EIHL week 5 round-up

A complete programme of Elite League and Challenge Cup games over the past weekend with all ten sides playing twice and some interesting match-up’s to report on.

In the Rapid Solicitors Elite League Belfast Giants continue to set the pace and come Sunday night were a single point clear of the chasing Sheffield Steelers with Nottingham Panthers and Coventry Blaze nicely tucked in a couple of points further back.

We than have quite a gap before finding Cardiff Devils and Braehead Clan but Clan are still very much in the early stages of their season and will be looking to make strides upwards towards the leading teams sooner rather than later.

At the other end of the standings it is not pretty for the other three Scottish sides with Edinburgh Capitals holding everyone else up as they still seek their first league point of the season after four losses to start, while newcomers Fife Flyers have only a single point to show from their opening six games and Dundee Stars two points from a couple of overtime reverses after five games.

As far as the Challenge Cup is concerned, Group A has those self same Giants streaking ahead, having dropped only one point from their opening four games, although Clan have also started positively, winning two from two. Group B already has a look about it that suggests that Nottingham and Cardiff may qualify, but don’t let anyone from Sheffield hear you say that as they haven’t even started their Challenge Cup campaign yet!

So to the weekend action!

Belfast very much enjoyed their weekend north of the border as on Saturday they accounted for Fife 7-2 on Challenge Cup business in Kirkcaldy with Benoit Doucet helping himself to a hat trick and followed that up with a 5-0 regular season blanking of Edinburgh in Scotland’s capital on Sunday, with Stephen Murphy returning ‘home’ to post a 21 shot shutout.

Sheffield had all the comforts of home in both weekend games and took full advantage by posting two shutouts. Starting goaltender John DeCaro made 23 saves to frustrate a very disappointing Hull Stingrays in a 6-0 win where Ashley Tait and Mike Ramsay scored doubles and then a day later Fife were also blanked 5-0 but this time it was backup Geoff Woolhouse who came up with the goods and 17 saves as an under strength Steelers still proved far too hot for the Flyers to handle.

Nottingham badly missed starting goalie Craig Kowalski through illness as Coventry took both road points in a real shootout by the odd goal in thirteen, with sniper Owen Fussey lighting the lamp no fewer than four times for Paul Thompson’s men but next night on Challenge Cup duty, Kowalski was back between the pipes and helped his side to a narrow 3-2 win in Hull with player/coach Corey Neilson grabbing the game winning goal in the 51st minute.

Coventry followed their win in Nottingham by struggling at home to Dundee but the Midlander’s pulled it back from a 3-1 deficit to take the game to overtime and then grab the extra point thanks to GB defenceman David Phillips in the 2nd minute of overtime.

Cardiff and Braehead played out a weekend double series with Clan taking the honours at home with a 3-1 success, only sealed after player/coach Drew Bannister struck the puck into the empty net with 15 seconds remaining but in the reverse fixture it was Devils who grabbed both points with a 5-2 win, with Jeff Pierce scoring twice.

The other game of the weekend saw a tied Challenge Cup clash between Dundee and Edinburgh as the teams shared four goals but there will be great relief for the Capitals as they picked their first point in any competition so far this season and they were led well by player/coach Richard Hartmann as he counted both goals for his charges.