Blaze bring Stingrays crashing back down to earth

Hull Stingrays 1-6 Coventry Blaze

Less than a week after their club record six game unbeaten run came to an end, the Hull Stingrays saw their seven game unbeaten home run end in disappointing fashion as they were thrashed 6-1 by the Coventry Blaze.

Trailing after one period thanks to Ryan Ginand's first period powerplay goal, it was the Blaze top line of Ashley Tait, Michael Henrich and Adam Henrich that did the damage to the Stingrays in the second and third period. The trio combined for four goals and six assists in the final 40 minutes with new signing Kelsey Wilson's 36th minute goal the only marker that didn't involve one of the trio.

GB international Tait helped himself to two second period goals and three assists overall while Adam Henrich bagged two third period goals and an assist.

The Stingrays outshot the Blaze 19-9 in the second period, however, despite outplaying their opponents, they found themselves 4-1 down, and that after Sylvain Cloutier's shorthanded goal on 38.36.

Match Highlights: Braehead Clan 3-0 Hull Stingrays

Unbeaten run ends as Stingrays lose in Glasgow

Braehead Clan 3-0 Hull Stingrays

A goal in each period from the Braehead Clan in Glasgow tonight ended the Hull Stingrays club record six game unbeaten run as they ran out victors by three goals to nil.

Ryan Finnerty's side - who have been defeated by the Stingrays in all five meetings this season - will have been eager to end their torrid run against their opponents and opened the scoring in an even first period through Matt Towe on 17.24.

The Clan took further control of the game in the second - outshooting the Rays 10-6 - and they would score again late in the period with Shane Lust doubling their lead at a crucial time with less than two minutes remaining in the second.

In a disciplined 60 minutes from both sides that produced only three minor penalties - two for the Clan and one for the Rays - the Clan registered their third goal of the game on their only powerplay of the game through Joel Champagne on 46.53.

That would be enough for Braehead to register their first win of the season against the Stingrays at their sixth attempt, thus ending the club record unbeaten run at six games.

Stingrays player-coach Sylvain Cloutier will be delighted with his sides magnificent performances during the run and, equally, the characteristics they side have shown over the last three weeks to maintain the streak despite not playing their best hockey at times.

He will now be focused on ensuring his side do not dwell on the loss and rebound as soon as possible in order to maintain their sixth position in the Elite League and their charge for top spot in Gardiner Conference - which was their primary goal at the beginning of the season.

After returning a 5-1 record from six consecutive conference games to solidify their charge for the conference title, the Stingrays return to action against Erhardt Conference sides next weekend as they take on the Coventry Blaze at home on Saturday and Nottingham Panthers away from home on Sunday.

Match Higlights: Hull Stingrays 4-2 Dundee Stars

Third period blitz helps Stingrays extend club record unbeaten run to six games

Hull Stingrays 4-2 Dundee Stars

The Hull Stingrays tonight extended their club record unbeaten run in the Elite League to six games, beating Gardiner Conference rivals the Dundee Stars for the first time this season by four goals to two.

In front of one of the largest crowds of the season at the Hull Arena, the Stingrays tested the superstitions imposed thanks to their recent winning streak by changing their lineup to include forward Jereme Tendler - following a spell on the sidelines with a groin injury.

The Canadian - who still didn't appear 100% fit throughout the game - would be involved in the Stingrays first goal of the night but not before second placed Stars took the lead.

With Pavel Gomeniuk sitting a two minute minor penalty for a blatant infringement in the Stars zone during a Rays man advantage, danger man Nikita Kashirsky was given three bites at a rebound in front of Ben Bowns before eventually bundling home the opening on the powerplay after 3.35.

A response was not long in coming though and - despite both sides struggling to maintain puck possession in the offensive zone on the man advantage - the Stingrays equaliser would also come on the powerplay.

For once the home side were able to instill some calm to their build up and puck as both Jerry Pollastrone and Nico Sacchetti sat minor penalties giving them a crucial five-on-three. Gomeniuk made up for his earlier error by feeding the puck to Tendler - who in turn fired a cross crease pass for Elite League leading scorer Guillaume Doucet to one time past netminder Dan Bakala and level the score at 1-1 after just 6.37

Despite what may seem like an entertaining start to the game, both sides had made a relatively flat, scrappy start with Dundee edging the opening period overall and that would continue into the second period.

