Edinburgh Capitals 3-4 Hull Stingrays
The Hull Stingrays tonight notched four powerplay goals and stopped the Edinburgh Capitals on nine of ten powerplay opportunities on the way to claiming their second consecutive victory away from home this season in a 4-3 win over their Gardiner Conference rivals at Murrayfield.
Having recorded their first road victory of the season in Fife two weeks ago, the Stingrays got the perfect start on their first visit to the Scottish capital. On the visitors first attack of the game Guilllaume Doucet drew a tripping penalty from Edinburgh defenceman Daniel McIntyre following a sublime bit of skill when entering the zone.
On the ensuing powerplay the ever improving Carl Lauzon broke into the zone and rang the post with a rasping shot from the face-off dot before the puck was somehow bundled home on the ricochet after just 1.14
Edinburgh responded quickly though as little more than 30 seconds later Peter Holecko was afforded time and space to expertly pick his spot past Ben Bowns and level the score.
Bowns would again be called into action soon after the tying goal with the GB number two forced to deny the Caps a breakaway goal with a glove save following a poor Stingrays line change.
The Capitals would eventually take the lead for the first and only time on 6.14 though. With Matt Suderman in the box for holding - having lost the chase for a dumped puck - and Jeff Smith out for two minutes thanks to a blatant slash in front of Bowns on the resulting powerplay, a low point drive from Michal Benadik gave the home side a 2-1 advantage.
Further pressure and puck possession followed from Richard Hartmann's side five-on-five but crucially, despite playing some of their best hockey, the Caps were unable to extend their lead.
A relatively harsh holding minor penalty from Martin Cingel on Carl Lauzon and an elbow to Jason Silverthorn from Michal Dobron then gave the Stingrays a big five-on-three opportunity.
Having scored on their first man advantage, the Stingrays powerplay - which has generally struggled to find form or cohesion so far this season - struck again on 15.26 thanks to an Omar Pacha point shot through traffic which may have taken a slight deflection on its way through.
The five-on-three powerplay swung momentum in the Rays favour and they perhaps should have been leading heading into the first intermission as the Caps blueline evaporated on a number of occasions.
Sylvain Cloutier was the first to be put through on a breakaway. The Rays player-coach worked the puck around Hiadlovsky - who challenged him with a poke check - only for the puck to fall behind him and for the onrushing Bobby Chamberlain to fire the puck into Cloutier with the goal gaping.
That breakaway was quickly followed by another as Matty Davies typically elect to pass the puck to Jereme Tendler - who trailed the centreman by a good ten feet - when put through on goal on for the Canadian to fire wide.
The Stingrays third powerplay goal in four powerplay attempts gave them the lead 7.17 into the second period. With Peter Holecko out for hooking, the Stingrays set up their special teams and eventually worked the puck down low before amusingly pinballing puck through Hiadlovsky's crease with three shot-turned-passes. The puck eventually fell to Jason Silverthorn with the former Capital firing home from in front to give his current side a 3-2 lead - much to the displeasure of his former fans.
A potential turning point followed just after the 30 minute mark as Rays defenceman Matt Suderman received what was by all accounts a very harsh two minute slashing call.
The Stingrays club captain openly and loudly berated referee Rab Cowan for the call and was therefore handed a ten minute misconduct for abuse of official. Inexplicably, having earnt himself a ten minute misconduct, the abuse didn't stop there and Cowan was given no option but to give Suderman a game penalty - sending him to the changing rooms.
The actions cost the Stingrays the services of one of their defenceman and forced them to re-shuffle their lines with Scott Robson rotated into the defensive line-up alongside Kyle Mariani - who switched from forward to defence. Sam Towner was therefore also brought into the line-up, filling Maraini's third line foward spot on a number of shifts.
Not only were the Stingrays firing on all cylinders on the powerplay, their penalty kill was also restricting the Caps offensively, with four penalties - including uncharacteristically Jereme Tendler's first two penalties of the season - killed in the second period.
In part their special teams was assisted by Edinburgh's misfortune on powerplay and the kind of reluctance to shoot on the man advantage that the Rays have suffered at times this season. Nevertheless, the Rays worked hard to keep the Caps at bay and would end the evening allowing just one goal on ten powerplay opportunities.
