Fife Flyers 1-4 Hull Stingrays
After a tough week off-ice following Derek Campbell's release and subsequent 47 game ban, the Hull Stingrays tonight drew a line under the whole incident by ending their seven game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Fife Flyers in Kirkcaldy..
They Rays - on their second trip North of the border this season - didn't get the best of starts to the game as Sylvain Cloutier received a ten minute misconduct for abuse of an official after just 81 seconds.
Nevertheless, despite the inconvenience of having their player-coach in the penalty box, the Stingrays would be leading 2-0 by the time Cloutier returned to the ice ten minutes later.
They took the lead on the game's first powerplay - a 2 minute hooking minor against Fife's Chris Wands - through defenceman Omar Pacha on 4.34 with assists from Kyle Mariani - who was praised by Cloutier for his versatility during the week - and Tom Squires - who recorded his first point of the season.
The Rays then doubled their lead via the stick of Jason Silverthorn on 10.35 with Scott Robson - who was recalled from his loan with Blackburn for this game - recording his first Elite League point with an assist and Bobby Chamberlain notching an additional helper for his first point this season.
In a near perfect opening 15 minutes, Jereme Tendler made it 3-0 less than three minutes later with the Rays second powerplay goal of the evening thanks to assists from Silverthorn and Matty Davies. The goal was Tendler's fourth goal in four games and ninth in ten games this season.
Rok Pajic hit back for the Flyers late in the first period but the Stingrays would regain their three goal lead in the second period through their third powerplay goal of the night, this time from Guillaume Doucet with assists from Davies and Tendler
Given last week's events, the potential talking point of the game followed immediately as Fife defenceman Matt Nickerson - who has already been banned this season - fought the Stingrays Jeff Smith.
Both received match penalties for excessive roughness with Smith's the Stingrays second such penalty in two weeks, while Stingray Matty Davies and Flyer Justin DaCosta also received roughing penalties.
The match penalties will see both players automatically receive a one-match ban and Smith will now miss tomorrow's home Challenge Cup game against the Nottingham Panthers.
Having come out hard in the first period, the Stingrays were for once in control heading into the third period and - despite being outshot 15-9 in the last 20 minutes - closed out the game for just their second of the season to end a difficult winless spell.
After a tough week off-ice following Derek Campbell's release and subsequent 47 game ban, the Hull Stingrays tonight drew a line under the whole incident by ending their seven game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Fife Flyers in Kirkcaldy..
They Rays - on their second trip North of the border this season - didn't get the best of starts to the game as Sylvain Cloutier received a ten minute misconduct for abuse of an official after just 81 seconds.
Nevertheless, despite the inconvenience of having their player-coach in the penalty box, the Stingrays would be leading 2-0 by the time Cloutier returned to the ice ten minutes later.
They took the lead on the game's first powerplay - a 2 minute hooking minor against Fife's Chris Wands - through defenceman Omar Pacha on 4.34 with assists from Kyle Mariani - who was praised by Cloutier for his versatility during the week - and Tom Squires - who recorded his first point of the season.
The Rays then doubled their lead via the stick of Jason Silverthorn on 10.35 with Scott Robson - who was recalled from his loan with Blackburn for this game - recording his first Elite League point with an assist and Bobby Chamberlain notching an additional helper for his first point this season.
In a near perfect opening 15 minutes, Jereme Tendler made it 3-0 less than three minutes later with the Rays second powerplay goal of the evening thanks to assists from Silverthorn and Matty Davies. The goal was Tendler's fourth goal in four games and ninth in ten games this season.
Rok Pajic hit back for the Flyers late in the first period but the Stingrays would regain their three goal lead in the second period through their third powerplay goal of the night, this time from Guillaume Doucet with assists from Davies and Tendler
Given last week's events, the potential talking point of the game followed immediately as Fife defenceman Matt Nickerson - who has already been banned this season - fought the Stingrays Jeff Smith.
Both received match penalties for excessive roughness with Smith's the Stingrays second such penalty in two weeks, while Stingray Matty Davies and Flyer Justin DaCosta also received roughing penalties.
The match penalties will see both players automatically receive a one-match ban and Smith will now miss tomorrow's home Challenge Cup game against the Nottingham Panthers.
Having come out hard in the first period, the Stingrays were for once in control heading into the third period and - despite being outshot 15-9 in the last 20 minutes - closed out the game for just their second of the season to end a difficult winless spell.
