Belfast Giants: Eight successive Elite League victories
Belfast Giants cemented their place at the top of the Elite League table after recording an eighth successive victory at the expense of Hull Stingrays on Saturday night.
Hull produced yet another battling display for little reward as they lost 4-3 to the in-form Giants at Hull Arena.
Results:
Stingrays 3-4 Giants
Panthers 7-2 Capitals
Flyers 2-4 Devils
Steelers 2-2 Blaze (Challenge Cup)
The game was just six seconds old when Stingrays forward Derek Campbell and Giants enforcer Adam Keefe went toe-to-toe resulting in five-minute fighting penalties.
That flashpoint seemed to spur the Stingrays on and Jason Silverthorn put them ahead in the third minute on the powerplay.
Turning point
Campbell - making his 300th appearance in Elite League competitions - doubled Stingrays' lead in the 17th minute, also on the powerplay, to claim his first goal of the season.
But Giants pulled a goal back with just 19 seconds of the first period remaining through Brock McBride.
Silverthorn's second, another powerplay effort, restored Stingrays' two-goal cushion only for two markers inside 194 seconds from McBride and Benoit Doucet tied the game.
The turning point in the game came with 10 minutes left when Campbell was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of an official and a match penalty for excessive roughness.
Giants made the resulting five-minute powerplay count as Jeff Mason put them ahead for the first time.
Both teams called time-outs in the closing stages and Stingrays pulled goaltender Christian Boucher to try and force overtime but it was not to be.
Nottingham Panthers remain hot on the heels of Belfast after they inflicted yet more misery on Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday.
Panthers, despite struggling early on in the match, eventually opened the floodgates to record an emphatic 7-2 victory in front of their home fans.
Cardiff Devils picked up their third league victory of the season after returning from Fife Flyers with a 4-2 win.
However it took a goal inside the final minute of the game from Scott Matzka to make sure the points were going back to the Welsh capital.
Fussey on fire
Coventry Blaze claimed their first point in the Challenge Cup this season following a 2-2 tie with Sheffield Steelers at Sheffield Arena.
After a scoreless first period, player-coach Ryan Finnerty nudged Steelers - who had won all their five home games so far - ahead in the 27th minute.
But Luke Fulghum, with his seventh goal of the season, pulled Blaze level five minutes later.
Owen Fussey continued his fine scoring form as he put Blaze in front for the first time in the 47th minute with his sixth goal in three games.
Steelers, though, equalised with 10 minutes remaining with a powerplay marker from Rod Sarich.
Source: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_7231994,00.html
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