Jeff Hutchins side - who have been the Elite League's surprise package so far this season - would take a lead into the third period. That would largely be thanks to a moment of misfortune for netminder Bowns - who would face a routine shot from his left face-off circle by Stars forward Sacchetti, only for that shot to handcuff the netminder and slip between his nearside arm and body.

The goal handed the Stars a pivotal advantage heading into the third period, however, to say that that advantage was solely down to Bowns' mistake would be incredibly cruel on a netminder who has performed heroics during the club's winning run.

More to the point, the Stingrays had been far from their best - as had Dundee - and required some improvement to get themselves back into the game.

Knowing that they were still well within a shout of winning such a crucial conference game - not least to further extending their winning streak - the Stingrays came out all guns blazing in the third period.

While it was far from the most free flowing offensive hockey ever seen, it was mighty effective against the Stars and was by far as dominant and purposeful as either side had been in the game.

The Stingrays simply didn't let up and, after the puck slipped off the end of Matty Davies' stick when presented with net to aim at and Tendler rang the cross bar, they finally got their reward.

Once again Doucet was picked out hovering at the back post - this time by linemate Carl Lauzon - only for Bakala to seeming stop the French-Canadian's bullet of a one-timer on this occasion. However, the shot squirmed out of the netminders body and dropped to the ice, allowing player-coach Sylvain Cloutier to prod home the equaliser and send the large but unusually quiet home fans into a frenzy on 51.55.

Cloutier's side weren't done there though and less than two minutes later struck gold on their mission for a sixth successive win as, on a three-on-two, Tendler dropped the puck to defenceman Omar Pacha - who was given what seemed like all the time in the world to pick his spot and rifle it past Bakala for a 3-2 Stingrays lead.

There would be no turning back for the Stingrays and they closed out the remaining minutes with ease as the Stars mustered just five shots to their 21 in the third period offensive blitz.

Gomeniuk - who's penalty earlier had proven so costly - sealed the win and the Stingrays club record sixth win in a row with an empty net goal from his own zone with less than 60 seconds left on the clock.

It has to be said that the Stingrays have at times played far better hockey this season and lost. That they can now play what some might term as below par but then come good when it really matters in the third period is a testament to the team Cloutier has built.

While the Rays will be all too aware that one swallow doesn't make a summer and there are still two and a half months of highs and lows remaining this season, whatever the outcome of the season, they can be mightily proud of setting a record that many Stingrays fans will have never have dreamt was possible.

The Stingrays - who sit four points clear at the top of the Gardiner Conference and sixth in the Elite League, just four points from second - now take their six match unbeaten run back up to Scotland to take on the Braehead Clan for the third time in eight days hoping to make it seven.

FBB Three Stars

1. Omar Pacha (1+0)

2. Ben Bowns (23 saves)

3. Sylvain Cloutier (1+1)

Match Highlights: Edinburgh Capitals 3-4 Hull Stingrays (SO)

Match Highlights: Hull Stingrays 3-1 Braehead Clan

Silverthorn double helps Stingrays set new club record for consecutive wins

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.

FBB Three Stars

1. Jason Silverthorn (2+0)

2. Omar Pacha (0+0)

3. Carl Lauzon (0+1)

Match Highlights: Braehead Clan 3-4 Hull Stingrays (SO)

Four point weekend sees Stingrays match club record four straight wins

Edinburgh Capitals 3-4 Hull Stingrays (SO)

The Hull Stingrays tonight completed their second four point weekend in two weeks and third of the season as they followed up Saturday nights shootout win over Braehead with another 4-3 shootout win, this time over the Edinburgh Capitals. The victory also means the Stingrays have matched the club record for consecutive wins in the Elite League with four - which was set between 15th October 2006 and 29th October 2006.

Once again without Tom Squires and Jereme Tendler, the Stingrays got off to a good start in the Scottish capital, opening the scoring in the first ten minutes through Matty Davies' seventh goal of the year after the puck was won down low and fed to the club's leading British pointscorer in front to finish low past Tomas Hiadlovsky.

The Stingrays would take just one minor penalty in the first period and it told, as they outshot and outplayed Edinburgh in their best period of the game.

