Hull Stingrays 2-3 Edinburgh Capitals (SO)
The Hull Stingrays tonight relied on two more goals from topscorer Jereme Tendler to claim a point against the Edinburgh Capitals but were eventually handed a damaging loss by way of a shootout for the sixth time this season, losing out by three goals to two to the Scottish side.
With a full compliment of 13 imports available following Martin Ondrej's return to fitness, the Rays scratched enforcer Ryan Hand and back-up netminder Greg Blais for the fixture.
The visiting Edinburgh side got off to the better start, pressurszing the Stingrays early on before dominating the possession stakes for the majority of the opening first period as the Rays sat back.
That lack of urgency cost them on 13.34 as a perfectly timed defence splitting pass from Neil Hay caught the Rays defence on their heels, allowing Curtis Leinweber to skate in alone between two defencemen and neatly beat netminder Ben Bowns for a one-nil lead.
A relatively pedestrian period from a Stingrays point of view came to a close with the home side on finally on top as they benefited from a Brent Patry slashing penalty to test Tomas Hiadlovsky for the first time. A combination of committed penalty killing from Jade Portwood - who blocked a number of shots on the penalty kill and throughout the game - and solid netminding maintained the Capitals one goal first period lead.
The Slovakian keeper continued where he left off early in the second period, as the Rays came out with the urgency they lacked in the first period, denying Tendler on a breakaway - Michal Benadik taking a hooking penalty in the process. The Caps keeper was called upon increasingly in the second period as the Stingrays upped their game with the out-of-form Janis Ozolins stopped on a brilliant diving shot from the hash marks.
However - while Hiadlovsky's solid play would eventually prove to be the difference - the home side's pressure eventually told in the second period as Tendler bagged his first of the night with a pinpoint finish in the roof of the net from an impossibly acute angle, leveling the game on 30.15.
They continued their second period offensive drive and, after Ozolins had jinked around a Caps defenceman only for Hiadlovsky to make the save, Tendler netted his second goal of the game, 29th of the season and, incredibly, his tenth in six games with a scrappy effort to give the Rays a 2-1 lead on the powerplay.
Richard Hartmann's Edinburgh side had their chances - notably with Ben Bowns stopping a Caps one-timer close in and Patry clipping the post on the powerplay - but the second period was undoubtedly the Stingrays as they outshot the Caps 15-8 and outscored them 2-0.
Penalties on Jeff Smith and Dmitri Rodin at the beginning of the third period allowed Edinburgh to take the initiative, hitting the post when trying to stuff the puck home on the short side.
Stingrays player-coach Sylvain Cloutier then beat a rushing Hiadlovsky to a loose puck in the offensive zone while shorthanded but instead chose to kill the powerplay than fire at the empty net from an short angle with Caps players in between himself and the net.
A poor pass from captain Kurtis Dulle gifted the Capitals the puck moments later, forcingDmitri Rodin to take a penalty to deny an ensuing opportunity. The Scottish side - who dominated the Stingrays on the powerplay during their home victory in December - again made the Rays pay on the man advantage, equalising through Hartmann on 46.17.
After Tendler was denied the hat-trick with two half chances on the powerplay, the Stingrays thought they had taken the lead as a Martin Ondrej shot rang the pipework twice only to not cross the line according to the officials and goal judge.
The Rays biggest third period chance came by way of Cloutier - who was the trailing player on a two-on-two break between Tendler and Tanaka - picking up the loss puck, only for his huge slapshot to be saved.
A tripping penalty on Ozolins with three minutes remaining all but killed off the Rays hopes of winning the game in regulation, however, a determined, solo shorthanded drive from Tendler - which saw him speed past two Caps and then deke around a third - was yet again stopped by the visitors man of the match in net.
The Rays killed off the powerplay to claim at least a point but really craved the extra point against their Gardiner Conference rivals.
An end-to-end, incoherent but fruitless overtime passed by with five shots and little activity before Leinweber's penalty shot proved the difference as Ozolins, Rodin and Tendler were all expertly stopped by Hiadlovsky for a critical extra point.
That huge extra point extends Edinburgh's lead over the Rays in ninth place of the Elite League to two points, also narrowing the gap between the two sides to one point in the Gardiner Conference.
The Capitals played a sterling road game limiting opportunities in front of their in-form netminder before breaking with slick passing, pace and precision, and few will begrudge them the two points. Aside from Hiadlovsky, the all-round performance of Jade Portwood - particularly defensively - and goalscorer and game winner Leinweber is also worth highlighting.
Defensively, the Rays - now with five import defencemen - look good having allowed three goals or fewer in six of their last eight fixtures.
However, where they're undoubtedly now lacking is going forward. Only once in their last eight fixtures have they scored more than three goals while their over reliance on Tendler - who has been phenomenal alongside Jason Silverthorn and has now scored nine of the club's last 11 goals from their last six fixtures - is particularly concerning, as is the drought of goals from Ozolins and Dominic Osman - who between them had four goals in December.
The rumours concerning a new power forward being signed appear to have some mileage with confirmation of a signing possibly expected in the next week or so. Whether Cloutier finalises that signing and whether he will have to make the tough decision to release a player with the Rays then boasting 14 imports is a much discussed point and remains to be seen.
