Manchester Phoenix 5-6 Excel Hull Stingrays (After Shootout)
The Excel Hull Stingrays beat the Manchester at the eighth time of asking this season, with the teams needing overtime and then a round of a shootout to decide the helter skelter matchup.
With the Edinburgh Capitals beating the Newcastle Vipers tonight, the Stinrgays required a victory to keep them in the running for that final playoff spot, and they got off to the kind of start they could have only dreamed of.
Early goals from Pavel Gomenyuk, on the powerplay, and the inform Lee Esders, his fifth in seven games, handed the Stingrays an unexpected 2-0 lead as they began the game with a jump over Manchester.
League leading goalscorer, David Alexandre Beauregard, notched one back on the powerplay for the Phoenix, with his 42nd goal of the season, and the first period petered out with the scores at 2-1.
The Stingrays once again came out strongly at the beginning of the period, this time Konstantin Kalmikov, who was outstanding all game long, scored after a sweet one-two with linemate Matt Reynolds, extending the Rays lead to a seemingly unassailable 3-1 lead as the Phoenix failed to muster up many chances.
However a Lucas Burdett shorthanded goal , which crept through Rays netminder, Curtis Cruickshank's, pads against the run of play, suddenly turned the tide in favour of the home side.
Another fortuitous goal was to follow five minutes later as defenceman Aaron Wilson failed in finding a teammate, and succeeded in finding referee Dean Smith. As a result Adam Walker skated in unopposed to level the scores with a backhanded effort after 30 minutes gone.
50 seconds later and hard work in the corner from the Phoenix gave Walker, unopposed again, the chance to slot past Cruickshank for the second time in the game, giving them a 4-3 lead.
With the Phoenix now clearly in the ascendancy, the Stingrays required a reaction to their oppositions renewed confidence. Little over a minute later, Kalmikov followed Walker in scoring his second of the game, levelling the scores once again after a neat feed from Matt Reynolds presented the Ukrainian with a difficult chance, but one he roofed high into Phoenix netminder, Stephen Murphy's net.
Bruce Mulherin regained the Phoenix lead at 45 minutes with a quick one timer after a period of relative calm, but with time running out the Stingrays own 'Mr Reliable', Jeff Glowa, once again popped up to save the game. A high and hopeful Gomenyuk dump into the Phoenix zone was plucked out of the air by the unrelenting Glowa, who went on fire past Murphy and tie the game with just under eight minutes left.
Overtime came and went with just a David Beauregard chance, wonderfully saved by Cruickshank, before the shootout loomed.
The Stingrays entered the game with a 1-2 shootout record and left with a 2-2 record and their first points over Manchester this season. The first round saw all three players score for both sides as did Kalmikov and his Phoenix counterpart in the first round of sudden death shoot out, but a Jeff Glowa goal and Bruce Mulherin miss gave the Stingrays a desperate, and hard fought win in Altrincham.
Best Moments: Glowa's shootout winner ending a couple of hours of, will they or won't make it to the weekend with their playoff hopes still in play, Konstantin Kalmikov's performance.
Worst Moments: Lucas Burnett's shorthanded goal past Curtis Cruickshank, a goal 'Cruicker' will almost certainly want back.
F Block Blog MOM
Stingrays: Konstantin Kalmikov (2+0) Sometimes handing a man of the match award to the player who scored the most goals is routine, too obvious or undeserved, with stats masking a poor performance. Well not this time. Kalmikov was first to every puck, worked hard for 60 minutes, showed skill and determination, scored two incredibly important goals and still had time to score two shootout goals to save his team. He is a brilliant player and a must keep.
Manchester: Adam Walker (2+1) The young Brit matched everything that Kalmikov did on the score sheet, and more. He scored two goals, went two from two in the shootout and also added an assist, an impressive performance from Walker, who finished his chances well and showed signs of an improving player with promise for the future.
Stingrays Verdicts (8/10): Once again the Stingrays never cease to amaze. You expect something, they lose, and then, like tonight, you expect that the fat lady to be bellowing out her tunes, and they the pull out a result. It was a driven performance from the team tonight, all the players were focused on pushing that playoff dream 48 hours longer and ultimately their desire drove them to their first victory over Manchester this season. Glowa and Kalmikov were brilliant up front, Reynolds, although looking slightly unfit, was similarly good and the defence, which did leak a few more goals than they would perhaps prefer, proved solid when pushed in the closing stages. It was a pleasure to see the team working to achieve a single goal tonight and although the playoffs may eventually slip away, two more performances like this and they might win a few more fans back over.
Strachan's Verdict-"We won the game and that is all that mattered. Apart from when we fell asleep for a few minutes in the second period we played a pretty solid game. We haven't done anything easy all year so why start now! We live to fight another day and who knows what will happen."
SOG: 37-37
PIM: 12-12
Playoff Race 09:
8th- Edinburgh GP52, W 17, OTL6, L29, GF165, GA235, GDIFF -72, PTS 40
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9th- Stingrays GP52, W 16, OTL5, L31, GF147, GA230, GDIFF -85, PTS 37
Game Highlights courtesy of Manchester Phoenix TV:
The Excel Hull Stingrays beat the Manchester at the eighth time of asking this season, with the teams needing overtime and then a round of a shootout to decide the helter skelter matchup.
