Ice hockey: Capitals netminder wary of threat posed by in-form Panthers

Published on Friday 6 February 2009 09:02

PASI RAITANEN is a salesman by profession and he found a host of unique selling points when he looked down Nottingham Panthers' roster ahead of tomorrow's Elite League match-up in the Lace City.

Edinburgh Capitals netminder is, however, optimistic that the Murrayfield men can continue their push for the eighth and final play-off spot by getting a result in Nottingham. The fact Panthers have not lost to Edinburgh so far this season does not faze the 37-year-old, Hull-based stopper.

And he points to the team spirit in Capitals' dressing-room as a major reason why the Capital club can succeed against the form book.

Both sides go into Saturday's clash on the back of welcome wins. Panthers scored two late goals to see off the challenge of Manchester Phoenix in the North-West while Capitals edged basement rivals Basingstoke Bison 4-3 thanks to an Adam Stefishen strike with only 35 seconds remaining of a tense clash at Murrayfield, a goal which snapped a confidence-sapping five-game losing streak.

Nottingham sit in third spot in the ten-strong table, with 58 points from 40 games, 11 behind leaders Sheffield Steelers who have played a game more.

Edinburgh remain eighth, with 27 points from 40 games, the same points as ninth-placed Hull Stingrays who have played a game more.

Bison have 19 points from 40 games and look a spent force in the chase for the play-offs.

Panthers have won 28 games against Capitals' 11. They have scored 166 goals and let in 110. Capitals have scored 118, the fifth highest total, but allowed 191 to enter their net, the second worst total in the league.

Statistics point to a comfortable Nottingham win. Panthers have scored 24 goals in the four matches against Capitals so far this term and conceded only six.

On their last visit to the Riversdale rink on January 11, Panthers blanked Capitals 6-0 and the Edinburgh club's former netminder, Michel Robinson, celebrated a shutout on his first visit back to Edinburgh after being cut in the Autumn.

Previously, Panthers edged Capitals 6-5 on October 5 and 6-1 only 24 hours earlier, with both games having been played in Edinburgh.

And Panthers strolled to a 6-0 victory over Capitals on September 9 in England.

The high-flying English side also have eight players listed in the top 32 individual scoring charts. Dan Tessier is their top marksman and he sits just ahead of Capitals ace Mark Hurtubise.

Then come player/coach Corey Neilson, Kevin Bergin, Brandan Cook, Bruce Richardson, Jade Galbraith, David Clarke and Johan Molin before we come to Capitals defenceman Joe Dustin.

It's a formidable line-up and Raitanen said: "We beat Basingstoke 4-3 but we knew that only two or three of their guys could really hurt us. That was why we tried to tie them down. Against Nottingham there are around eight guys who can cause real danger.

"It will be really tough in Nottingham, it always is, and we've not beaten them so far this season.

"They are looking for points to keep pace with Sheffield and Belfast at the top of the table and we're looking to collect points to stay in eighth place and to secure a play-off spot.

"We travel with optimism. We went to Sheffield on the first day of the season and won 3-1 and we have a great spirit in the dressing-room.

"We have a good group of guys here. They work for one another and if we are well-organised on Saturday and everybody plays smart then this is hockey and you never know."

Raitanen stressed that the side have worked hard in training to iron out some of the flaws in evidence against Bison.

One of them was the five-on-three power play which once again failed to produce.

Ironically, Capitals have spent some time on the play, and Doug Christiansen, the club's director of hockey, had a quick word with the players prior to the five-on-three on Sunday – but it still failed to produce a goal.

Raitanen added: "We know it will be difficult on Saturday. We know we'll have to focus for 60 minutes if we want to get anything from the game.

"We also know that we'll have to step-up our game from last weekend when we didn't play well in Sheffield or at Edinburgh."

"However, things can't be that bad if we are winning playing badly but Hull winning at Cardiff on Sunday means we'll need to pick up points."