In the meantime, the Stingrays travel to Coventry to take on the Blaze in the Elite League on Sunday evening, hoping to claim something more from the weekend.
With a full compliment of 13 imports available following Martin Ondrej's return to fitness, the Rays scratched enforcer Ryan Hand and back-up netminder Greg Blais for the fixture.
The visiting Edinburgh side got off to the better start, pressurszing the Stingrays early on before dominating the possession stakes for the majority of the opening first period as the Rays sat back.
That lack of urgency cost them on 13.34 as a perfectly timed defence splitting pass from Neil Hay caught the Rays defence on their heels, allowing Curtis Leinweber to skate in alone between two defencemen and neatly beat netminder Ben Bowns for a one-nil lead.
A relatively pedestrian period from a Stingrays point of view came to a close with the home side on finally on top as they benefited from a Brent Patry slashing penalty to test Tomas Hiadlovsky for the first time. A combination of committed penalty killing from Jade Portwood - who blocked a number of shots on the penalty kill and throughout the game - and solid netminding maintained the Capitals one goal first period lead.
The Slovakian keeper continued where he left off early in the second period, as the Rays came out with the urgency they lacked in the first period, denying Tendler on a breakaway - Michal Benadik taking a hooking penalty in the process. The Caps keeper was called upon increasingly in the second period as the Stingrays upped their game with the out-of-form Janis Ozolins stopped on a brilliant diving shot from the hash marks.
However - while Hiadlovsky's solid play would eventually prove to be the difference - the home side's pressure eventually told in the second period as Tendler bagged his first of the night with a pinpoint finish in the roof of the net from an impossibly acute angle, leveling the game on 30.15.
They continued their second period offensive drive and, after Ozolins had jinked around a Caps defenceman only for Hiadlovsky to make the save, Tendler netted his second goal of the game, 29th of the season and, incredibly, his tenth in six games with a scrappy effort to give the Rays a 2-1 lead on the powerplay.
Richard Hartmann's Edinburgh side had their chances - notably with Ben Bowns stopping a Caps one-timer close in and Patry clipping the post on the powerplay - but the second period was undoubtedly the Stingrays as they outshot the Caps 15-8 and outscored them 2-0.
Penalties on Jeff Smith and Dmitri Rodin at the beginning of the third period allowed Edinburgh to take the initiative, hitting the post when trying to stuff the puck home on the short side.
Stingrays player-coach Sylvain Cloutier then beat a rushing Hiadlovsky to a loose puck in the offensive zone while shorthanded but instead chose to kill the powerplay than fire at the empty net from an short angle with Caps players in between himself and the net.
A poor pass from captain Kurtis Dulle gifted the Capitals the puck moments later, forcingDmitri Rodin to take a penalty to deny an ensuing opportunity. The Scottish side - who dominated the Stingrays on the powerplay during their home victory in December - again made the Rays pay on the man advantage, equalising through Hartmann on 46.17.
After Tendler was denied the hat-trick with two half chances on the powerplay, the Stingrays thought they had taken the lead as a Martin Ondrej shot rang the pipework twice only to not cross the line according to the officials and goal judge.
The Rays biggest third period chance came by way of Cloutier - who was the trailing player on a two-on-two break between Tendler and Tanaka - picking up the loss puck, only for his huge slapshot to be saved.
A tripping penalty on Ozolins with three minutes remaining all but killed off the Rays hopes of winning the game in regulation, however, a determined, solo shorthanded drive from Tendler - which saw him speed past two Caps and then deke around a third - was yet again stopped by the visitors man of the match in net.
The Rays killed off the powerplay to claim at least a point but really craved the extra point against their Gardiner Conference rivals.
An end-to-end, incoherent but fruitless overtime passed by with five shots and little activity before Leinweber's penalty shot proved the difference as Ozolins, Rodin and Tendler were all expertly stopped by Hiadlovsky for a critical extra point.
That huge extra point extends Edinburgh's lead over the Rays in ninth place of the Elite League to two points, also narrowing the gap between the two sides to one point in the Gardiner Conference.
The Capitals played a sterling road game limiting opportunities in front of their in-form netminder before breaking with slick passing, pace and precision, and few will begrudge them the two points. Aside from Hiadlovsky, the all-round performance of Jade Portwood - particularly defensively - and goalscorer and game winner Leinweber is also worth highlighting.
Defensively, the Rays - now with five import defencemen - look good having allowed three goals or fewer in six of their last eight fixtures.
However, where they're undoubtedly now lacking is going forward. Only once in their last eight fixtures have they scored more than three goals while their over reliance on Tendler - who has been phenomenal alongside Jason Silverthorn and has now scored nine of the club's last 11 goals from their last six fixtures - is particularly concerning, as is the drought of goals from Ozolins and Dominic Osman - who between them had four goals in December.
The rumours concerning a new power forward being signed appear to have some mileage with confirmation of a signing possibly expected in the next week or so. Whether Cloutier finalises that signing and whether he will have to make the tough decision to release a player with the Rays then boasting 14 imports is a much discussed point and remains to be seen.
In the meantime, the Stingrays travel to Coventry to take on the Blaze in the Elite League on Sunday evening, hoping to claim something more from the weekend.
FBB Three Stars
1. Jereme Tendler
2. Shane Lovdahl
3. Dmitri Rodin
