Safar puts a brave face on Caps loss

JAN SAFAR, the Edinburgh Capitals captain, still believes his side can reach the Elite League ice hockey play-offs despite losing 4-2 to Coventry Blaze last night.

It was another bad night on the road as Capitals performed admirably, but it wasn’t enough as Coventry Blaze leapt into fifth place by beating the Murrayfield men 4-2 at the Skydome Arena.

“I felt we were the better team on the night,” claimed Safar afterwards. “We didn’t take our chances, but their goalie played well and losing two goals at the end of the first two periods can be devastating for confidence. We’re staying positive and are still looking up rather than down. We need a lucky goal that could win a match to help us get to the play-offs.”

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Blaze forward Jonathan Weaver struck with an opener at the end of the first period to give the home side the lead, then Owen Fussey, a one-time Cap, struck with just over a minute left of the second session to double the lead.

It was another uphill battle for Richard Hartmann’s side and while Marcis Zembergs pulled one back on the powerplay, Weaver restored the two-goal cushion before clinching his hat-trick unassisted seven minutes from the end. A late Hartmann goal as Edinburgh pushed near the end offered little consolation for them.

The play-off push is still not over and from that, the Caps travel to Wales to face Cardiff Devils tonight (face-off 7.30pm) where they play another team they’ve yet to beat this season and any point right now would be a dear friend for them.

The Devils are sitting comfortably in fourth place, despite their 4-0 loss to Sheffield Steelers and two points will edge them away from Coventry, who took fifth place from Braehead Clan after last night’s win.

Safar reckons his team-mates will be much fresher to face the Welsh side with much less travelling to do compared to yesterday, but admits the Caps will have to step up and fight to try and get eighth place back.

“We’re staying in a nice hotel so if we can get a good night’s rest then the journey to Cardiff is much shorter,” he said.

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