The teams traded power-play goals in the first period, with Tyler Bush opening the scoring for Cardiff at 5:17 and Aurelien Dair replying for Grenoble at 16:13. The Devils then put the game away in the second period with four straight goals – Perlini got his first two, followed by Josh MacDonald on the power play and Cole Sanford at even strength. In the game’s final minute, with the outcome no longer in doubt, Perlini scored an empty-netter to round out the scoring.

The Devils beat both GKS Katowice and Grenoble in regulation time to finish with six points. Grenoble’s shootout victory over Katowice on Saturday was the difference between second and third places. There were only three teams at this year’s tournament as the fourth team to qualify – Arlan Kokshetau from Kazakhstan – was forced to withdraw due to “a combination of travel and timing issues.”

The Devils become the second British team to win the Continental Cup, following the Nottingham Panthers in 2016-17. It marks the third straight podium finish for the Devils, who finished third in each of the past two seasons. The only previous team to accomplish that feat was HC Donbass of Ukraine from 2011 to 2014.

The silver finish marks the first-ever medal of any color for Les Brûleurs de Loups. They were looking to become only the second French team to win the tournament after Les Dragons de Rouen, who won twice in 2011-12 and 2015-16.

This was the second straight year that Cardiff hosted the final round. The last city to host multiple years in a row was Székesfehérvár, Hungary, which hosted three years in a row in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Continental Cup is a second-tier European club hockey tournament organized by the IIHF that is competed in multiple stages. This year’s tournament featured 20 teams, all from different countries.