Ice Hockey: Vipers strike back as Capitals come up short at Murrayfield

Published on Monday 12 October 2009 10:01

WHAT a difference 24 hours makes. On Saturday, Doug Christiansen was praising his injury-hit side after a confidence-boosting road win at Newcastle Vipers, but last night the squad was downbeat as Edinburgh Capitals slipped to their second straight home defeat in the Challenge Cup.

The Murrayfield men, who edged Newcastle 3-1 on Tyneside in the same competition on Saturday, lost 2-1 in Edinburgh and Saturday's massive effort could have taken its toll.

The defeat following the 6-2 home reverse to Belfast Giants two weeks ago now gives the men from the Riversdale rink a tough task to qualify for the next stage of the competition. Capitals battled hard but lost feisty Andrew Sharp after 36 minutes for fighting and that weakened their already thin resources even further.

The contest was gritty and not the best spectacle seen at the rink so far this season as both teams struggled to get any rhythm, but it was the visitors who went away with the spoils, no doubt pleasing former Capitals netminder Michel Robinson.

He had a solid game as did his counterpart, Cody Rudkoswki, but under-strength Capitals, once again, had to juggle their lines to make up for the loss of skipper Martin Cingel who has a virus and also missed Saturday's trip.

That meant Neil Hay, Scott McKenzie and Mark Paterson had to shoulder extra responsibility along with Jordan Steel.

Capitals' senior players worked hard but it was Vipers who opened the scoring through Matic Kralj after 16 minutes.

Man of the match Chris Allen, assisted by Simon Lambert and Mark Garside, levelled 17 minutes later to give home fans hope before Tyler Kindle netted the game- winner with 11 minutes left. Capitals director of hockey, Doug Christiansen, admitted: "I was encouraged by the way they battled and competed with a team like Newcastle who are in top form.

"It was positive in the way they created chances and controlled the play in periods of the game. We made two defensive errors which we were punished for by a team who are good enough to take chances.

"In general I was happy in the way they played. I see the game from a different perspective now standing on the sidelines rather than playing.

"I find it easier to make decisions now that I'm not caught up in the game.

"I am also happy that we only conceded three goals in one weekend and the defensive line has been different class and we were one short at Ben O'Connor had to play up-front. If the guys go to the net more they will score more goals."

On Saturday, Capitals shocked high-flying Vipers and spoiled their opening game this season at Whitley Bay.

Rudkowski was one of the heroes, allowing only one puck to pass him despite receiving 42 shots while his opposite number, Michel Robinson, dealt with 38.

Capitals' highly-rated netminder is proving a wonderful acquisition and his performances to date have stamped him as a real star in the eight-strong league.

Christiansen declined to pick anybody out for praise, claiming it was a team effort, but the former NHL netminder is a key member of the squad.

Fiesty Andrew Sharp scored a rare goal just past the mid-point of the game, which turned out to be the winner, and Owen Fussey netted the insurance early in the third period. Quicksilver Simon Lambert shocked local fans by breaking the deadlock on the powerplay at 9min 34 sec only for that to be cancelled out by Mike Berry six minutes later.

There was no more scoring until Sharp fired home at 31min 35sec and then Vipers were unable to find a way past red-hot Rudkowsky.

Razor-sharp Fussey sealed the welcome win at 46min 20sec on the powerplay as frustrated Newcastle piled up the penalty minutes.

The Tyneside team totalled 41 sin bin minutes while under-strength Edinburgh, minus sick skipper Cingel, collected only 14.

Significantly, Capitals scored two goals on the power play while Newcastle failed on all seven.

Christiansen said: "Martin (Cingel] did not travel and he is a big part in our team.

"The guys really stepped up and this was a huge win after losing our last Challenge Cup game at home to Belfast Giants.

"Mark Paterson travelled despite him being ill with a virus for the past two weeks and he contributed but this was a big result considering we are down three imports.

"Newcastle are in second place in the table and are going really well but we were solid all night and the guys coped with the physical stuff.

"They also adjusted well to the small Whitley Bay ice rink which is much smaller than our rink. We cut down on mistakes and kept them in lanes.

"I was extremely proud of the team and their performance and this augurs well for the season ahead.

"The guys came to do a job and they did it."

Sadly, they came up short last night.