Excel Hull Stingrays 8-1 Basingstoke Bison
A Jeff Glowa inspired Excel Hull Stingrays beat an understrength Basingstoke Bison side minus imports Mike Olynck, Brent Hughes and starting netminder Kevin Reiter.
The rout, which was the Stingrays biggest ever win in the Elite League, began just 47 seconds in, when a speculative Konstantin Kalmikov shot from the blueline somehow found its way past Bison back up netminder Graeme Bird.
Glowa then completed a first half natural hat trick with three straight goals, extending his Stingrays record goals for an individual player in an Elite League season to 32 and giving the Stingrays a 4-0 lead going into the second.
The Bison came out stronger in the second period and a nice goal from Shaun Thompson, who capitalised on James Cooke being the last Stingrays player back, gave the Bison their only goal of the game. The Stingrays responded with a goal of their own, as Kalmikov fired a pass into a congested goalmouth which deflected off the leg pad of fellow Ukrainian Slava Koulikov for his first in four games.
After a 1-1 second period, taking the scoreline to 5-1, the Rays restored their evident dominance on the game with three further goals.
After Jason Kostadine had been somewhat unnecessarily roughed by Bison tough guy Jeremy Cornish, Aaron Wilson recorded his second goal for the Stingrays with a slapshot from the blueline that trickled through Bird.
Bird then conceded a goal he will be seeing in his nightmares, and a goal that left Bison player-coach, Eric Braff, both smirking and embarrassed. A slow Matt Reynolds shot slid flat along the ice from the blueline. A routine save for most goalies, and probably one that Bird would easily save in every training session and every game he has ever played.
But with the Bison on their way to a beating, the puck slid under Bird's stick and through his standing legs, leaving the Hull Arena in a state of both happiness and bemusement with 15 minutes remaining.
There was still time for veteran defenceman, Troy Neumeier, to slot home his third of the season on the backdoor from a cross ice pass, ending the scoring at 8-1.
The shine was taken of the Stingrays comprehensive victory with the news that the eighth placed Edinburgh Capitals had copied the Stingrays win in Coventry the previous week with a 4-2 win of their own.
With just three games remaining for both sides the Stingrays need to win at least two of their final three fixtures, including the final game of the season against Edinburgh, whilst hoping that the Caps can not beat Newcastle away, Manchester at home, nor the Stingrays in that final game.
Meanwhile the Stingrays face a tough task with a midweek game in Manchester, a team they have not beaten all season, before a home double header sees them play a Cardiff side they have lost 7-1 to twice in the last two meetings, before the Capitals showdown, which could yet be meaningless if the Stingrays drop any points.
Best Moments: Two of Jeff Glowa's three goals which were textbook Glowa, the display of Lee Esders who is quickly proving to be a young player with a real future in the top flight, the Stingrays scoring eight goals in the Elite League for just the second time.
Worst Moments: Seeing the Bison in a state of irreversible repair, a Graham Bird howler that saw Matt Reynolds score, Jeremy Cornish pointlessly going after Jason Kostadine with the game way gone and seemingly no instigator in the event.
F Block MOM
Stingrays: Jeff Glowa (3+0): Glowa could have had at least five tonight. He was everywhere on the ice and his performance was one of those performances that just reminds you how important he is to the Stingrays and their competitiveness in the Elite League.
Basingstoke: Corey Leclair (0+0): The former Coventry and Nottingham defenceman showed glimpses of the kind of offensive brilliance that the Stingrays have lacked this season.
Stingrays Verdict (7/10): A competetant job by the Stingrays who were faced with a Basingstoke side that looked like they couldn't wait to get on the golf course/beach. It was nice to see the Stingrays score some goals for once and, although they had a lot of chances to score more, without going hell for leather against a side that was well beaten before the puck was dropped, eight goals was a good return for a normally goal shy side. Defensively they weren't regularly tested, however, when Andrew Jaszczyk replaced the untested Curtis Cruickshank between the pipes, he received adequate cover. All in all, a good victory but a lot more will be expected against Manchester, Cardiff and, should they get to a final day decider, the Edinburgh Capitals.
Strachan's Verdict: "It wasn’t pretty, it was damn ugly at times, but we got the job done and got the two points we needed especially given the fact Edinburgh won in Coventry. But it isn’t over until the fat lady sings"
SOG: 52-22
PIM: 2-10
Playoff Race 09:
8th- Edinburgh GP51, W 16, OTL6, L29, GF161, GA233, GDIFF -74, PTS 38
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9th- Stingrays GP51, W 15, OTL5, L31, GF141, GA225, GDIFF -86, PTS 35
