Ice Hockey: Hay: Falling to Stars is lesson for Capitals

Edinburgh Capitals assistant coach Jock Hay admitted his side made far too many basic errors as Dundee Stars cruised to a 6-0 Elite League victory at Murrayfield last night.

Edinburgh were lacklustre from the off, and proved no match for a sharp Dundee outfit, who had the match won in the first 20 minutes, scoring four times and firing 22 shots on exposed net-minder Nathan Craze.

“We never competed, right from the very first whistle. We made life very difficult for ourselves and never got out of first gear.

“We didn’t handle the puck well, and we were standing still when trying to make passes. We turned the puck over and gave them odd man rushes which they capitalised on”

A clearly disappointed Hay added: “Richard (head coach Richard Hartmann) has a game plan, and if we play it, it works, If we don’t play it, that’s what happens.

“This is a lesson for us. Everybody’s got to stick with the plan, not just one or two of us.”

Man of the match, and leading the way for the rampant Stars, was former Capitals marksman Jeff Hutchins, who claimed a treble against his old club. Kirkcaldy born Gary Wishart bagged a double, with Great Britain internationalist Lee Mitchell completing the scoring.

Shot-shy Edinburgh could only muster 17 efforts on goal, as Stars’ Canadian stopper Chris Whitley barely broke sweat in picking up his first shutout of the season.

Despite the loss, Edinburgh remain in seventh place in the Elite League standings with 16 points, sandwiched between Braehead Clan in sixth on 18 points, and Hull Stingrays in eighth on 14 points.

The weekend was not a total loss for the Edinburgh club, Saturday night saw them visit Kirkcaldy and claim a 4-2 victory over fierce rivals and Elite League basement boys Fife Flyers. Capitals’ Latvian forward Marcis Zembergs opened the scoring at two minutes 44, with Bari McKenzie adding a second less than ten minutes in.

In the second, Sean Menton had already made it 3-0, when, with less than one second remaining Kirkcaldy local boy Steve Gunn pulled one back for the home side at 39.59.

Despite running into penalty trouble in the third period Capitals always looked comfortable for the win, Menton and Gunn again trading goals to complete the scoring.