Hull Stingrays 3-1 Braehead Clan
The Hull Stingrays tonight set a club record for consecutive victories in the Elite League as they notched up their fifth win in a row with a 3-1 victory over Gardiner Conference rivals the Braehead Clan.
Without Jereme Tendler for the third successive game, the Stingrays struggled to settle the puck in a scrappy but somewhat frentic opening five minutes.
Ryan Finnerty's side had clearly come to East Yorkshire with the intention of halting a run that has seen the Clan lose all five of their fixtures against the Stingrays this season and that worked well early on as the won all of the key battles across the ice.
Nevertheless, after both sides failed to impress on their opening powerplays of the game, Stingrays forward Jason Silverthorn popped up on the games third man advantage, worked his way towards the Clan net and, somehow, roofed the puck past Clan netminder Kyle Jones from close in when, not for one second did it appear possible.
Two and a half minutes after Silverthorn's 9th minute opener though the Clan were level. Hard work down low from now veteran forward-turned-defenceman Kevin Bergin leading to a wraparound that would produce an inviting rebound for standout forward Ed McGrane to bury past Ben Bowns.
In truth, the goal was no more than the Clan deserved for their efforts in disturbing the Stingrays offence in the opening period and that would be a theme throughout the first and second periods.
Despite Michael Hicks distributing a fair number of powerplays in the middle stanza - neither side would be able to convert during a scrappy, disjointed period from both sides.
That was equally the case in the third and final period and, in fact, it would be a Clan powerplay that would eventually produce the pivotal moment in the game in favour of the Stingrays.
Five minutes into the third period the Clan found themselves on the powerplay thanks to a Jeff Smith cross-checking penalty. On the ensuing powerplay Braehead gave opening goalscorer Silverthorn - who innocuously skated in almost on his own - time and space before the 33 year old tightly turned in towards their net and, once again, somehow found a space between Jones' pads and the post to notch his second of the night.
In a matter of minutes the Clan had gone from having very little threat on their goal whatsoever and a powerplay opportunity to conceding what has to be classed as a brilliant, improbable finish from a Stingrays point of view but a completely avoidable and costly one from a Clan point of view, leaving Finnerty none too pleased.
Ultimately the goal would cost the Clan - who had fought so hard to disrupt the Stingrays style of play with a defensive pressure - dear as they handed the initiative and momentum to the Stingrays - who had generally struggled to generate many real scoring chances.
The Clan were now forced to chase the game with time ticking down and that played perfectly into the Stingrays hands. As the Clan opened up offensively so did the game as Nikolai Ladygin was put in the unfamiliar but perfect position to receive a breakaway pass, only for Jones to stop the break.
Eventually though the more open game would lead to the Stingrays third and final goal as some quite brilliant playmaking and a blind pass from Carl Lauzon - who used his strength and then vision to pull a Clan defenceman and Clan netminder Jones out of position - set up leading scorer Guillaume Doucet for a simple tap in to secure the two points and the club record on 54.54.
For the third successive game netminder Bowns put in a solid performance between the pipes. The British keepers recent performances are fast presenting a case for the Great Britain starting job. In front of him, tonight's standout overally was defenceman Omar Pacha - who put in a determined, driven, committed outstanding overall performance both defensively and offensively. Meanwhile without Silverthorn's pinpoint goals there's a very good chance the Stingrays might not have found a way past Jones this evening given the way the Clan were playing defensively.
On top of setting a new club Elite League record for consecutive wins, the victory is also the Stingrays fifth over the Clan in five games - at the very least securing a winning record for Cloutier's side over the Clan this season.
Of course, the Stingrays will be hoping to continue their great run of form over the Clan on Sunday as they face Braehead for the third time in eight days hoping to make it six wins from six this season.
Prior to that on Saturday night the Stingrays take on a Dundee side whom they battling with for the Gardiner Conference title. The Rays are currently top of the conference following tonight's win with Dundee trailing by two points having played four fewer fixtures, they will be hoping to put further daylight between them and the Stars with a sixth consecutive win on Saturday night at Hull Arena
As well as ensuring their push for the Gardiner Conference continues, tonight's win maintains the Rays sixth position in the Elite League, now five points ahead of the Coventry Blaze in seventh and just two points behind the Clan in fifth.
The Stingrays are now also playing 500. hockey in the Elite League having win 16 of their 32 fixtures, an impressive achievement for Cloutier and the club.
