A four goal second period was enough to help the Excel Hull Stingrays secure their first win in four games and just their fifth win of the season, as they came from two-nil down to beat the second placed Nottingham Panthers 5-4.
The Stingrays, once again without coach Sylvain Cloutier, James Hutchinson, Craig Mitchell and Matty Davies, were slow to get out of the blocks in a fairly uneventful first period. The Panthers did, however, take the lead early in the game as Bruce Richardson stuffed the puck past Swede Tommy Sandahl at the third time of trying on a fifth minute powerplay opportunity.
David Clarke, who bagged four in the 7-3 win over Edinburgh the night before, netted once again with less than two minutes before the firs intermission. The Panthers broke as Adam Knight was beaten to the puck on the right side, with Clarke on hand to slot past Tommy Sandahl to double their away teams lead going into the second period.
A crazy second period then ensued as the Rays registered four goals, one of the highest totals in their Elite League history, to take a 4-2 lead.
Ukrainian Konstantin Kalmikov, as he so often does, netted against his former side to give the home fans hope after a minute and 50 seconds before Jason Silverthorn rounded the back of the net and jammed in the game tying goal past Panthers keeper Kevin St-Pierre.
James Archer, playing in just his second game for the Rays after officially joining on a two-way contract from the Sheffield Scimitars prior to face-off, then netted his first goal at Elite League level, as he beat Panthers defenceman Dominic D'Armour to the puck expertly controlling it out of the air before coolly slotting past St-Pierre to give the Rays a 3-2 lead.
The scoring in the period was then rounded off as Jeff Glowa persevered after being struck in the leg by a point shot to feed the puck to player/assistant coach Curtis Huppe, who duly slotted in his third in five and eighth goal of the season to increase the Stingrays lead to two.
Things never seem to be that easy in the world of the Excel Hull Stingrays and the Nottingham Panthers were certainly not about to be easily beaten by the Elite League's bottom side.
Inspired by forward Jade Galbraith, the Panthers revival began one minute into the third as David Clarke slipped the Stingrays penalty killing net to score his second of the night on the powerplay.
That revival was short lived, however, as two minutes later Jason Silverthorn befitted from a laser of a slapshot by Konstantin Kalmikov to restore the Rays two goal lead from the following rebound with 17 minutes remaining.
There would still be time for defenceman D'Armour to score the Panthers third powerplay goal of the night on their seven attempt with less than two minutes remaining, however, the Stingrays stood tall defensively and held on for a much needed win, their second in six games.
Sylvain Cloutier has now given his side the week off after running shorthanded for much of the season so far and in the run up to Christmas before a home and away double header against the Edinburgh Capitals on December 26 and 27.
Match Highlights
Stingrays Stats
Goalscorers: Silverthorn x 2, Archer, Huppe, Kalmikov
Sandahl: 51 shots, 4 goals against
SOG: 33-51
PIM: 14-4
Good
The grit and desire showed by the Rays, encapsulated by Jeff Glowa's determination to feed Curtis Huppe for the fourth goal. Five different goal scorers for the Rays including Kalmikov, Silverthorn and Huppe who have to keep registering if the team is to win more games. The offensive threat which the Rays posed in the second and third.
Bad
The first period. A poor penalty killing percentage as they concede three powerplay goals for seven attempts. The team's defence allowing 51 shots.
F Block Blog MOM
Stingrays: James Archer (1+0) The young Brit making his second appearance for the Rays did a sterling job, scoring his first goal in professional hockey and looking very lively in providing cover for the absence of Cloutier, Hutchinson, Mitchell and Davies.
Cardiff: Jade Galbraith (?+?) Galbraith is the perfect example of a player that has turned it around. While he was nowhere near ineffective last season, notching 23 goals and 74 points, this season he already has 14 goals and 49 points and, using this game as an example, his pace, vision and skill nearly got the Panthers the points in this game.
Stingrays Verdict: 8/10
A much improved showing for the Stingrays after their 5-0 loss to Sheffield last home game and 6-0 loss to Cardiff last night.
In the first period they showed exactly why the Steelers and Devils had inflicted those scorelines, conceding two goals in a drab first 20 in which they did very little to test the shakey St-Pierre between the Panthers pipes.
However, with the first intermission gone something clicked and one goal followed by another and the team was full of confidence going forward. While they were sometimes lax in their own defensive end, when they go forward with the likes of Kalmikov, Huppe and Silverthorn confident and in-form they look a completely different side.
Tommy Sandahl between the pipes was competant and by the looks of it he has had enough of the, at times, incompetant defence in front of him, barking out after some particuarly bad marking led to one of the Panthers goals.
The key for the Rays as they hit the midpoint of the season is that they get the confidence and scoring rolling and hopefully the rest (namely the defence) should follow. If their poor form re-appears then the axe will almost certainly be wielded, especially with time running out to improve on their current eighth place, and with James Archer the perfect example of what a bit of fresh blood can bring to the side.
Cloutier's Comments
"I wasn't happy at the first break because Nottingham out-worked us. But we came out for the second period and played the way we wanted to play and stuck to the game plan. We found a way to win and I'm so proud of the guys."