In front of a large crowd at Murrayfield - boosted by GroupOn offer - Edinburgh youngster Jay King - who received plenty of ice-time and did not look out of place on the night - equalised for the Capitals as they countered with his shot from the hash marks beating Ben Bowns in the Stingrays net somewhat softly.

Moments after the face-off following the Caps goal, Stingrays forward Kyle Mariani while chasing for the puck collided with netminder Hiadlovsky - who was way out of his net. The Slovakian stopper went down for a period of time as he has done previously in Hull but would return with no sign of ill-health, although he would later step in to Sam Towner when playing the puck behind the net much to his displeasure.

A great forecheck, counter and then net crash from the Stingrays third line would eventually lead to Michael Dobron taking the Caps first penalty of the night and the visitors would make the most of their first opportunity.

Guillaume Doucet and Sylvain Cloutier would first be stopped by two great saves from Hiadlovsky on separate occasions before a great Pavel Gomeniuk pass from the point to Jason Silverthorn in front would see the Canadian - who is regularly booed on his return to Edinburgh - spin and open up a deserved 2-1 lead on 12.28.

The Stingrays had chances to extend their lead towards the end of the first but, first, Doucet was denied by Hiadlovsky following a great set up from Matty Davies between a Caps defenceman's legs before the Caps netminder got a piece of Mariani's shot - deflecting it just over the crossbar.

With just one penalty taken in the first period, and that with just 36 seconds remaining, the Stingrays descended into penalty trouble for the final two periods taking eight minors - four in each period.

Those penalties broke up the game in the Caps favour, handing them all of the momentum and resulted in the Stingrays being outshot 11-6 and 8-3.

Remarkably though the Stingrays penalty kill dug in time and again, until Edinburgh finally leveled 9.57 into the third period through player-coach Richard Hartmann - who broke between the Rays D and beat Bowns on a breakaway as Haywood had 24 hours earlier.

Following unrelenting Caps pressure - which the Stingrays mostly brought on themselves through penalty trouble - the goal had been coming and was just rewards for their play.

Nevertheless, Cloutier's side persevered and on their only powerplay of the third period - in which they had just three shots - again took the lead as a Doucet wrist shot just beat Hiadlovsky and trickled across the line for a Stingrays 3-2 lead.

Spearheaded by Canadian forward Jade Portwood, Edinburgh came straight back at the Stingrays and, having called a time-out and pulled Hiadlovsky, piled the pressure on allowing Peter Holecko to score with just 1.19 left on the clock, sending the game into overtime.

The Stingrays fared somewhat better in overtime, comfortably killing an Edinburgh powerplay following Gomeniuk's fourth minor penatly of the evening, but could not find the all important opening.

The ensuing penalty shots lasted somewhat longer than the night prior as Omar Pacha and Carl Lauzon tallies were leveled up by goals from Portwood  - who took a puck to the face in overtime but would return to take part in the penalty shootout - and Dobron.

The shootout continued into sudden death before a majestic finish from Lauzon - who waited and waited before chipping the puck past Hiadlovsky - gave the Stingrays an advantage which Bowns would convert into the win with a save on Dobron.

The save completed a second brilliant match winning performance and second ever shootout win which he's won for his side from Bowns, while without Lauzon's clinical finishing - both in regulation and penalty shots - the result would have also been in doubt. Silverthorn, no doubt encouraged by the constant boos he received from his former fans, was also a driving force in the victory alongside Davies and Mariani.

Once again though, while the indiscipline and silly penalties in the second and third periods could've cost the Stingrays, they dug in defensively as a team - particularly on the penalty kill - and, despite not being at their best, claimed another invaluable Gardiner Conference and league victory.

The win maintains the Stingrays sixth place in the Elite League table, three points above the Coventry Blaze and eight points above the Cardiff Devils in the eighth and final playoff position, meanwhile they also sit second in the Gardiner Conference table - joint top on points with Dundee and five points ahead of Braehead.

The Stingrays are now riding a joint club record four game win streak and they can set a new record with a victory in Wednesday's home game with Braehead.

FBB Three Stars

1. Ben Bowns (26 saves)

2. Carl Lauzon (0+1, 2 shootout goals)

3. Jason Silverthorn (1+1)