Hull Stingrays 4-5 Braehead Clan (PS)
The Hull Stingrays tonight bettered the five goal, ten minute offensive blitz they produced to collect a point in Coventry last night, coming back from 3-0 down after two woeful periods to net four third period goals in 6 minutes and 29 seconds and lead 4-3 against the Braehead Clan before eventually going down 5-4 on penalty shots.
A dominating opening to the game from the Clan set the tone for the opening two periods as the visitors held onto the puck for the majority of the opening seven minutes though Dominic Osman ripped a shot off the crossbar eight minutes in with the Rays first real glimpse of Garrett Zemlak's net.
That was as good as it got for the home side in a woefully poor opening two periods.
The Rays continued the second as they had finished the first - in which they were outshot 13-8 - Ben Bowns saving the day on countless occasions, most notably on a 29th minute penalty kill with a miraculous sprawling save with the back of his glove hand.
Having dominated the first half of the game, Jordan Krestanovich's side then finally got the break they were looking for.
Rays defenceman Tomas Valecko losing his stick while unsuccessfully attempting to prevent Robert Farmer from ghosting around the net, before the Brit - who has recently returned from a stint in Kazakhstan - found himself at the hash marks and backhanded a weak shot low underneath Bowns for an opening goal that the Rays keeper, despite his heroics, would want back.
A scuffed pass on the blueline from Jeff Smith then allowed Farmer in on a breakaway which somehow found its way home on 36.05 despite a hook from a Rays player that prevented the Clan forward from getting a true shot away.
Seconds later and the Scottish side looked to have the points in the bag, adding a third through Bobby Chaumont which lead the Rays to call a second period time out having been outshot 21-10. Somewhat surprisingly, the Clans trio of goals had all come courtesy of their second line while topscorer and stalwart Jade Galbraith sat in the penalty box on a ten minute abuse of official call.
After two periods the Rays appeared dead and buried and the atmosphere at the Hull Arena reflected it.
What happened during the second intermission very few will know but the difference between the Rays first and second period and the opening minutes of the third was night and day.
Jereme Tendler's sixth of the season just 49 seconds into the third on a big rebound from a Jason Silverthorn shot was as much as surprise as it was a relief after the Rays very rarely looked like scoring at all in the first 40 minutes.
Having pulled a crucial early goal back, the home side suddenly had the jump in intensity and puck possession on their Gardiner Conference rivals, and Ryan Hand - who had desperately been looking to inspire his side in the fighting stakes in the second stanza - pounced on a loose puck at the blueline and fired home his second of the season on 42.41 to do exactly that - climbing the plexi before letting out a determined roar to fans and players alike.
As they were the night before in Coventry, the Stingrays were now flying forward and they leveled the game three minutes later, captain Kurtis Dulle - who must have logged close to or more than 30 minutes of ice-time and was determined to get the puck forward throughout the onslaught - lifting the puck past Zemlak who was scrambling to freeze it way out of his crease.
Minutes later Janis Ozolins rifled a shot high past the Clan keeper on a two-on-one with Matty Davies at 47.18 to complete an unbelievable comeback, and second offensively explosion in two games, sending Stingrays fans into raptures.
The Clan composed themselves during a 30 second timeout following the goal and launched their counter-offensive, returning close to the levels of earlier control as the home players and fans became tetchy and nervy at undoing the hard work of the early third period.
Having controlled the game for near on 50 minutes, Jade Galbraith prodded home an equaliser and sent the game to overtime with less than seven minutes left rescuing at least a point for the Glasgow based side.
The visitors hit the iron with their first attack of the overtime period and enjoyed a powerplay in the closing stages but could not force a winner as overtime fly by.
On to penalty shots and Braehead player-coach Jordan Krestanovich and Ash Goldie - the Clans big summer signing who was largely anonymous throughout the 60 - confidently fired past Bowns in the shootout to seal the extra point after Ozolins and Osman failed to test Zemlak on their attempts, handing the Clan the extra point and condemning the Stingrays to their second shootout loss in two nights.
The third period transformation tonight and second period blowout last night, should undoubtedly give the Rays and Sylvain Cloutier massive confidence going forward. After a poor two periods, the Rays turned the game completely on its head in a fashion rarely, if ever, seen during the club's ten years of exsistence. The Clan were swimming completely against the tide for the opening seven and a bit minutes of the third, and genuinely struggled to deal with the Rays offence - as the case will have likely have been during the second period against the Blaze last night.
Unlike previous seasons, the club finally appears to have scoring options across the forward lines and, generally, don't have problems hitting the twine - which can only been good. In net, Bowns will perhaps want one or two of the Clans goals back, though he was let down by his defence on a couple of occasions, and will again feel hard done by in the lottery of a shootout but once again stood on his head when it mattered - keeping the Rays in the game in the first two periods.
Coaches often bemoan their players ability to put in a 60 minute performance and that seems particularly true in the case of Cloutier's side - who will continue to search for the solution to the 60 minute puzzle. Of the second shootout defeat in two games he said:
A dominating opening to the game from the Clan set the tone for the opening two periods as the visitors held onto the puck for the majority of the opening seven minutes though Dominic Osman ripped a shot off the crossbar eight minutes in with the Rays first real glimpse of Garrett Zemlak's net.
