Braehead Clan 3-4 Hull Stingrays (SO)
The Hull Stingrays tonight made it four wins from four over Gardiner Conference favourites the Braehead Clan tonight in Glasgow with a hard fought 4-3 shootout victory.
Without Tom Squires again and surprise absentee Jereme Tendler - who didn't travel to Scotland in order to rest an apparent groin strain - the Stingrays lined up with Guillaume Doucet, Carl Lauzon and Sylvain Cloutier as the clear first line, with Kyle Mariani filling in alongside Jason Silverthorn and Matty Davies on the second and Jeff Smith alongside Bobby Chamberlain and Sam Towner on the third.
It would be the club's top scorer Doucet that would get things started as the French-Canadian would again use his speed to pull a textbook move around the outside of the opposing D before beating Kyle Jones backhanded for a 1-0 lead after 6.08.
Sylvain Cloutier's side were performing well and arguably had the better chances with Jones coming up big against Ondrej and then Doucet - following an expert set up from Lauzon.
However, with the Stingrays playing some nice stuff and creating chances - particularly through Lauzon and Doucet - Clan defenceman Chris Frank took it upon himself to disrupt the Stingrays.
Having earlier face-washed Cloutier following a whistle, Frank first took a four minute penalty for roughing and cross checking Davies before he set Doucet in his targets. The Clan defenceman took it upon himself to rough up the Stingrays sniper way behind play and way after the whistle in what can only be assumed was a cheap tactic to eliminate Doucet from the game.
Frank wasn't penalised for the play but he and Jeff Smith would receive a delay of game minor at the end of the first as he skated towards Doucet again only this time to be intercepted by Stingrays captain as both square off.
After a poor start to the game, the Clan came out firing in the second and would go on to outshoot the Stingrays 20 to 7. However, despite their massive advantage in shots on goal, it would be the visitors that would lead thanks to a combination of match winning netminding and hard work defensively from the Stingrays.
It took the Clan 14.52 of the second period to finally level the scores through Neil Trimm - who beat Bowns on a rebound following a counter attack after the Rays third line lost the puck in the offensive zone.
The netminder would be forced to produce a number of good stops in the second as the Clan pushed forward particularly late in the second period with the Stingrays clearly on the ropes. It certainly appeared to be a case of when then Clan would take the lead before the end of the second rather than if.
However, to the Rays credit they stuck at it and, lo-and-behold, completely against the run of play and with a hint of luck, a counter attack from Omar Pacha and Davies led to a huge rebound for third line forward Chamberlain - who just about managed to fire home past an out of position Jones in the Clan net on 37.44.
The goal clearly gave the Stingrays confidence heading into the third period, however, the long awaited fight between irritant to the Stingrays Frank and Smith immediately from third period opening face-off - which was largely a nothing fight - appeared to give the Clan the momentum.
Immediately following the ensuing centre-ice face-off, the Clan's Sam Zajac picked a hole between the Rays D big enough for two double decker buses allowing Matt Haywood to race in on his former Sheffield Steeldogs teammate Bowns unopposed and bury the equaliser.
Chances fell to both sides in an even, end to end final period with Lauzon firing wide with Jones out of position and Davies opting to one-time pass instead of shoot when presented with a good opening for the Stingrays.
But with 4.03 remaining in the game Pavel Gomeniuk would take a costly tripping penalty allowing the Clan to take the lead for the first time through defenceman Kenton Smith with less than three minutes remaining.
It appeared to be game over for the Stingrays - who had fought so hard to hold off the Clan - however, there would be one final twist.
Having called a time-out with 1.13 remaining, Doucet would work the puck down low with his combination of skill and strength before setting up a one-timer from Lauzon near the opposite face-off circle that would beat Jones and level the score with just 63 seconds remaining.
Player-coach Cloutier and his squad will have undoubtedly been delighted with a point from their trip to Braehead, however, following a scoreless and mostly uneventful overtime period, the extra point would come down to penalty shots.
After notching the all important game-tying goal and producing a number of huge saves respectively, it would be Lauzon and Bowns that would again prove to be match winners for the Stingrays.
Lauzon notched the only penalty shot with a beautiful drag move and Bowns would stop all three Clan shooters to seal the Stingrays fourth win from four games against Braehead.
While Lauzon, Bowns and Doucet all stood out for their game changing performances at key moments, it was the hard work across the team that proved the difference. The Rays third line also deserves some credit for their performance with Sam Towner having one of his best, most notable games stepping in to the line-up.
The two sides will meet up for the second time in five days on Wednesday night as the Clan travel to Hull for their fifth meeting of the season.
