An outstanding, hard working performance from the Excel Hull Stingrays tonight saw them easily overcome title chasers the Sheffield Steelers. After going two goals down the Stingrays once again bounced back to win by seven goals to two with goalscorer Jereme Tendler helping himself to the first Stingrays hat trick of the season.
Buoyed by the return of British defenceman Craig Mitchell from a broken arm but minus brother Lee Mitchell, who presumably sat out once again because of his troublesome knee, Sylvain Cloutier reshuffled his pack moving Jozef Sladok into the forward role that Kriss Grundmanis ominously took up in his final days with the club.
Aware that a good start was crucial, coach Cloutier set the example early on with some aggressive forechecking, however, an early penalty against Aivars Gaisins put them on the backfoot.
The Steelers, who were without Jonathan Phillips and Jeff Legue, opened the scoring on the ensuing powerplay after a defensive misjudgement allowed Joey Talbot to score just moments after Jereme Tendler had been stoned by Ervins Mustukovs on another shorthanded breakaway at the other end.
They then doubled their advantage less than two minutes later as Rob Globke found Tom Squires, who hit the only spot on Boucher's net possible after Andrew Coburn had misjudged a bounce off the sideboards.
Two down, the Stingrays had yet to get themselves into the game, but they finally did after ten minutes when Matti Uusivirta, Konstantin Kalmikov and Matty Davies combined well to give Finn Uusivirta a chance he would not pass up.
Kalmikov then bagged a goal of his own, wheeling around the Sheffield D before firing the puck with just enough power for it to trickle over the line to level the scores.
Globke, who recently bagged a rare hat trick of shorthanded goals against Newcastle, would later have a big chance to again give the Steelers the lead on the man disadvantage but, after dancing around three Stingrays, he could not find the finish to match his earlier silky skills.
The home side completed their comeback from two goals down a minute and eight seconds into the second as Jereme Tendler bagged his first of the night, one timing a shot home on the powerplay.
15 minutes later former Steeler Ryan Lake redirected home a tame Craig Mitchell point shot to put the Stingrays further ahead into the same dreaded two goal lead that the visitors had blown earlier on in the game.
Thankfully for the Stingrays Kurtis Dulle made the most of a chance crafted from hard work by Davies in the corner to fire high past Ervins Mustukovs for a crucial 5-2 lead going into the third and to put to bed fears of a Sheffield comeback.
It was a 60 minute team effort from the home side and further proof of that came in the third as they were forced to persevere, killing off a number of penalties including a two minute 5-on-3. Had the Steelers scored on one of their three powerplays it would have been game on, instead the Rays stood tall and they turned to indiscipline with Derek Campbell receiving a five plus game for spearing and Rob Globke two minutes for roughing followed by a misconduct penalty to all but confirm the result in the Rays favour.
The Stingrays still had more in the tank though and Jereme Tendler went on to capitalise on that indiscipline netting twice on the powerplay before the end of the game, first past Mustukovs before hitting the twine behind back up Brandon Stones, who replaced the Latvian in the Steelers net for the final ten minutes, to complete his hat trick of goals and seal a sweet 7-2 victory.
The win is another big step on the road for Cloutier's side. With Drew Bannister settled into the line-up the defence looked more assured and, although the former NHLer is yet to get off the mark for the club, it is easy to see his experience and cool head at the back is a priceless asset.
The Stingrays are currently very much a beast of Jekyll and Hyde proportions, both in general but more so when they go down to sides. They either capitulate as they did in Cardiff and Sheffield or they rally to claim points as they have done at home against Belfast and Sheffield, and away to Coventry and Newcastle.
The key now for Cloutier and his side is to put that inconsistent form behind them and build on this victory in tomorrow's fixture in Nottingham, who may well be missing a couple of key players after a line brawl erupted in their game against Coventry tonight.
Rays Rating
9
FBB Three Stars
1- Jereme Tendler (3+0)
2- Sylvain Cloutier (0+1)
3- Christian Boucher (36 saves, 38 shots)