At times Stingrays netminder Bowns was the difference on the powerplay, however, he really came into his own in the third period as Edinburgh came out strongly.
Most notably Bowns made two brilliant double saves to keep the Stingrays head at 3-2. He first stopped Les Reaney on the breakaway before reacting to the rebound to stretch and somehow deny Martin Cingel with a kicksave on the rebound. A poor touch from Martin Ondrej later gave Reaney another Edinburgh break, only for Bowns to again deny both attempts.
Edinburgh continued to up the tempo in search of the equaliser and only a very well timed and well controlled puck cycle from Davies, Cloutier and Tendler relieved the pressure on the Stingrays net.
That puck cycle gave the Stingrays bench a momentary rest and would help them temporarily re-establish themselves back in the game.
A soft interference penalty from Caps defenceman Benadik on 50.25 would then prove to the difference in the end as the Rays added their fourth powerplay goal in five attempts through Silverthorn - who added to his unpopularity at Murrayfield with a finish past Hiadlovsky from close in for his second goal of the evening.
Despite adding their fourth goal of the evening, the Rays were forced to continue to weather the storm in the remaining minutes. The Caps called a time-out and pulled Hiadlovsky for the extra outskater Edinburgh and they would pulled one back with 33 seconds remaining through Holecko - who this time fired through a lot of traffic in front of Bowns for his second.
The Caps attacked from the ensuing centre-ice face-off and again set up in the offensive zone with the Rays unable to clear the puck.
However, luckily for the Stingrays, the game was effectively ended as a tie with 11 seconds remaining and the puck in the Rays zone as Reaney stupidly reacted to a legal check from Martin Ondrej - who had been enjoying a running battle with the Caps forward and Tomas Horna.
Reaney received a roughing penalty on the play - and later a ten minute misconduct on the buzzer - to relieve the pressure on the Rays, thus allowing them to close out their second road victory of the season in Scotland and avenging Edinburgh's victory in Hull in late September.
Both sides return to action in Hull tomorrow night (6pm face-off) for their third meeting of the 13/14 season.
The Hull Stingrays tonight notched four powerplay goals and stopped the Edinburgh Capitals on nine of ten powerplay opportunities on the way to claiming their second consecutive victory away from home this season in a 4-3 win over their Gardiner Conference rivals at Murrayfield.
Having recorded their first road victory of the season in Fife two weeks ago, the Stingrays got the perfect start on their first visit to the Scottish capital. On the visitors first attack of the game Guilllaume Doucet drew a tripping penalty from Edinburgh defenceman Daniel McIntyre following a sublime bit of skill when entering the zone.
On the ensuing powerplay the ever improving Carl Lauzon broke into the zone and rang the post with a rasping shot from the face-off dot before the puck was somehow bundled home on the ricochet after just 1.14
Edinburgh responded quickly though as little more than 30 seconds later Peter Holecko was afforded time and space to expertly pick his spot past Ben Bowns and level the score.
Bowns would again be called into action soon after the tying goal with the GB number two forced to deny the Caps a breakaway goal with a glove save following a poor Stingrays line change.
The Capitals would eventually take the lead for the first and only time on 6.14 though. With Matt Suderman in the box for holding - having lost the chase for a dumped puck - and Jeff Smith out for two minutes thanks to a blatant slash in front of Bowns on the resulting powerplay, a low point drive from Michal Benadik gave the home side a 2-1 advantage.
Further pressure and puck possession followed from Richard Hartmann's side five-on-five but crucially, despite playing some of their best hockey, the Caps were unable to extend their lead.
A relatively harsh holding minor penalty from Martin Cingel on Carl Lauzon and an elbow to Jason Silverthorn from Michal Dobron then gave the Stingrays a big five-on-three opportunity.
Having scored on their first man advantage, the Stingrays powerplay - which has generally struggled to find form or cohesion so far this season - struck again on 15.26 thanks to an Omar Pacha point shot through traffic which may have taken a slight deflection on its way through.
The five-on-three powerplay swung momentum in the Rays favour and they perhaps should have been leading heading into the first intermission as the Caps blueline evaporated on a number of occasions.
