The Excel Hull Stingrays closed out their roller coaster, but ultimately disappointing, 08/09 season with a high scoring 8-5 loss against the playoff bound Edinburgh Capitals.
After the Capitals had beaten the Manchester Phoenix, and the Stingrays had lost out to the Cardiff Devils the previous night, the game was marked effectively pointless with the Caps being out of reach in that final playoff spot.
A low key first period, with neither team looking particularly interested and little atmosphere in the Hull Arena, saw just a James Cooke goal separate the sides. After a Lee Esders shot pinged off the pipework and into Cooke's path, the Brit netted the rebound for just his third of the season against Capitals backup import netminder Jacey Moore.
The Capitals then jumped into a 3-1 lead in the second with three slightly fortuitous goals handing them a two goal lead.
Firstly Aaron Wilson, who has experienced an awkward first season in Europe, agonisingly kicked into his own goal after a Sean Perkins shot come pass.
Then, Edinburgh stalwart Martin Cingel scored via a deflection from a juicy rebound off Curtis Cruickshank's pads. Before finally, a Mark Hurtubise one timer quickly flew in and out of the goal, with referee Matt Darnell in the right place to award the goal despite initial confusion, handing them the two goal lead.
Another huge rebound from an out of position Cruickshank allowed Adam Stefishen to score a routine tap in, extending the Murrayfield sides lead to three after 38 minutes.
The Stingrays then recorded their second of the game, as 38 year old defenceman Troy Neumeier, who was likely playing the final game of his career, one timed a Matt Reynolds pass past Moore to decrease the Caps lead to two with just 29 seconds of the second to go.
Lee Esders followed up Neumeier's goal to score his sixth goal in eight games, early in the third, tipping in a Pavel Gomenyuk's wristshot from the blueline which then sailed high into the Caps net.
But the Capitals responded less than 30 seconds later through Sean Donaldson, who broke his duck for the season after rounding an out of position Cruickshank to send the lead to 5-3.
Once again the Stingrays brought themselves back to within one through a Slava Koulikov one timer from an acute angle, only for the Caps to peg them back yet again, this time through player-coach Doug Christiansen, who scored on a delayed penalty to give Edinburgh a 6-4 lead.
Five and a half minutes later Steve Slonina was credited with his first goal in six games after Capitals defenceman Joe Dustin had tried to block his harmless writer from the point which looped off his glove and over netminder Moore into the net.
That was as close to victory as the Stingrays would come as Jordan Steel scored through Cruickshanks five hole for his first of the season at 58.18, before Mark Patterson scored an empty net goal for Edinburgh to seal the scoreline at 8-5.
The Excel Hull Stingrays now move on to a summer of re-building for another run at the playoffs, whilst the Capitals will play the Sheffield Steelers in the Quarter Finals of the EIHL playoffs over two legs next weekend, with the winner progressing to the EIHL Playoff Weekend at the NIC two weeks from now.
Best Moments: The final buzzer, which brought to an end a season that promised much but delivered nothing.
Worst Moments: Three or four errors by Curtis Cruickshank which resulted in Edinburgh goals.
F Block MOM
Stingrays: Lee Esders (1+1) Esders is a player growing in both confidence and ability, and this game once again showed off his developing talents. He received plenty of ice time and thrived on that ice time with a goal and an assist along with plenty of good shifts throughout the game
Edinburgh: Mark Hurtubise (1+1) He's not one of the league's leading point scorers for no reason. He showed brilliant vision, pace and enthusiasm to bring the puck forward, all the type of attributes that mark him as one of the league's best.
Stingrays Verdict (5/10) It was a nothing game and it was played like one. After going down early, the Stingrays attempted to outscore their opponents with rushes up the ice, and since the game was meaningless, it proved for a fairly entertaining fixture, even if the atmosphere was dull to none existent. A number of players went missed but after such a disappointing end to the season, who can blame them for wanting to forget about it as soon as possible. Esders, Cooke and Glowa were standouts once again whilst Cruickshank and Wilson had performances that were indicative of their poor season.
Strachans Verdict: "We made some mistakes last night that have cost us games all year. We've made them over, over, over and over again and finally we are out of the play-offs.
"It's basic hockey. You don't turn the puck over in the neutral zone, you don't fall asleep, you don't get beaten one-on-ones, but it happened. Sure there's a flip side. But when you are ahead, why not nail it shut and finish it off?"
SOG: 43-40PIM: 16-12
