The Dunedin Thunder started strongly, despite the absence of Matt Enright who broke his ankle on Saturday, ending his season.
They put huge pressure on the Red Devils' defensive end and looked threatening on attack. Red Devils goalie Michael Coleman was tireless in the early stages, but could only hold the Thunder out for so long, and Benjamin Gavoille scored to put the Thunder in the lead 1-0.
The Red Devils struggled to get possession of the puck, and when they did, failed to capitalise as several shots flew past the goal.
At the end of the first period, the Red Devils worked their way into the game and Brett Speirs stepped up as captain in the absence of Hayden Argyle, who had been suspended for a king hit.
Speirs got the Red Devils on the board, scoring twice in quick succession to give his side a 2-1 lead.
Tamas Lencses extended the Red Devils' lead to 3-1 in the final minutes of the first period, and the Thunder was in danger of falling too far behind.
The second period started much the same as the first, Benjamin Gavoille scoring his second goal of the match to put the Thunder back in contention.
Shortly after, Paris Heyd evened the match up after a one-on-one contest with Red Devils goalie Michael Coleman in which he came up trumps to tie the score at 3-3.
A few minor scuffles occurred in the second period, and four players were issued penalties for dangerous play.
The third period proved the most thrilling of the three.
Speirs netted his third goal and, shortly after, Lencses scored his second of the night, putting the Red Devils back in the lead 5-3.
Just as it seemed the Red Devils were taking control of the match, the Thunder retaliated with Gavoille and Heyd scoring to tie the match up with 10 minutes remaining.
Thunder goalie Kane Easterbrook held strong in his defence, but the Red Devils' Vitaljis Hvorostinins broke through with a close-range goal to take his team into the lead with five minutes to play.
Desperate attempts at goal from the Thunder proved fruitless, and the Red Devils prevailed 6-5 to follow on from its 5-3 win over the Thunder on Saturday.
In other matches at the weekend, the Southern Stampede beat the Botany Swarm 9-7 in the first match but the Botany Swarm evened the score by winning the second game 5-1.
By Bridget Rutherford.
