Rink round-up

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Jim Lydon and Ronnie Nichol give us all the latest from around the bmibaby Elite Ice Hockey League.

Saturday 30th September:

Basingstoke Bison 7 Edinburgh Capitals 4

A good win after a scare for the home side as they inflicated on Edinburgh their 5th straight defeat.   It took only 52 seconds for Brad Cruikshank to score for Bison and by the end of the opening period Kevin Bergin added a powerplay goal in the 8th minute, followed by Doug Sheppard making it 3-0 in the 10th minute.

Greg Chambers with an early second period powerplay goal and Cruikshank a minute later saw Bison go nap but Capitals did not give in and gave themsleves a glimer of hope by finishing the period strongly and netting through a Dino Bauba powerplay goal in the 35th minute and then a shorthanded counter by Jason Silverthorn in the 39th minute.

The visitors continued their recovery and came within one when Darius Pliskauskas (48th minute) and Bauba with his second on the powerplay in the 53rd minute hit the net, however home nerves were calmed when Sheppard grabbed his second at 56.01 and this was followed by Ryan O'Keefe rounding off the scoring on the powerplay at 58.31.   A very good night for Doug Sheppard, who was involved in 5 of the Bison goals (2+3).

Sheffield Steelers 2 Hull Stingrays 1

A very tight encounter in Sheffield saw the home side sneak it by the odd goal in 3.   It had all looked very good for Steelers in the opening period as Jason Hewitt shot them ahead at 11.45 and before the first break Ian Manzano had doubled the advantage at 15.10.   That however was the end of the Steelers scoring!

A goalless second session saw the ejection in the 39th minute of Sheffield's star man Dan Tessier on a 5+game for slashing.   Stingrays finally got on the scoreboard when Simon Rizk scored on a 5 on 3 powerplay at 49.52 but the home side, despite being outshot 14-7 managed to hold on and ice 2 valuable points.

Belfast Giants 2 Coventry Blaze 3

A tight encounter by 2 of the teams tipped to be battling it out for the awards this seson, with the visitors just coming out on top at the end of 60 minutes.  The only goal of the opening session was scored by Blaze's Dan Carlson on the powerplay at 8.38 and with the home side struggling to break down the visitors defence the same scorline was repeated in the second period - this time an opening minute strike by Tom Carlon.

Curtis Huppe finally found a way past Trevor Koenig in the Blaze net at 48.58 but at 50.11 it was 3-1 to the visitors as Carlson grabbed his second of the night. The home side were far from finished however and George Awada scored at 53.38 to set up a grandstand finished but Blaze held on for an important win.

Nottingham Panthers 4 Cardiff Devils 2

A 5th straight win for Panthers, inflicting the first loss of the season to Devils.  An even opening period saw each side score once.  Blaz Emersic opened for the home side in the 6th minute and Tyson Teplitsky tied it up in the 15th.   The home side then took control in the middle period with a powerplay goal by Corey Neilson in the 23rd minute followed by Matus Petricko netting in the 31st minute.

Back came Devils though and Mark Richardson made it interesting when scoring with the man advantage in the 49th minute but full points were assured for the home side when David Clarke ended the scoring at 52.26.

Sunday 1st October:

Hull Stingrays 3 Nottingham Panthers 2 (After Overtime)

Hull took the honours in this evenly contested encounter with the GWG coming in overtime from Kevin Young - this incidentally was the 200th league goal of this seasons campaign.  Stingrays win ended Panthers run of five successive wins.

The first period was goalless and set the tone for this close fought contest.  The visitors opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through Sean McAslan. On the 30 minute mark Justyn Schollar And David Clarke both received 5 each for fighting. In the final minute of the period Panthers doubled their lead as Sean McAslan netted his second of the game.

The home side got right back into the game in the 46th minute with two goals inside a minute through Kevin Phillips and Jeff Glowa. Squeezed between the goals Simon Rizk And Mike Rees went to the sin bin on 5 minute penalties for fighting. There where no further goals in the period and the game went into overtime.   With the game heading for penalty shots, Kevin Young shot home the game winner with a minute left to go in overtime.

Edinburgh Capitals 7 Newcastle Vipers 5

Capitals kept their Challenge Cup hopes alive with this win in a high scoring encounter and in doing so snapped a 5 game losing run. It was only late in the opening period that goals came in this one with Andre Payette opening for Vipers in the 15th minute only for Peter Janik to level less than a minute later.

Vipers however went in a goal to the good when Jim Shephard scored the first of what turned out to be 4 goals on the night in the 19th minute.  Shephard added his second in the 24th minute but back roared Capitals big style and they hit 6 unanswered - Jason Silverthorn, Janik and Martin Cingel (powerplay) by the end of the middle session to leave Capitals 4-3 ahead - and then Steven Lynch, Cingel and Dino Bauba (powerplay) by 50.34 for a 7-3 advantage.

Too little too late for Vipers but Shephard did complete an outstanding individual display by adding goals in the 55th and 59th minutes - both shorthanded, while Vipers were defending a 5+game fighting call on Brantt Myhres.

Coventry Blaze 3 Basingstoke Bison 3

Six goals shared in this Challenge Cup contest with the home town Blaze having to stage a final period comeback.  It was scoreless at the Skydome after the opening period but the visitors finally made the breakthrough at 27.42 thanks to a strike by Greg Owen.

Greg Chambers doubled the lead shorthanded at 32.25 but Blaze hit back and Barrie Moore pulled one back at 36.18 only for Kevin Bergin to re-establish Bison's 2-goal advantage at 38.14.  An early third period surge by the home side tied this one up, with Dan Carlson on the powerplay at 40.18 and linemate Adam Calder at 43.48 netting.   Despite Blaze outshooting Bison by 18-5 in the period they could find no further way past the impressive Nick Boucher in the Bison cage.

 

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