The Hull Stingrays tonight set a club record for consecutive victories in the Elite League as they notched up their fifth win in a row with a 3-1 victory over Gardiner Conference rivals the Braehead Clan.
Without Jereme Tendler for the third successive game, the Stingrays struggled to settle the puck in a scrappy but somewhat frentic opening five minutes.
Ryan Finnerty's side had clearly come to East Yorkshire with the intention of halting a run that has seen the Clan lose all five of their fixtures against the Stingrays this season and that worked well early on as the won all of the key battles across the ice.
Nevertheless, after both sides failed to impress on their opening powerplays of the game, Stingrays forward Jason Silverthorn popped up on the games third man advantage, worked his way towards the Clan net and, somehow, roofed the puck past Clan netminder Kyle Jones from close in when, not for one second did it appear possible.
Two and a half minutes after Silverthorn's 9th minute opener though the Clan were level. Hard work down low from now veteran forward-turned-defenceman Kevin Bergin leading to a wraparound that would produce an inviting rebound for standout forward Ed McGrane to bury past Ben Bowns.
In truth, the goal was no more than the Clan deserved for their efforts in disturbing the Stingrays offence in the opening period and that would be a theme throughout the first and second periods.
Despite Michael Hicks distributing a fair number of powerplays in the middle stanza - neither side would be able to convert during a scrappy, disjointed period from both sides.
That was equally the case in the third and final period and, in fact, it would be a Clan powerplay that would eventually produce the pivotal moment in the game in favour of the Stingrays.
Five minutes into the third period the Clan found themselves on the powerplay thanks to a Jeff Smith cross-checking penalty. On the ensuing powerplay Braehead gave opening goalscorer Silverthorn - who innocuously skated in almost on his own - time and space before the 33 year old tightly turned in towards their net and, once again, somehow found a space between Jones' pads and the post to notch his second of the night.
In a matter of minutes the Clan had gone from having very little threat on their goal whatsoever and a powerplay opportunity to conceding what has to be classed as a brilliant, improbable finish from a Stingrays point of view but a completely avoidable and costly one from a Clan point of view, leaving Finnerty none too pleased.
Ultimately the goal would cost the Clan - who had fought so hard to disrupt the Stingrays style of play with a defensive pressure - dear as they handed the initiative and momentum to the Stingrays - who had generally struggled to generate many real scoring chances.
The Clan were now forced to chase the game with time ticking down and that played perfectly into the Stingrays hands. As the Clan opened up offensively so did the game as Nikolai Ladygin was put in the unfamiliar but perfect position to receive a breakaway pass, only for Jones to stop the break.
Eventually though the more open game would lead to the Stingrays third and final goal as some quite brilliant playmaking and a blind pass from Carl Lauzon - who used his strength and then vision to pull a Clan defenceman and Clan netminder Jones out of position - set up leading scorer Guillaume Doucet for a simple tap in to secure the two points and the club record on 54.54.
For the third successive game netminder Bowns put in a solid performance between the pipes. The British keepers recent performances are fast presenting a case for the Great Britain starting job. In front of him, tonight's standout overally was defenceman Omar Pacha - who put in a determined, driven, committed outstanding overall performance both defensively and offensively. Meanwhile without Silverthorn's pinpoint goals there's a very good chance the Stingrays might not have found a way past Jones this evening given the way the Clan were playing defensively.
On top of setting a new club Elite League record for consecutive wins, the victory is also the Stingrays fifth over the Clan in five games - at the very least securing a winning record for Cloutier's side over the Clan this season.
Of course, the Stingrays will be hoping to continue their great run of form over the Clan on Sunday as they face Braehead for the third time in eight days hoping to make it six wins from six this season.
Prior to that on Saturday night the Stingrays take on a Dundee side whom they battling with for the Gardiner Conference title. The Rays are currently top of the conference following tonight's win with Dundee trailing by two points having played four fewer fixtures, they will be hoping to put further daylight between them and the Stars with a sixth consecutive win on Saturday night at Hull Arena
As well as ensuring their push for the Gardiner Conference continues, tonight's win maintains the Rays sixth position in the Elite League, now five points ahead of the Coventry Blaze in seventh and just two points behind the Clan in fifth.
The Stingrays are now also playing 500. hockey in the Elite League having win 16 of their 32 fixtures, an impressive achievement for Cloutier and the club.
FBB Three Stars
1. Jason Silverthorn (2+0)
2. Omar Pacha (0+0)
3. Carl Lauzon (0+1)
