Elite League round-up December 31
11:45pm Saturday 31st December 2011 in Sport By Nigel McFarlane
Elite League round-up December 31
ELITE LEAGUE ICE HOCKEY:
A round up of the games from the Elite Ice Hockey League on December 31.
Coventry Blaze 3 Cardiff Devils 2 (After Overtime)
A late show from Blaze saw them tie the game late in regulation and then win it in overtime with Owen Fussey stepping up to the plate with both of the vital strikes.
It’s a fourth straight home win for Blaze to end the year but a couple of road losses in successive nights for Devils.
Both sides wasted no time in getting into this game with Blaze opening the scoring after only 50 seconds thanks to Shea Guthrie but Devils were back on terms at 2.53 with Jeff Pierce on target.
After that explosive beginning it was Devils who settled the better but there was no addition to the scoring at the first period interval.
And that’s exactly how it remained throughout the middle period also, the difference being that Blaze were very much the dominant team during that session.
The deadlock was broken however after 2.53 of the third period as Scott Dobben fired Devils ahead on the powerplay and with the visitors seemingly able to hold on to their lead while continuing to look the more dangerous it was against the run of play when Fussey set the Skydome alight when tying the game at 56.34.
The momentum was now with the home side and when the game went into overtime it was Fussey again who grabbed the winner at 62.04 to ensure it was a positive ending to a difficult year for Paul Thompson’s side as they move above Sheffield and into third spot in the standings.
Edinburgh Capitals 4 Fife Flyers 5 (After Penalty Shootout)
Flyers ended 2011 very much on a high, picking up their 2nd successive win (and 1st on the road this season), while moving level on points with Dundee in the standings, being still bottom now only on games won in regulation time.
Hero for the flyers was Mike Hamilton, as not only did the sniper score twice in regulation he was the only scorer in the shootout to see his side prevail.
For Capitals however, 2011 ended badly with this their seventh straight loss and only a single win from their last 11.
In front of a large crowd at Murrayfield it was the visitors who started better and at 5.49 Hamilton fired them ahead. It was very much the home side in charge after that however and they deservedly levelled at 13.47 with a powerplay goal from Rene Jarolin.
The middle session saw Flyers take their chances to establish a 3-1 lead. Hamilton was on hand again at 26.52 to edge his side ahead again and then at 32.51 Danny Stewart counted to give Flyers that two-goal advantage.
An end to end third period saw Capitals firstly pull one back at 43.43 with player/coach Richard Hartmann on target only for Steven Gunn to make it 4-2 Flyers at 48.16. Capitals kept coming forward however and at 49.32 on the powerplay Marcis Zembergs made it a one-goal game before Jarolin tied it up at 53.44.
Even after that the home side missed a great chance to seal it in regulation but Sean Menton failed with a penalty shot awarded at 55.24.
Capitals dominated the overtime period without finding the winning goal and they paid for that as Hamilton stepped up to beat Nathan Craze in the shootout and give his side the extra point.
