Hull Stingrays 2-5 Coventry Blaze
The Hull Stingrays were tonight defeated 5-2 by a short-benched Coventry Blaze side lead by returning forward Shea Guthrie.
Remarkably all of the last three Stingrays-Blaze fixtures have finished 5-2 and it would be the Stingrays that would again finish on the wrong end of the scoreline this time.
Both sides had hit the post before Mattias Soderstrom's side raced into a 1-0 lead thanks to a typically speedy and clinical counter-attack from that man Guthrie - who notched his first goal of the season in his second game after returning from Sweden on Friday.
In an end-to-end first period, the Stingrays struggled to craft that all important scoring chance but were, on the whole, controlling the game against a short-staffed Coventry side with just 13 outskaters.
That all changed in the middle stanza though as the Blaze dominated the Stingrays and opened up a pivotal four goal lead.
Ryan Ginand would net Coventry's second goal just 43 seconds into the second period, beating the Stingrays D and Ben Bowns to his own rebound before somehow steering it round the Rays netminder mid-dive.
The Elite League's leading scorer then collided heavily with Bowns in the ensuing dive, causing some worrying moments for the Stingrays and, in particular, their inexperienced rookie backup Mike Bolton while the GB international got back to his feet.
Bowns did resume the game, however, the Blaze were well on top and Kevin Harvey tipped home their third goal on the powerplay on 23.55 before Ross Venus fired home a killer fourth to complete a devastating opening seven second period minutes.
As the game entered the third period and then began to draw to a close it appeared that the Stingrays may be shut out for the second time in two home games - following last weekend's 2-0 loss to the Belfast Giants.
However, they would mount a mini-revival with less than nine minutes remaining on the clock as Carl Lauzon picked up a huge rebound from a weak Jeff Smith point shot and fired home into the gaping net to finally give the home crowd something to cheer about and to ruin Coventry's and Zacharias' shutout hopes.
The two goal weekend gives the French-Canadian - who was one of the Rays top performers on the night, albeit in a relatively average team performance - eight goals in 19 games this season including five in his last six as he finally looks to have settled in the UK and in the Elite League.
The goal stirred the Rays and for, really, the first time in the match they began to trouble the Blaze going forward.
Guillaume Doucet would then add a second goal for the Stingrays on the powerplay but, with less than three minutes to go, it would prove to be too little, too late in their bid to make it a four point weekend.
Looking for a third goal, the Rays pulled Bowns in a last gasp roll of the dice only for Ginand to add his second of the night into the empty net from distance with 37 seconds remaining.
Despite this evenings defeat and somewhat disappointing performance, Sylvain Cloutier will be happy and proud of his side's weekend having picked up two valuable Gardiner Conference points against Braehead on Saturday.
Next weekend they will face the Cardiff Devils at home on Saturday night before travelling to Scotland for the second time in two weeks to take on the Edinburgh Capitals on Sunday.
The Hull Stingrays were tonight defeated 5-2 by a short-benched Coventry Blaze side lead by returning forward Shea Guthrie.
Remarkably all of the last three Stingrays-Blaze fixtures have finished 5-2 and it would be the Stingrays that would again finish on the wrong end of the scoreline this time.
Both sides had hit the post before Mattias Soderstrom's side raced into a 1-0 lead thanks to a typically speedy and clinical counter-attack from that man Guthrie - who notched his first goal of the season in his second game after returning from Sweden on Friday.
In an end-to-end first period, the Stingrays struggled to craft that all important scoring chance but were, on the whole, controlling the game against a short-staffed Coventry side with just 13 outskaters.
That all changed in the middle stanza though as the Blaze dominated the Stingrays and opened up a pivotal four goal lead.
Ryan Ginand would net Coventry's second goal just 43 seconds into the second period, beating the Stingrays D and Ben Bowns to his own rebound before somehow steering it round the Rays netminder mid-dive.
The Elite League's leading scorer then collided heavily with Bowns in the ensuing dive, causing some worrying moments for the Stingrays and, in particular, their inexperienced rookie backup Mike Bolton while the GB international got back to his feet.
Bowns did resume the game, however, the Blaze were well on top and Kevin Harvey tipped home their third goal on the powerplay on 23.55 before Ross Venus fired home a killer fourth to complete a devastating opening seven second period minutes.
As the game entered the third period and then began to draw to a close it appeared that the Stingrays may be shut out for the second time in two home games - following last weekend's 2-0 loss to the Belfast Giants.
However, they would mount a mini-revival with less than nine minutes remaining on the clock as Carl Lauzon picked up a huge rebound from a weak Jeff Smith point shot and fired home into the gaping net to finally give the home crowd something to cheer about and to ruin Coventry's and Zacharias' shutout hopes.
The two goal weekend gives the French-Canadian - who was one of the Rays top performers on the night, albeit in a relatively average team performance - eight goals in 19 games this season including five in his last six as he finally looks to have settled in the UK and in the Elite League.
The goal stirred the Rays and for, really, the first time in the match they began to trouble the Blaze going forward.
Guillaume Doucet would then add a second goal for the Stingrays on the powerplay but, with less than three minutes to go, it would prove to be too little, too late in their bid to make it a four point weekend.
Looking for a third goal, the Rays pulled Bowns in a last gasp roll of the dice only for Ginand to add his second of the night into the empty net from distance with 37 seconds remaining.
Despite this evenings defeat and somewhat disappointing performance, Sylvain Cloutier will be happy and proud of his side's weekend having picked up two valuable Gardiner Conference points against Braehead on Saturday.
Next weekend they will face the Cardiff Devils at home on Saturday night before travelling to Scotland for the second time in two weeks to take on the Edinburgh Capitals on Sunday.
FBB Three Stars
1. Carl Lauzon (1+0)
2. Matty Davies (0+1)
3. Omar Pacha (0+1
