Elite League round-up November 20
12:28am Monday 21st November 2011 in Sport By Nigel McFarlane
Elite League round-up November 20
ELITE LEAGUE ICE HOCKEY:
Round up of the action in the Elite Ice Hockey League on Sunday November 20.
Coventry Blaze 4 Cardiff Devils 5
Devils completed a weekend double over Blaze, winning by the odd goal in nine at the Skydome.
However the visitors made hard work of it in the end, having led 4-0 in the 25th minute.
As they did on Saturday night, Devils were very much the better starters. A powerplay strike by Max Birbraer had them ahead after only 4.46 and the lead was doubled at 15.49 with a goal by Scott Matzka.
When Phil Hill at 23.20 and skipper Stuart Macrae at 24.45 had Devils 4-0 ahead it looked all over but Blaze then staged a fight back, ignited by a delayed penalty effort by Owen Fussey at 27.3. Only eight seconds later Dustin Wood scored again for the home side and at 37.01 it was a one-goal game when Shea Guthrie was on the mark.
Nothing between the teams in the third period with Devils giving themselves some breathing space with a goal by Brad Voth at 49.59 and they were able to protect that lead despite Greg Owen pulling one back for Blaze with 58 seconds remaining.
Dundee Stars 3 Belfast Giants 4 (After Shootout)
League leaders Giants were pushed all the way by Stars with in the end a shootout winner by Craig Peacock enough to give Doug Christiansen’s men the valuable extra point.
Two wins this weekend for Giants, a good bounce back from last weeks’ setbacks but Stars winless run now extends to four games in all competitions.
Both sides scored early in this one with Stars player/coach Dan Ceman firing his side ahead after only 85 seconds but Darryl Lloyd levelled for Giants 12 seconds later.
A powerplay strike by Ryan Crane at 7.34 edged the visitors ahead and their lead was extended at 12.45 thanks to skipper Jeremy Rebek. The home side were still up for this however and at 16.38 A J MacLean pulled one back and ended a thrilling opening period.
The game was a lot tighter in the middle session, with only a single goal scored – but it was the tying strike for Stars as Ross McIntosh was on the spot to shoot home at 29.16.
Both sides went for the regulation win in the third period but with both defences on top there was no addition to the scoring and into overtime we went.
Giants, aided by a cross checking call on Stars’ Alan Mazur, dominated the extra five minutes but were unable to claim the spoils at that point. Into the shootout where only Peacock found the net and saw a relieved Giants pick up a welcome 4-point weekend.
Edinburgh Capitals 4 Braehead Clan 2
A great weekend for Capitals saw them win their second home game in two days as an inspired Nathan Craze led his side to victory over Scottish rivals Clan, who suffered a second loss of the weekend.
It was an injury and suspension hit Clan who made the trip along the M8 and found themselves behind early as sharpshooter Rene Jarolin scored after only 3.35. This proved to be the only goal of the opening session in what was an end to end encounter at that stage.
The second period saw Clan start to find out just what good form Craze was in with the home goaltender putting up the shutters, while at the other end the home side were sharper in front of goal and built a 3-0 lead with strikes by Jarolin again at 30.05 and then Tomas Valecko during a five on three powerplay opportunity at 37.56.
Despite their lack of numbers the Clan heads never went down and they were given hope at 45.40 when Jade Galbraith scored. The siege on the Capitals goal was now in full swing but Craze and his defence held out until Matt Haywood brought the visitors to within a goal at 54.03. Clan pressed, Suomalainen was pulled for the extra skater late on and Jarolin was just the man to hit the empty net and complete his hat trick with 20 seconds remaining to ice a 4-point weekend for Richard Hartmann’s men.
Hull Stingrays 3 Fife Flyers 2
Two struggling sides provided a game tight on score but very much dominated by the home sides as Stingrays became the latest side to come up against a ‘hot’ Flyers goaltender in Garret Zemlak.
In the end a 54th minute strike by Jereme Tendler was enough to win it for Stingrays by the odd goal in five and a welcome first win in eight for Sylvain Cloutier’s men.
A shot count of 21 to 6 in the opening goalless period told the story here as Zemlak was unbeatable but finally at 28.10 it was Dominic Osman who made the breakthrough for Stingrays. However, Flyers had to create offence to get back in the game and they did at 36.23 when Matt Siddall was on the mark to tie it at one.
Zemlak continued to deny increasingly desperate efforts from the home side but he was beaten at 52.34 when Jason Silverthorn fired home on the powerplay and when Tendler added a third just over a minute later it was all over.
Flyers did give themselves a glimmer when Danny Stewart scored on the powerplay at 58.11 but despite pulling Zemlak there was no heroic comeback and the home side were relieved to hear the final buzzer in the end.
Sheffield Steelers 3 Nottingham Panthers 2 (After Overtime)
Another tremendous encounter between the great rivals that are Steelers and Panthers with over 6,000 at the House of Steel to see unsung hero Mark Thomas set the arena alight with an overtime winner in the second minute of the extra period.
Steelers were off to the perfect start earlier and led after only 48 seconds as Ashley Tait fired past Craig Kowalski and it got even better for Ryan Finnerty’s men at 9.36 when Tait again was on hand to shoot his side 2-0 ahead, a lead they held to the opening period break.
Steve Lee of Panthers and Matt Stephenson of Steelers were on fighting majors when Panthers hit back strongly early in the second period to tie the game. Jordan Fox at 22.09 and Danny Meyers at 23.27 were the scorers and it was a 2-2 hockey game!
A further scrap between Matt Francis of Panthers and Jason Hewitt of Steelers in the 25th minute kept the atmosphere electric and both sides missed powerplay chances in the remainder of the period as stalemate prevailed.
There was nothing in it in the third period and neither team could grab a winning goal and into overtime it was, where Thomas became the home hero as he strode through to score at 61.01 and send the vast majority of the huge crowd home happy.