With the Edinburgh Capitals beating the Newcastle Vipers tonight, the Stinrgays required a victory to keep them in the running for that final playoff spot, and they got off to the kind of start they could have only dreamed of.
Early goals from Pavel Gomenyuk, on the powerplay, and the inform Lee Esders, his fifth in seven games, handed the Stingrays an unexpected 2-0 lead as they began the game with a jump over Manchester.
League leading goalscorer, David Alexandre Beauregard, notched one back on the powerplay for the Phoenix, with his 42nd goal of the season, and the first period petered out with the scores at 2-1.
The Stingrays once again came out strongly at the beginning of the period, this time Konstantin Kalmikov, who was outstanding all game long, scored after a sweet one-two with linemate Matt Reynolds, extending the Rays lead to a seemingly unassailable 3-1 lead as the Phoenix failed to muster up many chances.
However a Lucas Burdett shorthanded goal , which crept through Rays netminder, Curtis Cruickshank's, pads against the run of play, suddenly turned the tide in favour of the home side.
Another fortuitous goal was to follow five minutes later as defenceman Aaron Wilson failed in finding a teammate, and succeeded in finding referee Dean Smith. As a result Adam Walker skated in unopposed to level the scores with a backhanded effort after 30 minutes gone.
50 seconds later and hard work in the corner from the Phoenix gave Walker, unopposed again, the chance to slot past Cruickshank for the second time in the game, giving them a 4-3 lead.
With the Phoenix now clearly in the ascendancy, the Stingrays required a reaction to their oppositions renewed confidence. Little over a minute later, Kalmikov followed Walker in scoring his second of the game, levelling the scores once again after a neat feed from Matt Reynolds presented the Ukrainian with a difficult chance, but one he roofed high into Phoenix netminder, Stephen Murphy's net.
Bruce Mulherin regained the Phoenix lead at 45 minutes with a quick one timer after a period of relative calm, but with time running out the Stingrays own 'Mr Reliable', Jeff Glowa, once again popped up to save the game. A high and hopeful Gomenyuk dump into the Phoenix zone was plucked out of the air by the unrelenting Glowa, who went on fire past Murphy and tie the game with just under eight minutes left.
Overtime came and went with just a David Beauregard chance, wonderfully saved by Cruickshank, before the shootout loomed.
The Stingrays entered the game with a 1-2 shootout record and left with a 2-2 record and their first points over Manchester this season. The first round saw all three players score for both sides as did Kalmikov and his Phoenix counterpart in the first round of sudden death shoot out, but a Jeff Glowa goal and Bruce Mulherin miss gave the Stingrays a desperate, and hard fought win in Altrincham.
Best Moments: Glowa's shootout winner ending a couple of hours of, will they or won't make it to the weekend with their playoff hopes still in play, Konstantin Kalmikov's performance.
Worst Moments: Lucas Burnett's shorthanded goal past Curtis Cruickshank, a goal 'Cruicker' will almost certainly want back.
F Block Blog MOM
Stingrays: Konstantin Kalmikov (2+0) Sometimes handing a man of the match award to the player who scored the most goals is routine, too obvious or undeserved, with stats masking a poor performance. Well not this time. Kalmikov was first to every puck, worked hard for 60 minutes, showed skill and determination, scored two incredibly important goals and still had time to score two shootout goals to save his team. He is a brilliant player and a must keep.
Manchester: Adam Walker (2+1) The young Brit matched everything that Kalmikov did on the score sheet, and more. He scored two goals, went two from two in the shootout and also added an assist, an impressive performance from Walker, who finished his chances well and showed signs of an improving player with promise for the future.
Stingrays Verdicts (8/10): Once again the Stingrays never cease to amaze. You expect something, they lose, and then, like tonight, you expect that the fat lady to be bellowing out her tunes, and they the pull out a result. It was a driven performance from the team tonight, all the players were focused on pushing that playoff dream 48 hours longer and ultimately their desire drove them to their first victory over Manchester this season. Glowa and Kalmikov were brilliant up front, Reynolds, although looking slightly unfit, was similarly good and the defence, which did leak a few more goals than they would perhaps prefer, proved solid when pushed in the closing stages. It was a pleasure to see the team working to achieve a single goal tonight and although the playoffs may eventually slip away, two more performances like this and they might win a few more fans back over.
Strachan's Verdict-"We won the game and that is all that mattered. Apart from when we fell asleep for a few minutes in the second period we played a pretty solid game. We haven't done anything easy all year so why start now! We live to fight another day and who knows what will happen."
SOG: 37-37
PIM: 12-12
Playoff Race 09:
8th- Edinburgh GP52, W 17, OTL6, L29, GF165, GA235, GDIFF -72, PTS 40
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th- Stingrays GP52, W 16, OTL5, L31, GF147, GA230, GDIFF -85, PTS 37
Game Highlights courtesy of Manchester Phoenix TV:
