Dundee Stars 4-2 Excel Hull Stingrays
After winning three consecutive games the Excel Hull Stingrays trip to Dundee tonight proved one step too far as their win streak came to an end in a 4-2 defeat in Dundee.
The Rays, again without Konstantin Kalmikov and Lee Mitchell, travelled to Dundee straight from Coventry, having beaten the Blaze the night before, and got off to a much better start than their previous fixture in Tayside, where they found themselves down by four goals after ten minutes, with Lee Esders opening the scoring after 86 seconds.
Dan Ceman's Stars struck back less than six minutes later however, first netting through new signing Jay Latulippe before going ahead 17 seconds after levelling from the stick of player-assistant coach Brent Hughes.
Peter Cartwright extended the home sides lead 23 seconds before the end of the first, giving them a 3-1 lead they would hold on to for much of the game.
Mark Nebus, who had fought Rays defenceman Jozef Sladok in the first period, further extended that lead to three, 9 minutes and 39 seconds into the third. Although the Stingrays finally found the goal they had been searching for 21 seconds later from Andrew Coburn, who scored his third in three games, the two goal lead was eventually too much for Sylvain Cloutier's side to overcome.
The fixture ultimately proved a bridge too far for the Stingrays against a Dundee side that appears to be the club's bogey team this season and that is much improved since the beginning of the year. After wins over three of the top five, the loss is the first since the 12-0 humiliation in Cardiff and, given that fact, Cloutier can be proud of how his side have rebounded.
His team must now rebound once again, this time on Wednesday night against a Braehead team that they have both won and lost against in two meetings this year.
