Elite League round-up January 2
4:48pm Tuesday 3rd January 2012 in Sport By Nigel McFarlane
Elite League round-up January 2
ELITE LEAGUE ICE HOCKEY:
A round up of the games on January 2 in the Elite Ice Hockey League.
Dundee Stars 1 Belfast Giants 4
Giants overcame some stern resistance from Stars but in the end ground out the win that keeps them 3 points clear of Nottingham at the top of the standings.
A double from Robert Dowd paved the way as Giants won for the 6th time in their last 7 but for Stars it’s only 1 win from 7 and they continue to avoid bottom spot over Fife only on regulation wins.
For a long time in this game it looked as if it could go the way of the home side as deep into the 2nd period Stars led thanks to a goal after 16.12 from skipper A J McLean but Giants hit a quick double at 37.43 and 39.33 from Graeme Walton and Tom Dignard to turn the game in their favour.
When Dowd scored his 1st shorthanded at 45.39 the visitors had some insurance but Stars always had hope and missed their big chance at 58.35 when Jeff Hutchins failed with a penalty shot.
Stars pulled goaltender Chris Whitley lat on but to no avail as Dowd hit the empty net with 33 seconds remaining to see the points heading to Belfast.
Fife Flyers 1 Edinburgh Capitals 4
Capitals gained swift revenge on Flyers from their shootout loss in their own barn on the final day of 2011 by taking both points from Kirkcaldy, with star man Rene Jarolin scoring twice and being involved in all of his side’s four goals.
Although the last 2 goals were into the empty net, Flyers could have little complaints, being outshot 31 to 19 on the night by a slicker moving Capitals side.
A first win in eight for Capitals but Flyers miss the chance to move off the bottom of the standings with this their first loss in three.
Capitals perhaps edged the opening period but could not beat the impressive Garret Zemlak in the home cage, while Flyers took advantage of a quick break that saw skipper Danny Stewart net at 17.46.
The second period saw Capitals dominate for long spells and this time they took a couple of the opportunities. Jarolin scored his first of the game on the powerplay at 26.37 and then at 36.18 player/coach Richard Hartmann edged his side in front.
Flyers did try everything in the 3rd period to salvage the game but Capitals always looked the sharper and they killed off the home challenge with a couple of empty net markers from Jiri Hanzal with 43 seconds remaining and Jarolin with only 13 seconds on the clock to give the final victory a more flattering look.
Nottingham Panthers 5 Hull Stingrays 0
Panthers kept up their great run going in fine style by blanking Stingrays on their way to a 6th straight win and 1 loss from their last 12, with goaltender Craig Kowalski posting 17 saves for his sixth shutout of the season so far.
Such was the home side’s domination that the shot count was 62 to 17 and Stingrays were left shell-shocked at the offensive capabilities of the rampant home side.
Despite mostly Panthers pressure the only goal they had to show after the opening period was that scored at 12.35 by Brandon Benedict.
Panthers doubled their lead early in the 2second period when Jeff Heerema was on target at 21.18 but it took the home side until 37.04 to add the their tally when David Clarke scored on the powerplay, giving his side a 3-0 advantage after two periods.
Stingrays were run ragged in the third session and did well to keep the score down with a shot count of 20 to two. Panthers scored twice more through the efforts of Clarke at 42.59 and Benedict at 46.25 and as Stingrays frustrations grew they were called on a couple of instigator penalties for scraps involving Andrew McKinney and Sam McCluskey against Danny Meyers and Marc Levers respectively.
