Braehead Clan inflicted a record-equalling 15-0 drubbing on Scottish rivals Edinburgh Capitals.
Record win for Clan as Steelers see-off big rivals Cardiff in Wales
Braehead Clan inflicted a whopping 15-0 drubbing on hapless Scottish rivals Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday night, while Elite League leaders Sheffield Steelers won a thrilling overtime tussle with second-placed side Cardiff Devils.
Third-placed Belfast Giants enjoyed their trip to the North East as they came away with a 7-1 win against the Newcastle Vipers.
Coventry Blaze ended their bad recent run with a vital win against Hull Stingrays, but the big results of the week came up in Scotland and in Wales with the big two locking horns in Cardiff.
Braehead Clan 15 Edinburgh Capitals 0
Edinburgh's woes continued on Saturday as their decimated squad got a severe hammering by Scottish rivals Braehead, with the Clan smacking 15 against their hapless opponents in a record-equalling victory.
12 different players scored for the home side as the Capitals suffered a 20th straight defeat and only mustered 11 shots on the Breahead goal, while the hosts launched 64 and it could in fairness have been even more than 15 in the end.
The visitors did put up a brave showing considering their predicament though, and it took the Clan 14 minutes to break their resistance with the first goal going in from the stick of Jordan Krestanovicvh.
The floodgates opened from there though as player-coach Bruce Richardson got the first of his two goals at 14.54 followed by a strike from Ryan Campbell at 15.39.
A 5-0 lead after the first period quickly became 6-0 with just 81 seconds on the clock as Brendan Cook found the net, before two goals in less than a minute took the score to 8-0 as Matt Haywood and Dominic Noel both netted.
Another five-goal period took the Clan to double figures, but there was to be no respite for the Capitals as the 11th goal came early in the third period with Cook grabbing his second the game.
Vince Connon completed the scoring with 12 seconds remaining to equal the league record for most goals scored in a shutout victory - and complete a miserable night for the Capitals.
Cardiff Devils 4 Sheffield Steelers 5 (After Overtime)
A goal in the second minute of overtime saw Sheffield pick up their 11th straight win on the road and take the extra point to move further away from the chasing Devils at the top of the league.
There was never much between the teams throughout the game, which started with Steelers player-coach Ben Simon putting the visitors one up inside the first minute with a shorthanded goal. It took the Devils until 70 seconds before the end of the period to get back on level terms with a powerplay goal from Scott Matzka.
The hosts edged themselves in front with a goal from Craig Wellar and then made it a two-goal game as Matzka struck home his second at 37.56. However, before they could draw a breath the Steelers had pulled it back with a goal from Robert Dowd at 38.13.
Goals from Rod Sarich and Jeff League looked to have won it for Sheffield before a hat-trick goal from Matzka ten seconds from the final buzzer sent the game into overtime.
Into the extra period and in the space of 101 seconds there were five shots on goal, three on the visitors and two on the home side with the second shot proving vital as Mark Thomas netted the game winner.
Hull Stingrays 1 Coventry Blaze 2
This was a vital win for the visiting Blaze team as they broke a run of four straight losses in their effort to finish fifth in the league.
The Blaze took the honours in a very even first period with the only goal coming at 16.10 on the powerplay scored by Luke Fulghum.
Again, in the second period with nothing between the teams the visitors struck once more, as Russell Cowley put them two in front with a goal at 27.26.
Within the first two minutes of the third period, it was game on as Kurtis Dulle breached the Coventry net with a goal at 41.40. However, try as they might and even with the goaltender pulled in the last minute, they could not get the goal to tie the game and send it into overtime and the Blaze held on to take the points.
Newcastle Vipers 1 Belfast Giants 7
After an early set back in the first period, when they went behind in 68 seconds, Belfast recovered to hit seven without reply to run out easy winners in the end.
With 1.08 on the clock Jaroslaw Rzeszutko fired the home side in front, but it did not take the visitors long to get back on level terms as Mike Hoffman netted at 5.31.
Two goals in the opening two minutes of the second period from the Giants set the tone for the rest of the game. A powerplay goal from Brett Hemingway at 20.58 was quickly followed by a strike from Colin Shields at 22.02. The visitors got another goal on the powerplay, this time from Brett's brother Colin at 36.45 to open up a three-goal lead.
Two goals inside a minute at the start of the third period effectively killed the game as far as the Vipers were concerned. Brett Hemingway with his second at 42.17 followed by a strike from Craig Peacock at 42.46 opened up a five-goal lead for the visitors.
The final goal of the game came at 52.00 as Mark Garside completed the scoring for the Giants.