Without Tom Squires again and surprise absentee Jereme Tendler - who didn't travel to Scotland in order to rest an apparent groin strain - the Stingrays lined up with Guillaume Doucet, Carl Lauzon and Sylvain Cloutier as the clear first line, with Kyle Mariani filling in alongside Jason Silverthorn and Matty Davies on the second and Jeff Smith alongside Bobby Chamberlain and Sam Towner on the third.
It would be the club's top scorer Doucet that would get things started as the French-Canadian would again use his speed to pull a textbook move around the outside of the opposing D before beating Kyle Jones backhanded for a 1-0 lead after 6.08.
Sylvain Cloutier's side were performing well and arguably had the better chances with Jones coming up big against Ondrej and then Doucet - following an expert set up from Lauzon.
However, with the Stingrays playing some nice stuff and creating chances - particularly through Lauzon and Doucet - Clan defenceman Chris Frank took it upon himself to disrupt the Stingrays.
Having earlier face-washed Cloutier following a whistle, Frank first took a four minute penalty for roughing and cross checking Davies before he set Doucet in his targets. The Clan defenceman took it upon himself to rough up the Stingrays sniper way behind play and way after the whistle in what can only be assumed was a cheap tactic to eliminate Doucet from the game.
Frank wasn't penalised for the play but he and Jeff Smith would receive a delay of game minor at the end of the first as he skated towards Doucet again only this time to be intercepted by Stingrays captain as both square off.
After a poor start to the game, the Clan came out firing in the second and would go on to outshoot the Stingrays 20 to 7. However, despite their massive advantage in shots on goal, it would be the visitors that would lead thanks to a combination of match winning netminding and hard work defensively from the Stingrays.
It took the Clan 14.52 of the second period to finally level the scores through Neil Trimm - who beat Bowns on a rebound following a counter attack after the Rays third line lost the puck in the offensive zone.
The netminder would be forced to produce a number of good stops in the second as the Clan pushed forward particularly late in the second period with the Stingrays clearly on the ropes. It certainly appeared to be a case of when then Clan would take the lead before the end of the second rather than if.
However, to the Rays credit they stuck at it and, lo-and-behold, completely against the run of play and with a hint of luck, a counter attack from Omar Pacha and Davies led to a huge rebound for third line forward Chamberlain - who just about managed to fire home past an out of position Jones in the Clan net on 37.44.
The goal clearly gave the Stingrays confidence heading into the third period, however, the long awaited fight between irritant to the Stingrays Frank and Smith immediately from third period opening face-off - which was largely a nothing fight - appeared to give the Clan the momentum.
Immediately following the ensuing centre-ice face-off, the Clan's Sam Zajac picked a hole between the Rays D big enough for two double decker buses allowing Matt Haywood to race in on his former Sheffield Steeldogs teammate Bowns unopposed and bury the equaliser.
Chances fell to both sides in an even, end to end final period with Lauzon firing wide with Jones out of position and Davies opting to one-time pass instead of shoot when presented with a good opening for the Stingrays.
But with 4.03 remaining in the game Pavel Gomeniuk would take a costly tripping penalty allowing the Clan to take the lead for the first time through defenceman Kenton Smith with less than three minutes remaining.
It appeared to be game over for the Stingrays - who had fought so hard to hold off the Clan - however, there would be one final twist.
Having called a time-out with 1.13 remaining, Doucet would work the puck down low with his combination of skill and strength before setting up a one-timer from Lauzon near the opposite face-off circle that would beat Jones and level the score with just 63 seconds remaining.
Player-coach Cloutier and his squad will have undoubtedly been delighted with a point from their trip to Braehead, however, following a scoreless and mostly uneventful overtime period, the extra point would come down to penalty shots.
After notching the all important game-tying goal and producing a number of huge saves respectively, it would be Lauzon and Bowns that would again prove to be match winners for the Stingrays.
Lauzon notched the only penalty shot with a beautiful drag move and Bowns would stop all three Clan shooters to seal the Stingrays fourth win from four games against Braehead.
While Lauzon, Bowns and Doucet all stood out for their game changing performances at key moments, it was the hard work across the team that proved the difference. The Rays third line also deserves some credit for their performance with Sam Towner having one of his best, most notable games stepping in to the line-up.
The two sides will meet up for the second time in five days on Wednesday night as the Clan travel to Hull for their fifth meeting of the season.
FBB Three Stars
1. Ben Bowns (44 saves, 1 assist)
2. Carl Lauzon (1+0)
3. Guillaume Doucet (1+1)