That was as good as it got for the home side in a woefully poor opening two periods.
The Rays continued the second as they had finished the first - in which they were outshot 13-8 - Ben Bowns saving the day on countless occasions, most notably on a 29th minute penalty kill with a miraculous sprawling save with the back of his glove hand.
Having dominated the first half of the game, Jordan Krestanovich's side then finally got the break they were looking for.
Rays defenceman Tomas Valecko losing his stick while unsuccessfully attempting to prevent Robert Farmer from ghosting around the net, before the Brit - who has recently returned from a stint in Kazakhstan - found himself at the hash marks and backhanded a weak shot low underneath Bowns for an opening goal that the Rays keeper, despite his heroics, would want back.
A scuffed pass on the blueline from Jeff Smith then allowed Farmer in on a breakaway which somehow found its way home on 36.05 despite a hook from a Rays player that prevented the Clan forward from getting a true shot away.
Seconds later and the Scottish side looked to have the points in the bag, adding a third through Bobby Chaumont which lead the Rays to call a second period time out having been outshot 21-10. Somewhat surprisingly, the Clans trio of goals had all come courtesy of their second line while topscorer and stalwart Jade Galbraith sat in the penalty box on a ten minute abuse of official call.
After two periods the Rays appeared dead and buried and the atmosphere at the Hull Arena reflected it.
What happened during the second intermission very few will know but the difference between the Rays first and second period and the opening minutes of the third was night and day.
Jereme Tendler's sixth of the season just 49 seconds into the third on a big rebound from a Jason Silverthorn shot was as much as surprise as it was a relief after the Rays very rarely looked like scoring at all in the first 40 minutes.
Having pulled a crucial early goal back, the home side suddenly had the jump in intensity and puck possession on their Gardiner Conference rivals, and Ryan Hand - who had desperately been looking to inspire his side in the fighting stakes in the second stanza - pounced on a loose puck at the blueline and fired home his second of the season on 42.41 to do exactly that - climbing the plexi before letting out a determined roar to fans and players alike.
As they were the night before in Coventry, the Stingrays were now flying forward and they leveled the game three minutes later, captain Kurtis Dulle - who must have logged close to or more than 30 minutes of ice-time and was determined to get the puck forward throughout the onslaught - lifting the puck past Zemlak who was scrambling to freeze it way out of his crease.
Minutes later Janis Ozolins rifled a shot high past the Clan keeper on a two-on-one with Matty Davies at 47.18 to complete an unbelievable comeback, and second offensively explosion in two games, sending Stingrays fans into raptures.
The Clan composed themselves during a 30 second timeout following the goal and launched their counter-offensive, returning close to the levels of earlier control as the home players and fans became tetchy and nervy at undoing the hard work of the early third period.
Having controlled the game for near on 50 minutes, Jade Galbraith prodded home an equaliser and sent the game to overtime with less than seven minutes left rescuing at least a point for the Glasgow based side.
The visitors hit the iron with their first attack of the overtime period and enjoyed a powerplay in the closing stages but could not force a winner as overtime fly by.
On to penalty shots and Braehead player-coach Jordan Krestanovich and Ash Goldie - the Clans big summer signing who was largely anonymous throughout the 60 - confidently fired past Bowns in the shootout to seal the extra point after Ozolins and Osman failed to test Zemlak on their attempts, handing the Clan the extra point and condemning the Stingrays to their second shootout loss in two nights.
The third period transformation tonight and second period blowout last night, should undoubtedly give the Rays and Sylvain Cloutier massive confidence going forward. After a poor two periods, the Rays turned the game completely on its head in a fashion rarely, if ever, seen during the club's ten years of exsistence. The Clan were swimming completely against the tide for the opening seven and a bit minutes of the third, and genuinely struggled to deal with the Rays offence - as the case will have likely have been during the second period against the Blaze last night.
Unlike previous seasons, the club finally appears to have scoring options across the forward lines and, generally, don't have problems hitting the twine - which can only been good. In net, Bowns will perhaps want one or two of the Clans goals back, though he was let down by his defence on a couple of occasions, and will again feel hard done by in the lottery of a shootout but once again stood on his head when it mattered - keeping the Rays in the game in the first two periods.
Coaches often bemoan their players ability to put in a 60 minute performance and that seems particularly true in the case of Cloutier's side - who will continue to search for the solution to the 60 minute puzzle. Of the second shootout defeat in two games he said:
“I am disappointed we did not get the two points but I was proud with the way we battled back in the third period. We then made a silly mistake and they made us pay. We will regroup this week. That is three games in a row where we have given up a lead but have taken a point in a shoot-out. We need to start finding a way to win those games. We are better than that.”The Rays face a home league double header next weekend taking on the Dundee Stars on Saturday before they face the Belfast Giants for the first time this season on Sunday.
FBB Three Stars
1. Ben Bowns
2. Janis Ozolins
3. Kurtis Dulle
1. Ben Bowns
2. Janis Ozolins
3. Kurtis Dulle
