The destination of this year's league title is wide open as Belfast beat pace-setters Sheffield 5-2 on Saturday.
Devils keep pace with top-two; Clan win again; Blaze woes continue
The destination of this year's league title is wide open as Belfast made it 12 straight wins with a 5-2 success over pace-setters Sheffield.
The Giants are the team of the moment and they moved to within a point of the Steelers with a resounding victory on home soil.
An early brace from Jeff Mason set the tone as the Giants claimed a 3-0 first period lead when Josh Prudden scored in the 19th minute.
At 23.15 the Northern Irish outfit added a fourth goal from Brandon Benedict and they went five clear less than a minute later, when Prudden netted his second goal on the powerplay.
The visitors finally got on the scoresheet at 26.49 with a powerplay goal from player/coach Ben Simon before Rod Sarich fired home a second but it proved to be a consolation strike with a goalless third period.
Cardiff remain in touch with the top two with an 8-3 victory after a final period collapse from hosts
Newcastle.
The visitors took the initiative with two goals from Max Birbraer and Jon Pelle inside the opening nine minutes before Vipers' Mike Pripch and Devils' Stuart MacRae shared goals to see the away side lead 3-1 after the first period.
Ninth-placed Newcastle reduced their arrears to one goal with the only strike of the second period with a powerplay goal from Jaroslaw Rzeszutko but Birbraer was allowed to grab his second of the game at the start of the third period.
Rzeszutko scooped his second at 49.39 to help the Vipers keep in touch once again, but a late malaise allowed the Devils to go out of sight with four in the last ten minutes, with Brad Voth (50.28 and 53.03) Pelle (55.38) and Phil Hill (58.04) all scoring.
Skydome thriller
Braehead eased to a fifth straight win as they enforced a 25th straight loss on
Edinburgh with 7-1 win.
The home crowd were on their feet as Tim Wedderburn set the ball rolling for Clan's best run of the season with his first goal of the season at 11.19 and the hosts were two to the good by the end of the first period thanks to Mathieu Wathier's powerplay effort.
Clan player/coach Bruce Richardson had a goal ruled out in the 22nd minute but the third came six minutes later via Matt Haywood and was followed by a 37.16 fourth from Ryan Campbell.
Strikes from Brendan Cook (41.20 and 53.40) and Campbell (50.11) saw the Clan inflict further damage on the Capitals but goaltender Michael Will lost the chance of a second shutout when Jeff Hutchins netted a late consolation.
Coventry lost their fourth straight game at home as
Hull edged an 11-goal thriller at the Skydome to end their three-match winless run
The home side took the honours in the first period as Brad Cruickshank at 1.45 on the powerplay and Luke Fulghum shorthanded at 6.44 gave them a two-goal lead.
The visitors got back on level terms with two goals in three minutes at the start of the second period - Lee Esders scored with only 12 seconds on the clock and then Matti Uusivirta tied the game up at 22.59.
A minute later, the Blaze regained the lead with a powerplay goal from Dan Carlson at 23.59 that saw the fans favourite become the first player in the EIHL to reach 500 points. The teams then traded goals as Kurtiss Dulle scored at 27.30 and then Robert Farmer at 31.39 gave the home side a 4-3 lead going into the third period.
The Stingrays were level again at 45.09 with a goal from Lee Mitchell and then opened up a two-goal lead with two powerplay goals 27 seconds apart. The first of these came at 49.45 from Jereme Tendler and followed Dulle's second goal of the game at 50.12.
Blaze captain Jonathan Weaver got on the scoresheet at 57.23 with a powerplay goal to make it a one-goal game and despite pulling goaltender Jaeger inside the final minute; they could not get the goal that would have sent the game into overtime.