Sylvain Cloutier was the first to be put through on a breakaway. The Rays player-coach worked the puck around Hiadlovsky - who challenged him with a poke check - only for the puck to fall behind him and for the onrushing Bobby Chamberlain to fire the puck into Cloutier with the goal gaping.
That breakaway was quickly followed by another as Matty Davies typically elect to pass the puck to Jereme Tendler - who trailed the centreman by a good ten feet - when put through on goal on for the Canadian to fire wide.
The Stingrays third powerplay goal in four powerplay attempts gave them the lead 7.17 into the second period. With Peter Holecko out for hooking, the Stingrays set up their special teams and eventually worked the puck down low before amusingly pinballing puck through Hiadlovsky's crease with three shot-turned-passes. The puck eventually fell to Jason Silverthorn with the former Capital firing home from in front to give his current side a 3-2 lead - much to the displeasure of his former fans.
A potential turning point followed just after the 30 minute mark as Rays defenceman Matt Suderman received what was by all accounts a very harsh two minute slashing call.
The Stingrays club captain openly and loudly berated referee Rab Cowan for the call and was therefore handed a ten minute misconduct for abuse of official. Inexplicably, having earnt himself a ten minute misconduct, the abuse didn't stop there and Cowan was given no option but to give Suderman a game penalty - sending him to the changing rooms.
The actions cost the Stingrays the services of one of their defenceman and forced them to re-shuffle their lines with Scott Robson rotated into the defensive line-up alongside Kyle Mariani - who switched from forward to defence. Sam Towner was therefore also brought into the line-up, filling Maraini's third line foward spot on a number of shifts.
Not only were the Stingrays firing on all cylinders on the powerplay, their penalty kill was also restricting the Caps offensively, with four penalties - including uncharacteristically Jereme Tendler's first two penalties of the season - killed in the second period.
In part their special teams was assisted by Edinburgh's misfortune on powerplay and the kind of reluctance to shoot on the man advantage that the Rays have suffered at times this season. Nevertheless, the Rays worked hard to keep the Caps at bay and would end the evening allowing just one goal on ten powerplay opportunities.
At times Stingrays netminder Bowns was the difference on the powerplay, however, he really came into his own in the third period as Edinburgh came out strongly.
Most notably Bowns made two brilliant double saves to keep the Stingrays head at 3-2. He first stopped Les Reaney on the breakaway before reacting to the rebound to stretch and somehow deny Martin Cingel with a kicksave on the rebound. A poor touch from Martin Ondrej later gave Reaney another Edinburgh break, only for Bowns to again deny both attempts.
Edinburgh continued to up the tempo in search of the equaliser and only a very well timed and well controlled puck cycle from Davies, Cloutier and Tendler relieved the pressure on the Stingrays net.
That puck cycle gave the Stingrays bench a momentary rest and would help them temporarily re-establish themselves back in the game.
A soft interference penalty from Caps defenceman Benadik on 50.25 would then prove to the difference in the end as the Rays added their fourth powerplay goal in five attempts through Silverthorn - who added to his unpopularity at Murrayfield with a finish past Hiadlovsky from close in for his second goal of the evening.
Despite adding their fourth goal of the evening, the Rays were forced to continue to weather the storm in the remaining minutes. The Caps called a time-out and pulled Hiadlovsky for the extra outskater Edinburgh and they would pulled one back with 33 seconds remaining through Holecko - who this time fired through a lot of traffic in front of Bowns for his second.
The Caps attacked from the ensuing centre-ice face-off and again set up in the offensive zone with the Rays unable to clear the puck.
However, luckily for the Stingrays, the game was effectively ended as a tie with 11 seconds remaining and the puck in the Rays zone as Reaney stupidly reacted to a legal check from Martin Ondrej - who had been enjoying a running battle with the Caps forward and Tomas Horna.
Reaney received a roughing penalty on the play - and later a ten minute misconduct on the buzzer - to relieve the pressure on the Rays, thus allowing them to close out their second road victory of the season in Scotland and avenging Edinburgh's victory in Hull in late September.
Both sides return to action in Hull tomorrow night (6pm face-off) for their third meeting of the 13/14 season.
FBB Three Stars
1. Ben Bowns (?? saves)
2. Omar Pacha (1+1)
3. Jason Silverthorn (2+0)
